February 11th

Palestinian Divisions Serve No One
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) February 11, 2008 - 9:24pm

Palestinians themselves are first and foremost to blame for the breakdown in their internal relations and the split between Fateh and Hamas and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This is especially true of the fierce military clashes in Gaza that led to this division between the two major Palestinian factions and the two main areas of Palestinian territory.

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In Gaza, Cars Are Cooking With Gas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Toronto Star
by Oakland Ross - February 11, 2008 - 9:20pm

At least one line of business still seems to be booming in this benighted land, and it does not involve firing rockets. It involves tinkering with cars. "We are under siege," says Ali Awad, 48, an automobile mechanic who is especially adept at a certain procedure ideally suited to the strapped circumstances that nowadays prevail in the Gaza Strip, where punitive sanctions imposed by Israel have crippled an already stumbling economy. "We have to survive. We cannot just go out and steal."

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Ramon: Agreement Of Principles, Not Full Peace Deal, Likely In 2008
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
February 11, 2008 - 9:18pm

Vice Premier Haim Ramon on Monday appeared to scale back expectations for reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians this year, saying instead that Israel hoped the two sides would reach a declaration of principles and not necessarily a final agreement. On a January visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, President George Bush said that an Israeli-Palestinian "peace agreement should happen, and can happen, by the end of this year."

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Israel’s Secret Success
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Daniel Gavron - (Opinion) February 11, 2008 - 9:16pm

SOMETHING strange is happening to us Zionists in the 60th year of the state of Israel: we are repudiating our astonishing success. If in the 1880s (the start of Zionist settlement in what is now Israel) or in 1948 (the War of Independence) or even in 1967 (the Six-Day War) somebody had said that one day virtually the entire world, including all the Arab nations, would accept the existence of the State of Israel in 78 percent of the land of Israel, he would have been regarded as either idiotically optimistic or clinically insane. That, however, is where we are today.

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February 10th

ATFP's Ziad Asali and Ghaith al-Omari discuss empowering Palestinian moderates (1). Daniel Gavron writes in the New York Times about Israel's reasons to celebrate...and plan for the long term (2). The Toronto Star's Oakland Ross highlights the industry of necessity in Gaza(4). Ghassan Khatib looks at the long term consequences of Palestinian division (5). The Jerusalem Post reports on Hamas' plans (6) and examines the legitimacy of Israel's response (7). Agence France-Presse examines the passing of Congressman Tom Lantos from an Israeli perspective(9). Finally, Angus Reid reports on a poll suggesting continued Palestinian disapproval of Hamas(11).

February 8th

Open The Rafah Crossing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) February 8, 2008 - 7:55pm

Following a brief and sporadic hiatus, the cycle of violence recently resumed on both sides in the Gaza Strip. During the past three days, Israel killed at least 16 Palestinians, and heavy barrages of rockets slammed into Sderot and other communities bordering Gaza in response to Israel's retaliation for the suicide bombing in Dimona. The Israel Defense Forces used ground and air forces in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.

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Mccain Found A Tool With Which To Woo Conservative Republicans: Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) February 8, 2008 - 7:54pm

There's been a lot of talk lately about John McCain's problem with the more conservative (and religious) right wing of the Republican Party. In Super Tuesday McCain won among self-identified conservatives in only three of the nine states that were covered by the exit polls I looked at. His real strength is among moderates.

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Ticking Bomb
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel And Avi Issacharoff - February 8, 2008 - 7:53pm

Despite the closing of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt yesterday, it seems that the next attack, kidnapping or suicide bombing carried out by a Palestinian group against Israelis, in Sinai or the southern Negev, is just a matter of time. With the border remaining completely open for 12 days, it is difficult to estimate the amount of arms and munitions that were brought into the Strip.

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Opportunity In Sight For A Peaceful Offensive On Defiant Sides
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Raghidadergham.com
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) February 8, 2008 - 7:52pm

On the Lebanese and Palestinian fronts surface indicators of a new and beneficial impetus, one that requires responsible assessment of the available opportunities and courage to adopt peaceful offensive strategies. The UN Undersecretary Nicholas Michel spoke about the impossibility of using Lebanon's international tribunal - aimed at punishing the parties involved in political assassinations in Lebanon - in any political tradeoff. These are extremely important words as they coincide with the UN commitment to end the era of impunity.

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Arab-american Thoughts On Super Tuesday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghassan Rubeiz - (Opinion) February 8, 2008 - 7:52pm

American politics have become intimately tied to Arab politics since 9/11 and the start of the war in Iraq. According to a 2007 Zoghby poll, 61 percent of Arab-American voters mentioned Iraq as the top issue in the current presidential election contest. The same number of Arab-Americans also ranked "Palestine" as being very important for them as an election issue.

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