January 11th

A Palestinian Exploration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al Hayat by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) January 11, 2008 - 3:54pm A few years after Lebanon gained its independence in 1943, the Palestinians were hit by what is known as the naqba - or 'catastrophe.' The Israelis seized more than half of their country and several Arab armies were unable to recapture the land. Thus, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees poured into neighboring Arab countries - including a certain small country barely managing its politics through a delicate sectarian system. » Read more

Welcome, Mr President, To The Misery You've Created ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jonathan Steele - (Commentary) January 11, 2008 - 3:53pm It is a well-deserved irony for George Bush that his first presidential visit to Israel coincided this week with the storm of excitement produced by the unexpected outcome of the two New Hampshire primaries. Nothing could better highlight the irrelevance of the final year of the Bush presidency. » Read more

Israel's Bethlehem Settlement Seen As Obstacle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph by Tim Butcher - January 11, 2008 - 3:51pm The Israeli settlement of Har Homa crowns a hill on the south-eastern approach to Jerusalem and towers over the birthplace of Jesus. It is built on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 war - which makes it a "settlement" in the eyes of the world - and shot up the agenda when Israel announced recently that it planned to build 307 more homes there. » Read more

George Bush Drinks In The Last-chance Casbah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist January 11, 2008 - 3:49pm GEORGE BUSH flew in to a fanfare of bugles and cynicism at the start of his tour of the Middle East this week. The cynicism, it must be said, is not misplaced. Although he said in Jerusalem that he detected “a new opportunity for peace”, he has waited too long to make his first visit as president to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Even if he did everything right in his final year, he does not have time to realise his “vision” of a free Palestine alongside an Israel at peace with its neighbours. » Read more

Bush Calls For Fund To Compensate Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - January 11, 2008 - 3:42pm US President George W. Bush on Thursday called for a compensation fund for Palestinian refugees as he set out what he said was the “point of departure” for negotiations on a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians this year. At the end of two days of meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Mr Bush sought to highlight his sympathy with the Palestinians more than on previous occasions and to dispel scepticism over the US’s readiness to lean on Israel. » Read more

Occupation Of Palestinian Land Must End, Bush Tells Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald Macintyre - January 11, 2008 - 3:37pm President George Bush last night called for Israel to end what he unequivocally called its "occupation" of territory seized in 1967 and proposed "compensation" as a means of solving the issue of Palestinian refugees. » Read more

U.s. Seen In Policy Retreat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Khaled Moussa Al-omrani, Adam Morrow - (Analysis) January 11, 2008 - 3:37pm Recent months have witnessed several notable political reorientations in the Middle East, involving Iran, the Gulf states, Egypt and Lebanon. Several experts say the changes reflect a shift in Washington's regional strategy following recent U.S. policy setbacks. » Read more

Mideast Plain Talk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The San Francisco Chronicle (Editorial) January 11, 2008 - 3:35pm President Bush is making the obvious points on his trip to the Mideast. Any peace accord will oblige Israel to pull back settlements on the contested West Bank, and Palestinian leaders must rein in terrorist strikes. » Read more

Substance And Symbolism: Parsing Bush's Words ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - January 11, 2008 - 3:34pm Picking apart President Bush's summing up of his Palestinian-Israeli peace brokering is a a little like reading the fine print in the nutritional information on comfort food: there's empty puffery, to be sure, but also nuggets of substance. Bush, speaking Thursday at Jerusalem's King David Hotel, was summarizing two days of working meetings with the leaders of the Israeli and Palestinian governments, his first presidential visit to the region. » Read more

Bush Gets No Promises In Mideast Visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Richard Bourdreaux - January 11, 2008 - 3:32pm President Bush completed two days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Thursday without a firm public commitment from Israel to halt expansion of West Bank settlements or give the Palestinians a bigger role in policing the territory. Nor did the president make progress on a key Israeli concern that has stood in the way of peace talks for years: a halt in rocket attacks on southern Israel by Palestinian militants based in the Gaza Strip. » Read more