January 4th

Lurching From Crisis To Crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al- Ahram by Marian Houk - January 4, 2008 - 2:40pm The Israeli Defence Ministry's programme to punish all Gazans for Qassam missiles fire into Israeli territory is apparently moving into a new phase. A second round of fuel cuts reportedly started on 30 December, with a military-ordered reduction of some 35-43 per cent (depending on what numbers are used as the baseline) in the amount of gasoline that will now be supplied to the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Yo, Anyone Who Fears Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist January 4, 2008 - 2:35pm THE smart people are getting out of Jerusalem next week. Traffic mayhem is assured as George Bush and his entourage, about 800 souls, guarded by thousands of Israeli police, are whisked about in a fleet of armoured vehicles, complete with a bespoke helicopter brought in to fly the president to Capernaum, in northern Israel, where Jesus chose his apostles. » Read more

Bush Calls On Israel To Dismantle Wildcat Settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) January 4, 2008 - 2:33pm US President George W. Bush called on Israel to dismantle wildcat settlement outposts on occupied Palestinian land, in an interview published on Friday ahead of his visit to the region next week. "We expect them to honour their commitments," Bush said in the interview with Israel's mass-selling Yediot Aharonot daily. » Read more

Pakistan, Palestine, And Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - (Analysis) January 4, 2008 - 2:32pm A few hours after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, I happened to catch an interview with a group of Pakistani university students who were part of a stunned mass of grieving people on the streets of Karachi.  They all looked and sounded secular, educated and western.  The reporter asked them about Bhutto's death, prospects for democracy in Pakistan, and what they thought about the United States. » Read more

Ahead Of Visit, White House Talks Friendship With Israel — And Pressure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - January 4, 2008 - 2:30pm The message from the White House on the eve of President Bush's first presidential visit to Israel is that his staunch support for the Jewish state has set the stage for peace — and given him room to exert some pressure on Jerusalem. Bush launches an eight-day tour of the region next Wednesday, beginning with three days in Israel and the West Bank and continuing to Persian Gulf states, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. » Read more

The Tribal Dynamics Of Old Play Out Again In The Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) January 4, 2008 - 2:29pm The system of Middle East states as we know it today was largely imposed upon the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire by England and France, the victorious European powers of World War I. Judging by the current state of affairs, they did not do a very good job. » Read more

Inside Track: Spoiling To Spoil ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Barbara Slavin - (Opinion) January 4, 2008 - 2:28pm On his first—and probably last—major trip to the Middle East, President Bush has a final chance to reorient and reinvigorate U.S. diplomacy in the region. If the past is any guide, however, Bush will miss another opportunity to reach out to U.S. adversaries and diminish their motivation to play the spoiler. » Read more

What Palestinians Will Do With $7.4 Billion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - January 4, 2008 - 2:27pm When donors met in Paris last month and awarded $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians, a larger-than-expected package to be distributed over the next three years, many in the international community showed a new readiness to support the new Israeli-Palestinian peace push and provide a safety net for it in the form of economic stability. » Read more

White House Downplays Bush Mideast Trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Jennifer Loven - January 4, 2008 - 2:26pm President Bush's aides all but ruled out a three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during his upcoming Mideast visit and dampened hopes that the president's high-profile travels would make tangible progress toward peace. "Just his going there is going to advance the prospects," Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser, said Thursday. "We're not looking for headline announcements." » Read more

Israel Settlement Growth An "impediment": Bush ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Matt Spetalnick - January 4, 2008 - 2:25pm U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday called Israeli settlement expansion an "impediment" to revived peace efforts in rare criticism of the Jewish state less than a week before his first presidential visit there. In an interview with Reuters, Bush voiced optimism for securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of 2008, a goal set at November's Annapolis conference that has been viewed with widespread skepticism. He also acknowledged that obstacles remained after decades of Middle East conflict. » Read more