March 7th

Mideast Turning Point
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Claude Salhani - (Opinion) March 7, 2008 - 6:23pm

After the misplaced euphoria brought about by the Annapolis peace summit and a naive belief by some that the Middle East dispute could be solved in less than 12 months — a typically mistaken assumption of the region — events have now taken a turn for the worse.

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For Israel, Hard Options In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
(Editorial) March 7, 2008 - 6:20pm

IF ISRAEL'S aims in striking at Hamas forces in Gaza this past week were to weaken the Islamist movement politically and deter it from continuing to launch rockets into Israel, early signs suggest the operation did not succeed. Before contemplating another such attack against Hamas fighters embedded among civilians in tightly packed urban locations, Israeli leaders ought to ask themselves whether tactics such as these stand any chance of achieving the desired goals.

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March 6th

A new Policy Focus by ATFP questions what lies ahead for Gaza (1). An editorial in the Boston Globe discusses Israel’s hard options in Gaza (2). The Agence France Presse reports on yesterday’s Yeshiva attack (6). A MJ Rosenberg opinion in the Israel Policy Forum examines the history and future implications of escalation (8) while in Middle East Progress, Mara Rudman looks at the implications of yesterday’s Yeshiva attack (9).

Hamas: Cease-fire Deal Must Include West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury, Yossi Verter And Barak Ravid - March 6, 2008 - 7:41pm

Hamas said Thursday that any Gaza Strip cease-fire with Israel must include an end to Israel Defense Forces operations in the West Bank, as Egypt launched talks with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a bid to secure a truce. Hamas spokesman in Gaza Ayman Taha told A-Shams Radio that the Hamas delegation dispatched to the Egyptian city of El-Arish on the Sinai Peninsula had returned to the Strip.

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'this May Be The Last Chance'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gidi Weitz And Meron Rapoport - (Interview) March 6, 2008 - 7:39pm

Yasser Abed Rabbo is worried and one of the reasons for this becomes immediately apparent when we meet: An armed guard escorts him into his office on the third floor of a building in Ramallah midday on Saturday. "Who is he protecting you from - the Israelis or Hamas?" we ask. "From Hamas," he says without hesitating.

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Editorial: The Gaza Pressure Cooker
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
(Editorial) March 6, 2008 - 7:36pm

To understand what is happening with the Gaza Strip and why it is happening one needs only to look at a simple kitchen utensil: a pressure cooker with a malfunctioning release vent. Eventually the pot will explode.

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Avoid Bush's Mideast Policies, Report Says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Federica Narancio - March 6, 2008 - 7:32pm

The Bush administration's attempt to reshape the Middle East after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks has not only failed but has also deepened existing conflicts and political instability, according to a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The result is a "new" Middle East, though different from what was anticipated. This new Middle East is one in which the threat of nuclear proliferation and sectarianism will pose a serious challenge to the next U.S. administration, argue the authors of the report, published late February.

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Egypt: Anger Over Israel 'approaching Boiling Point'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Khaled Moussa Al-omrani, Adam Morrow - March 6, 2008 - 7:31pm

Fury erupted on the streets and in parliament this week following violent Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip. But as protests were held nationwide in support of besieged Palestinians next door, Cairo continued to keep the volatile Rafah border crossing -- the only means out of the strip not under direct Israeli control -- tightly sealed.

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Karim Edwan's Skepticism About The U.s.-backed Middle East Peace Process Is Rooted In His Morning Commute.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
March 6, 2008 - 7:30pm

British humanitarian agencies said Thursday that the situation in the Gaza Strip was the worst in 40 years and urged the European Union to hold talks with Hamas, which runs the impoverished territory. They also called for an end of Israel's punishing blockade of Gaza, which has worsened an already desperate state of affairs for the civilian population.

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West Bank Barriers Keep Rising Despite Promises Of Relief
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Griff Witte - March 6, 2008 - 7:28pm

Karim Edwan's skepticism about the U.S.-backed Middle East peace process is rooted in his morning commute. To travel from his home in this West Bank village to his job as an emergency room doctor, the 35-year-old must take at least two cabs, skirt a barbed-wire fence, climb a dirt mound, talk his way through multiple Israeli checkpoints and remove his shoes for a full-body security check. Before the obstacles were imposed, the trip to his hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus took 30 minutes. Now it takes two hours.

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