February 5th

Security Experts Fear New Wave Of Terrorism In Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Speigel International
by Pierre Heumann - February 5, 2008 - 7:22pm

Terrorists struck again in Israel on Monday in the first suicide bombing the country has seen in a year. It was an attack that politicians and military officers say they have seen coming for days. The bloody deed, which claimed the lives of one Israeli woman and the two suicide bombers, came as no surprise for many Israelis. Now that the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt is open, it has become easier for terrorists to reach Israel from Gaza. Security experts have been warning that terrorists in Gaza would see this as a new opportunity -- and would take advantage of it.

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'the Palestinian Dream Is Over'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Khalil Al Assali - February 5, 2008 - 7:20pm

Occupied Jerusalem: Dr Mustafa Al Barghouthi, a member of the Legislative Council and a prominent Palestinian activist, could not find a better word than "disaster" to express his anger at the announcement made by Hamas officials regarding a study that aims to separate the economy from Israel and connect with Egypt. "These declarations are very risky and briefly mean the separation of the West Bank from the Gaza Strip and the end of the Palestinian dream," Dr Barghouthi told Gulf News.

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Suicide Bombing Revives Israeli Push To Finish Its Wall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - February 5, 2008 - 7:19pm

In the aftermath of the first Palestinian suicide bombing in more than a year, many Israelis have returned to an old conclusion: build a barrier. Some politicians said that the answer to Monday's attack on the southern town of Dimona was to resurrect an existing, but never-implemented, plan to build some combination of a wall and fence between Egypt and Israel. The barrier would be similar to the West Bank wall that Israel started erecting more than six years ago, at a time when there was an almost nonstop cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

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Suicide Attack In Israel Kills One
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - February 5, 2008 - 7:18pm

A Palestinian suicide bomber who may have sneaked into Israel from the Egyptian Sinai blew himself up at a shopping center in this southern desert town on Monday, killing an Israeli woman and wounding 11 other Israelis, emergency services officials said. A second attacker with him failed to detonate his explosives belt and was shot dead by a police officer at the scene.

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February 4th

Ilene Prusher of The Christian Science Monitor details the rejuvenation of talks to complete the Isarel/Egypt wall (2). In The Gulf News, Khalil Al Assali reports on Dr. Mustafa Al Barghouthi statement that Hamas is effectively ending ‘the Palestinian dream’ (3). A Forward editorial on religion and the Jewish vote in the American election warrants a clarification (7). Al-Jazeera breaks news that Egypt is calling for PA help in Gaza’s border management (8). Daniel Kurtzer of the Daily Star offers deep analysis of the peace process (10) while Akiva Eldar of Haaretz examines the irrelevancy of military superiority (12).

Hamas Claims Dimona Attack, Says Bombers Came From Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amoss Harel - February 4, 2008 - 8:01pm

Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility for a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed a woman in Dimona on Monday, the first such attack inside Israel claimed by Hamas since 2004, a Hamas source told Reuters. Both the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Bridgade and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack earlier in the day.

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Gov't Considers Ban On Exporting Gaza Farm Produce Via Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amiram Cohen - February 4, 2008 - 8:00pm

Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon said on Sunday that Israel considers imposing a complete ban on exporting Gaza agricultural produce via Israel. Israel suspects large quantities of agricultural produce have been smuggled into Gaza from Egypt, after Hamas tore down the Gaza-Egypt border wall, sending hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into Egypt, effectively ending the Israeli blockade of the Strip.

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The Israei Factor: Ranking The Presidential Candidates
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shmuel Rosner - February 4, 2008 - 7:59pm

Republican John McCain   The Arizona Senator believes America must give Israel whatever equipment and technology it needs for defense.

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Writing Responsibly On The Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Quarterly
by Azriel Bermant - (Opinion) February 4, 2008 - 7:57pm

In the last few years, the international media has devoted an unprecedented amount of attention to the Arab–Israeli conflict. Although those following the turbulent events in the Middle East have no shortage of news resources to choose from, the journalism available isn’t always of

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Editorial: Uneasy Calm
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) February 4, 2008 - 7:53pm

After close to two weeks of unchecked inundation into Rafah by an estimated 700,000 of the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza, quiet once again reigns after Egyptian troops have closed the border. But for how long the calm will prevail and how long the border will be sealed is still undetermined. Because of the continuing Israeli siege of Gaza, another breach is bound to occur sooner or later.

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