January 25th, 2008

Abu Mazen’s Conundrum ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah by Caelum Moffatt - January 25, 2008 - 6:24pm Israel’s current siege of Gaza must be inflicting the Palestinian President, Abu Mazen, with a sharp pain to the temples. This ache, which has been intermittent since June 2007, is undoubtedly caused this time by the confusion over how to act in response to the newest demonstration of Israeli aggression. The 1.5 million people of Gaza, the president’s people, are caught up as innocent victims in a fray between Palestinian rockets from the coastal strip and Israeli air strikes. » Read more

Analysis: Hamas Outmaneuvers Israel With Three Quick Moves ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amoss Harel - (Analysis) January 25, 2008 - 6:23pm In a week when Israeli leaders were boasting about their successful adoption of the conclusions in the Winograd Committee's interim report, which included in their view the attack on Syria, recent events on the Gaza Strip and Egyptian border are raising concerns to the contrary: Perhaps not enough lessons were learned or have been implemented. » Read more

The Siege Of Gaza Has Failed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) January 25, 2008 - 6:22pm While politicians and the media are waiting with bated breath for publication of the Winograd report on the Second Lebanon War, a new situation is taking shape on the Egyptian border that might eventually result in a new investigative committee. The diplomatic and security situation that arose on the Israeli-Egyptian border once the Egypt-Gaza border was flung wide open has apparently not yet penetrated the Israeli consciousness. But it is time to start asking pointed questions about the events of this week instead of about those of July 2006. » Read more

Ambassador Vs. Ambassador: Is Obama Good For Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shmuel Rosner - January 25, 2008 - 6:21pm The debate surrounding Barack Obama's attitudes toward Israel refuses to calm down. On Wednesday, Obama sent a letter to the U.S. ambassador to the UN, calling upon him to make sure that any Security Council decision dealing with the events in Gaza will not be biased against Israel. But this did not yet convince all the doubters, Jewish and Israeli. Obama also has quite a few supporters in the Jewish community, but those opposing him are fairly vocal, and seem to be even more so as the campaign progresses. » Read more

Mary Dejevsky: The Town That Measures Life In 15-second Intervals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Mary Dejevsky - (Opinion) January 25, 2008 - 6:19pm You can tell almost as much about a country from the things they want you to see as the things they would prefer you didn't. And just now one of things Israel really wants the outside world to see is daily life as it is lived in the depressed southern town of Sderot. » Read more

Busting The Blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist January 25, 2008 - 6:18pm UNDER the pressure of Israeli sanctions, Gaza this week blew a gasket. On January 23rd Palestinian militants blasted holes in the metal wall along the sealed Gaza-Egypt border. A bulldozer broadened the gaps. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of Palestinians poured through to buy fuel, food, spare parts and other supplies. Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, was annoyed but ordered his troops to let them in, saying they were “starving due to an Israeli siege”. » Read more

Israel Torn Over Relationship With Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Martin Patience - January 25, 2008 - 6:17pm Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert delivered a keynote speech on Wednesday night presenting himself as an experienced leader in difficult times. But notably absent was any mention of the tens of thousands of Palestinians crossing from Gaza into Egypt after the militant group Hamas blew up sections of the border fence. Israel is closely monitoring the situation but is reluctant to use force to end the crisis, which would be likely to spark international condemnation. » Read more

Israel Considers Palestinian Proposal To Open Up Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur January 25, 2008 - 6:16pm The Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was offered a glimmer of hope Thursday that Israel would ease its blockade of Gaza. He used a discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to call on Israel to open up "passages" to the territory which he proposed the authority should oversee which he said should be set up within days. The Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak replied that his government had stated its willingness to consider the passages » Read more

Gaza-egypt Border Breach Has Israel Re-thinking Strategy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Roy Eitan - January 25, 2008 - 6:15pm The few hundred pounds of TNT that brought Rafah’s border wall tumbling down also has shaken Israel’s strategy of isolating Hamas. The Olmert government watched helplessly on Wednesday as the Islamist group, responding to Israel’s tightening of its blockade on the Gaza Strip, blew holes through the border wall between Gaza and Egypt, enabling tens of thousands of Palestinians to surge across the border and stock up on food, fuel and other provisions. » Read more

Politics-us: Neocons Shaken, But Not Deterred ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Jim Lobe - January 25, 2008 - 6:14pm Almost exactly five years after it reached its zenith with the invasion of Iraq, the influence of neo-conservatives has waned sharply in Washington, as their nemeses, the "realists" in the national security bureaucracy, have increasingly asserted control over U.S. foreign policy. » Read more