March 10th

Fatah Must Reinvent Itself, Or Risk Irrelevance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Mouin Rabbani - (Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:43pm With preparations accelerating, it seems increasingly likely that Fatah, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, will hold its Sixth General Conference during 2008. Yet given the advanced state of disintegration in which the movement finds itself, it may well be a case of too little too late. Simply put, Fatah's very survival now hangs in the balance. » Read more

In The Name Of The Palestinian Cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Mshari Al-zaydi - (Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:42pm   Question: Who is currently in control of Gaza, or rather who has been in control of Gaza until the recent Israeli raids took place? The answer: Hamas.   Next question: Who is in charge of the decision making process within Hamas, its funding and its foreign affairs? The answer: Khalid Mishal, head of the Hamas politburo and he is located in Damascus.   One last question: What or who is the major influence upon Mishal? » Read more

Israel Approves Settlement Growth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News March 10, 2008 - 5:41pm The project was first signed off in 1999, but stopped two years later after Palestinian labourers refused to go on. Israel's housing minister said the construction at Givat Zeev would address "the demographic needs of Jerusalem". But the decision provoked an angry reaction from Palestinian leaders. For the Palestinians there are few issues as contentious as the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, says the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Jerusalem. Under the terms of the peace process settlement expansion is supposed to be frozen. » Read more

Leading Article: Stop Talking, And The Militants Have Won ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent (Editorial) March 10, 2008 - 5:38pm It will be no consolation to Israelis to observe that atrocities such as that which killed eight young people at a religious college in Jerusalem have become rarer since the spate of suicide attacks in 2005. They will cite the controversial barrier as one reason for the improvement and note that this attack, like the last two – at Dimona last month and in Eilat almost a year ago – occurred in places that were vulnerable. The divided city of Jerusalem remains one such place, despite much overt security.   » Read more

Hamas Wages Iran’s Proxy War On Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by Marie Colvin - March 10, 2008 - 5:37pm The Hamas commander was in a hurry. Hunched forward in a navy-blue parka, with the wind-chapped skin and drawn eyes of someone who had been outdoors all night, he had just returned from the front line with Israel. The whine of drones overhead signalled that his enemy was hunting for blood. For someone who had survived the fiercest fighting between Israelis and Palestinians since 2000 and the deaths of scores of his fellow fighters, the commander, already a senior figure in his late twenties, appeared remarkably composed. » Read more

Jerusalem Struggles To Maintain Its Balance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 10, 2008 - 5:34pm When an Arab from East Jerusalem killed eight people at a Jewish seminary, it endangered the fragile fabric of life in a city where people divided by distrust have nonetheless managed to get along. The shooting was a shock to many Jerusalemites, not only because it followed a long period of relative quiet, but also because even in the peak years of Palestinian suicide bombings, the Arabs of East Jerusalem were largely bystanders. In the aftermath, the city's Jews fear for their safety, while Arabs are wary of a backlash. » Read more

Abbas Says Peace Efforts With Israel Must Go On ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 10, 2008 - 5:34pm Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday peace efforts with Israel must move forward, despite an especially bloody spate of violence capped by a deadly attack on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. Abbas also reiterated his support for Egypt's efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. In a speech marking International Women's Day, Abbas said, "Despite all the circumstances we're living through and all the attacks we're experiencing, we insist on peace. There is no other path." » Read more

The Israel Litmus Test ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:30pm 'You're nothing but a self-hating Jew, and your boss is an anti-Semite." It was the spring of 1990. I was an advisor to then-Secretary of State James Baker, and I was briefing a Jewish group from Atlanta -- and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Baker was tough on Israel when he needed to be, but he was no anti-Semite. I told Mr. Atlanta that if he wanted to argue about policy, fine; otherwise, we should keep the ad hominem out of it. » Read more

Annapolis's Fading Hope ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post (Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:29pm The Annapolis peace conference last November was a good moment for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She seemed to be getting serious, finally, about using American diplomacy to push for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement whose basic parameters are understood by everyone -- but which requires U.S. follow-through to make it happen. » Read more

Talk, But No Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) March 10, 2008 - 5:25pm There are a few certainties when it comes to the Middle East. One is that Hamas militants will do anything to sabotage Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Another is that Israel will retaliate against serious assaults on its people. And a third is that without measurable improvements in the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians, a few spectacular acts of terrorism can derail even the best-intentioned peace talks. » Read more