January 22nd, 2008

Israel Blames Gaza For Power Crisis But Agrees To Allow One Delivery Of Fuel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - January 22, 2008 - 7:11pm Israel agreed under intense international pressure last night to allow a one-off delivery of fuel and medicines to Gaza to avert a humanitarian crisis. Ehud Barak, the Defence Minister, said that he would allow the emergency shipment after the Gaza Strip's sole remaining power plant shut down for lack of fuel and UN officials gave warning that they would be forced to stop food handouts to about a million Gazans if the total blockade, imposed last week, was not lifted. » Read more

No Light, No Heat, No Bread: Stark Reality For The Powerless In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory Mccarthy - January 22, 2008 - 7:10pm When it opened its doors seven years ago, the European Gaza hospital was one of the biggest foreign investments in the long-troubled Gaza Strip and one of the leading medical centres in the Palestinian territories. Yesterday, the 250-bed hospital was sliding rapidly into crisis, turning away patients for routine operations and struggling to manage emergency cases, as the sole power plant in Gaza halted electricity production after Israel stopped all fuel supplies. » Read more

Leading Article: An Unlawful Policy Of Collective Punishment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent (Commentary) January 22, 2008 - 7:09pm The siege of Gaza has reached a vicious new intensity. Last Thursday, Israel blocked the delivery of fuel oil supplies to the Strip. The result is that Gaza's only power station has not functioned since the weekend. Hundred of thousands of homes in the territory have been left without power. Hospitals have been forced to rely on diesel generators. Bakeries and petrol stations have closed. International aid organisations working in the Strip have warned of a threat to sewage and water supplies if the blockade continues. » Read more

What Now For Hamas? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Martin Patience - (Analysis) January 22, 2008 - 7:07pm srael labelled the Hamas-controlled Gaza a "hostile entity". The Islamist movement refuses to recognise Israel arguing that it is an illegitimate state. Israel intensified the siege last week, saying the move was in response to heavy rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. Nowadays, Gaza is a territory where the economy has collapsed, power shortages are a daily occurrence, and Israeli air strikes are common. But how is Hamas faring under this pressure? » Read more

A Mideast Lesson For Bush ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe by H.d.s. Greenway - (Opinion) January 22, 2008 - 7:06pm PRESIDENT BUSH'S trip to the Middle East last week seems to have been an effort to blow some air into his sagging, anti-Iranian balloon. His Sunni allies in the region are indeed worried about the rising power and belligerency of Shi'ite Iran, but they also know that it was Bush's war in Iraq that empowered Iran, and they are not sure they trust him to come up with a solution. » Read more

What Does It Mean To Be The Pro-israel Candidate? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Prospect by Gershom Gorenberg - (Commentary) January 22, 2008 - 7:05pm For the record, Rudy Giuliani gives me the very deep creeps, relieved only by his current poor electoral prospects. I mention this because some people think he is the most pro-Israel of candidates. If so, may God protect Israel from its friends. » Read more

Stench Wafts Through Gaza As Sewage System Falters ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Rebecca Harrison - January 22, 2008 - 7:04pm Yussef Al-Jayar jolted awake this week when gallons of raw sewage spewed out of the pumping station next door and started to seep under his door and into his mattress. "We had to grab buckets and get the neighbours to help bail us out," the 74-year-old Palestinian said at his house in Gaza City, pointing to a mark about a metre above the floor where the rancid water reached. "It stank." Jayar and his family have just about scraped all the black slime off their walls since the main pipe burst at Gaza City's water pump no. » Read more

Palestinian Group Sounds Like Al Qaeda But Forgoes Violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - January 22, 2008 - 7:01pm A new fundamentalist player is emerging in Palestinian politics. The group sounds like Hamas – or even Al Qaeda – but doesn't support suicide bombings or secret militias. In recent months, it has shown it can put tens of thousands of supporters into the streets. » Read more

Red Cross Warns Of Gaza Crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Eliane Engeler - January 22, 2008 - 7:00pm The international Red Cross issued a dire warning on the state of basic services in Gaza on Tuesday, calling on Israel to lift a blockade it has imposed in response to increased rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. Israel eased the siege for a day on Tueday, allowing in shipments of fuel and medicine. But the International Committee of the Red Cross said aid needed to be allowed into the territory on a regular basis to prevent a complete collapse of health and sanitary services. » Read more

Gazans Fear Crisis After Four Days Of Blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Ellen Knickmeyer - January 22, 2008 - 6:59pm Four days into an Israeli blockade that has cut off food and fuel to the Gaza Strip, residents of the strip contemplated Monday how long it would be until disaster hit. One family of 13, shivering in the cold, counted its eight remaining candles. A bakery that normally feeds thousands had three days' worth of flour. Hospital generators with enough fuel for three days and no spare parts powered incubators in which twin boys born 2 1/2 months prematurely were being kept alive, their thin chests heaving convulsively. » Read more