Sharon, Savior Of The Settler, Killer Of Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - January 11, 2008 - 4:00pm Genius in statecraft is often slow to reveal itself. Genius in strategy often masquerades as folly. Consider the case of Ariel Sharon. An opinion poll conducted ahead of the second anniversary of his devastating January 4, 2006 cerebral hemorrhage, showed that 26.8 percent of Israelis believe that Sharon's stroke was punishment for his expulsion of thousands of settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip less than half a year before. » Read more

Bush Tells Olmert: End The Occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz January 11, 2008 - 3:59pm U.S. President George W. Bush implored senior cabinet ministers at a dinner yesterday evening to work to promote the peace process, telling them that the current situation cannot continue and efforts to achieve a peace treaty must be made. » Read more

Arabic Papers React To Bush Tour ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English January 11, 2008 - 3:57pm Around the Arab world, newspaper editorials have reacted both positively and negatively to the US president's visit to the region. George Bush himself described his visit as an attempt to "nudge" forward a recently revived peace-process, while some of the papers on Friday expressed a different view. Although Bush spoke of Israel's "occupation" of territory it seized in the 1967 conflict, he was clear that any "mutually agreed adjustments" would still leave Israel with settlements in the West Bank. » Read more

A Palestinian Exploration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al Hayat by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) January 11, 2008 - 3:54pm A few years after Lebanon gained its independence in 1943, the Palestinians were hit by what is known as the naqba - or 'catastrophe.' The Israelis seized more than half of their country and several Arab armies were unable to recapture the land. Thus, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees poured into neighboring Arab countries - including a certain small country barely managing its politics through a delicate sectarian system. » Read more

Welcome, Mr President, To The Misery You've Created ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jonathan Steele - (Commentary) January 11, 2008 - 3:53pm It is a well-deserved irony for George Bush that his first presidential visit to Israel coincided this week with the storm of excitement produced by the unexpected outcome of the two New Hampshire primaries. Nothing could better highlight the irrelevance of the final year of the Bush presidency. » Read more

Israel's Bethlehem Settlement Seen As Obstacle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph by Tim Butcher - January 11, 2008 - 3:51pm The Israeli settlement of Har Homa crowns a hill on the south-eastern approach to Jerusalem and towers over the birthplace of Jesus. It is built on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 war - which makes it a "settlement" in the eyes of the world - and shot up the agenda when Israel announced recently that it planned to build 307 more homes there. » Read more

George Bush Drinks In The Last-chance Casbah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist January 11, 2008 - 3:49pm GEORGE BUSH flew in to a fanfare of bugles and cynicism at the start of his tour of the Middle East this week. The cynicism, it must be said, is not misplaced. Although he said in Jerusalem that he detected “a new opportunity for peace”, he has waited too long to make his first visit as president to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Even if he did everything right in his final year, he does not have time to realise his “vision” of a free Palestine alongside an Israel at peace with its neighbours. » Read more

Bush Calls For Fund To Compensate Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - January 11, 2008 - 3:42pm US President George W. Bush on Thursday called for a compensation fund for Palestinian refugees as he set out what he said was the “point of departure” for negotiations on a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians this year. At the end of two days of meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank, Mr Bush sought to highlight his sympathy with the Palestinians more than on previous occasions and to dispel scepticism over the US’s readiness to lean on Israel. » Read more

Occupation Of Palestinian Land Must End, Bush Tells Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald Macintyre - January 11, 2008 - 3:37pm President George Bush last night called for Israel to end what he unequivocally called its "occupation" of territory seized in 1967 and proposed "compensation" as a means of solving the issue of Palestinian refugees. » Read more

U.s. Seen In Policy Retreat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Khaled Moussa Al-omrani, Adam Morrow - (Analysis) January 11, 2008 - 3:37pm Recent months have witnessed several notable political reorientations in the Middle East, involving Iran, the Gulf states, Egypt and Lebanon. Several experts say the changes reflect a shift in Washington's regional strategy following recent U.S. policy setbacks. » Read more