November 14th

Bush's Turn To Step Into Mideast Peace-making ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Steve Holland - November 14, 2007 - 12:41pm Richard Nixon left office hopeful that "peace can settle at last over the Middle East." Jimmy Carter staked his career on it. Bill Clinton told Yasser Arafat, "I am a failure, and you have made me one." Now George W. Bush becomes the latest president to try to resolve the bitter, long-standing differences between close U.S. ally Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

Volatile City Tests Palestinian Police, And Peace Hopes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - November 14, 2007 - 12:39pm This lawless city in the northern West Bank is ruled by rival militias and criminal gangs, an especially gritty illustration of why a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank, as expected under a future peace deal, gives Israelis pause. » Read more

Economic Woes Behind New Unrest In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Karin Laub - November 14, 2007 - 12:38pm The backdrop to the latest explosion of violence in the Gaza Strip: skeletons of unfinished apartment towers, shuttered factories, empty store shelves and skyrocketing prices for bread and cigarettes. Five months of rule by the Islamic militants of Hamas and isolation from the world have taken a heavy toll on the already impoverished territory, and frustration over the hardship helped drive this week's mass rally by the rival Fatah movement that ended in mayhem. » Read more

November 13th

What The Palestinians Must Do ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) November 13, 2007 - 3:58pm It is essential that the impending regional meeting in Annapolis be successful. Failure at Annapolis would translate into a victory for the extremist elements in Israel, Palestine and throughout the region. Without success at Annapolis the next phase of the Palestinian-Israeli relationship will find a far less forthcoming Israeli government squaring off against an implacable Hamas. » Read more

Analysis: Hamas Losing Grip On Gaza, Fatah Gaining Support ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel And Avi Issacharoff - November 13, 2007 - 3:57pm The Hamas gunmen who sought to disperse the crowd at the rally Monday in Gaza marking the third anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat did not use rubber-coated bullets or tear gas; they simply opened fire on the crowd, leaving seven dead and dozens injured. In so doing, they added to the pressure under which the Islamic organization is laboring five months after it took over the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces. » Read more

The Prime Minister Vs. Public Opinion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah by Caelum Moffatt - (Opinion) November 13, 2007 - 3:54pm Most commentaries inundating the press at the moment meticulously analyze the consequences of a failed summit and center on the probable break out of another Intifada, as highlighted by Ahmad Qurei. This may well be the case but it is important to recognize that a successful summit could also cause uproar amongst Israelis which in turn could affect the Palestinians and hinder any positive steps taken. » Read more

Editorial: Black Mark On Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) November 13, 2007 - 3:52pm The death of at least six people at a rally in Gaza organized by Fatah to mark the third anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death is a black mark against Hamas. It could well prove fatal for the movement. There was no reason for Hamas security forces to open fire on the crowd — other than, of course, the fact they could not stomach the fact that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had gathered in the center of Gaza, waving Fatah flags and carrying pictures of the late Palestinian leader. A more potent sign of Hamas losing the support of Gazans could hardly be imagined. » Read more

Hamas And Fatah Are Betraying Arafat's Legacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) November 13, 2007 - 3:51pm  Yasser Arafat has been dead for three years, harried to an early death by the Israeli siege of his battered presidential compound in Ramallah. Two camps - his own secular Fatah faction and the Islamist group Hamas - that claim to carry on his struggle for Palestinian rights have effectively been at war for months. In so doing, they have undermined their shared goal of justice for the Palestinian people and trampled a principle of ideological inclusiveness that was perhaps the most important hallmark of Arafat's leadership. » Read more

Gaza Violence Shows Worsening Divide ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Martin Patience - November 13, 2007 - 3:50pm The violence during a rally to mark the third anniversary of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death illustrates the deadly tensions between the two main Palestinian political factions. Six Palestinians were killed and dozens other injured as clashes broke out between Hamas and Fatah supporters at the Gaza memorial. Both sides laid the blame for the violence at each other's door. » Read more

Adam Lebor Looks Forward To Israel’s Sixtieth Birthday ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Quarterly by Adam Lebor - (Commentary) November 13, 2007 - 3:49pm Sitting in a cafe on Shenkin street in Tel Aviv, reading the letters page of the Jerusalem Post, I much enjoyed an exchange between two American Zionist machers. M. J. Rosenberg, of the doveish Israel Policy Forum, opined that a true Zionist lives in Tel Aviv. » Read more