A Comprehensive Approach to the Middle East Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by David Miliband - (Opinion) December 18, 2008 - 1:00am Next year needs to be an important year for the Arab-Israeli conflict. Unless we make real progress, the prospect of a two-state solution will slowly - or perhaps fast - slip away. The situation on the ground leaves too many people insecure, in poverty and despair, and is rapidly undermining the political process. While both sides are tiring of the conflict, they are also tiring, faster, of efforts to resolve it. » Read more

Palestinians Prefer Abbas over Haniyeh ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Angus Reid Global Monitor December 18, 2008 - 1:00am Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has lost support but remains the preferred choice to govern for many people in the Palestinian Territories, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. 48 per cent of respondents would vote for Fatah leader Abbas in the next presidential election, down five points since August. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is second with 39 per cent. 14 per cent of respondents are undecided. » Read more

Is the peace process irreversible? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttub - (Opinion) December 18, 2008 - 1:00am Lame-duck Palestinian, Israeli and US leaders are making serious effort these days to ensure that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process enters an irreversible track before they leave office. » Read more

Hamas’s Response: As Ugly as Sin ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) December 18, 2008 - 1:00am Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, the spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Hamas movement was kind enough to respond to my article entitled 'Religious Arrogance'. However, I wish he hadn't done so as his response was as ugly as sin. Hamas considered what I wrote “distortion” and “part of a campaign that is being carried out by some people in the interest of a political group whose aim is well known; to conceal the political downfall of Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas], and to attack forces of resistance and opposition in the interest of settling matters,” according to the Hamas spokesperson. » Read more

Will Bibi or Livni be any better? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - December 18, 2008 - 1:00am Unlike the just-concluded American election, where everyone is eagerly awaiting the change that has been promised, the ongoing election campaign in Israel which ends one month after President-elect Barack Obama settles in the White House, is noted for the absence of any similar commitments. If anything, the positions of the competing Israeli frontrunners have not been encouraging and even very alarming. » Read more

UN aid agency suspends food supplies to Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News December 18, 2008 - 1:00am A United Nations aid agency has suspended food deliveries to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip because it has run out of flour, the group said on Thursday. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) provided crucial supplies to 750,000 Palestinians in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip after Israel closed border crossings. "Food distribution for both emergency and regular programmes will be suspended ... until further notice," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said in a statement. » Read more

Obama and the Israel-Palestine Conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch by Jeff Halper - (Opinion) December 17, 2008 - 1:00am Writing recently in The Washington Post ("Middle East Priorities," Nov. 21), Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, two former US National Security Advisors, a Republican and a Democrat, declared: "We believe that the Arab-Israeli peace process is one issue that requires priority attention [from the incoming Obama Administration]." » Read more

Gaza and Israel brace for violence as truce nears end ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - December 18, 2008 - 1:00am As a six-month ceasefire with Israel neared its end on Thursday Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were divided on whether they wanted it renewed. But the majority seemed braced for a surge of violence. On its side of the tense border, Israel insisted the "lull" was in the Palestinians' interest and ought to continue indefinitely. But Israelis in the firing line of rockets from Gaza were also worried that the truce would soon be over. » Read more

Gaza militants launch more retaliatory strikes on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) December 18, 2008 - 1:00am Gaza fighters on Wednesday continued their retaliation for the killing of a member of a Palestinian resistance group on Monday, firing rockets into the Zionist state. Two people received shrapnel wounds and three cars were damaged as one of 15 rockets fired at southern Israel struck outside a supermarket in the city of Sderot, the army said. Israeli forces immediately launched an air strike in northern Gaza, hitting a rocket launcher that was about to fire, a military spokeswoman said. » Read more

Israel: Palestinian Militants Fire Rockets From Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - December 18, 2008 - 1:00am Palestinian militants in Gaza fired barrages of rockets at Israel for a second day on Wednesday, escalating tensions before a six-month truce is due to expire on Friday. One rocket landed in the parking lot of a busy shopping center in Sderot, an Israeli town near the Gaza border, wounding two civilians. At least 13 more rockets landed in open areas, according to the Israeli police, and the air force destroyed an armed rocket launcher in northern Gaza. The truce, which began on June 19, started to unravel in early November. » Read more