March 7th, 2008

Heart Of Darkness
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) March 7, 2008 - 6:35pm

This is one of those times when the Israeli-Palestinian situation seems to be in a free fall. Yesterday’s terror attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva followed the Gaza incursion which followed the shelling of Sderot and now Ashkelon. It is becoming hard even to recall the few years, only a decade ago, when Israeli-PLO security cooperation had reduced terror in Israel to virtually zero and Israeli bargain hunters and day trippers flooded the Arab towns of the West Bank every weekend. And yet here we are.

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Let’s Make A Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Editorial) March 7, 2008 - 6:32pm

Of all the cruel ironies in the latest Israeli-Palestinian flare-up around Gaza, perhaps the oddest is the sight of Islamic militants stepping up their bombardment of Sderot and expanding their rockets’ range to reach major Israeli cities — and then accusing Israel of escalating the conflict when it shoots back. Israel’s response to the relentless rocket fire raining down from Gaza may not be effective in stopping the bombardment, but it can hardly be called unjustified. A country that’s under military assault is obliged to act.

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Israel On Alert, Gaza Braces After Jerusalem Killings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
March 7, 2008 - 6:30pm

Israel was on alert and Gaza braced for reprisals on Friday as crowds mourned eight teenagers killed by a Palestinian gunman at a Jewish religious school in an attack claimed by the Islamist Hamas. Residents of the impoverished Gaza Strip were bracing for punitive Israeli military strikes after the attack which shook the faltering peace talks and provoked strong condemnation from around the world.

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The Recent Gaza Escalation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Americans For Peace Now - March 7, 2008 - 6:29pm

Over the past few days Israelis, Palestinians, and the world have witnessed the unfolding of a serious and dangerous military escalation between Israel and Hamas. This crisis is a symptom of failed policies, irresponsible actions, and a lack of strategic thinking. Further escalating the violence in Gaza may deal a fatal blow to the credibility and viability of the peace process, and would erode support for the peace process among both Israelis and Palestinians.

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Jerusalem Braces After Gun Rampage
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Australian
by Martin Chulov - March 7, 2008 - 6:24pm

Tensions were heightened by the fact that the gunman, who killed eight students - most of them 15- and 16-year-olds - and wounded eight more in the library of the Jewish religious college on Thursday night local time, was an Israeli resident of east Jerusalem, with full access to the city.

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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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