January 18th

President Bush — Neither A Peacemaker Nor A Warmonger ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Osama Al-sharif - January 18, 2008 - 6:37pm There were two sides to President Bush as he toured the Middle East last week. One was Bush the peacemaker, who called for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and vowed to see negotiations culminating in a peace treaty between the two sides before the end of his term in about a year. The other side was Bush the Iran basher — not exactly the warmonger since no one believes the president of the United States has the clout or the stomach to launch another war in this troubled region. » Read more

Is It A Budding Partnership? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) January 18, 2008 - 6:35pm Even the most sceptical of us would have to concede that things are better now than they were a few months ago, as they hasten to add that we have been here before and that this too shall pass. Yes, things are better: Palestinian and Israeli officials are talking, and final status issues are being discussed, though they are not being resolved. » Read more

The Recent Outbreak Of Violence In Gaza Only Serves Hamas' Enemies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) January 18, 2008 - 6:34pm The past week has seen a rapid degeneration from bad to worse in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's vow to continue waging "war" on the besieged territory does not bode well for more than one million civilians who live there. Having already been half-starved into submission by the economic strangulation imposed on them by Israel and the international community, Gazans now find themselves caught between an escalating battle between militants and Israeli forces. » Read more

Hard To Make Friends ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist January 18, 2008 - 6:32pm DURING half a century of American engagement with the Arab world, American presidents have tended to get nicer to the Arabs towards the end of their term, when they have less to lose at home by doing so. With his Middle East tour, George Bush has stuck to that rule. The difference is that, with America's failure to sort out Iraq or make peace between Israelis and Palestinians or to persuade Muslims that the war on terror is not unfairly directed at themselves, no other president has had to control quite so much damage. » Read more

Us Urges Ally Israel To Show Restraint In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) January 18, 2008 - 6:31pm The United States urged Israel Thursday to avoid the loss of innocent life in the violence-wracked Gaza Strip, but defended the Jewish state's right to strike against rocket and mortar attacks from Islamic militants. "Certainly they have every right to act in their self-defense and it is well documented the Kassam rocket attacks have been coming out of Gaza and are unabated at this point," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. » Read more

Peace No Closer After Bush’s Departure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Opinion) January 18, 2008 - 6:30pm As Air Force One took off from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport last week, taking President Bush off to the second leg of his Middle East tour, the air of optimism surrounding peace prospects in the region gave way to a more sober and downbeat approach. The promise held out by Bush of an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord before year’s end is now regarded, by experts and policymakers in Jerusalem and Washington, as unrealistic or even misguided. » Read more

Olmert Government Teeters As Lieberman Quits, Others May Follow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Roy Eitan - January 18, 2008 - 6:29pm A right-wing party delivered Ehud Olmert the most overt domestic rebuke yet to his attempts to seek a peace deal with the Palestinians by quitting the prime minister's coalition government. The pullout of the Yisrael Beiteinu party announced Wednesday comes just two weeks before what might be an even tougher challenge to Olmert: the publication of the final report on his handling of the 2006 Lebanon war. » Read more

Bush Speaks His Mind ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times (Editorial) January 18, 2008 - 6:28pm U.S. President George W. Bush may have trouble getting things done. He has no such trouble speaking his mind, however tortured the English in which he does so. He was the first American president to speak of a Palestinian state, back in 2001. It is true that he never used the term again until recently, but on his just completed Middle East tour he has been on a roll. » Read more

Hamas Police Force Recruits Women In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Taghreed El-Khodary - January 18, 2008 - 6:28pm The policemen of Hamas now have company: since the Islamic group took over here last June it has been recruiting policewomen as well. Since mid-August, 60 women have been accepted into the force. Unlike policemen, the women have not played any role in resisting the latest Israeli incursions, instead working mostly on cases that involve dealing with women, like drugs and prostitution, and helping out at police headquarters and the central jail. » Read more

Israel Closes Vital Gaza Crossings ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - January 18, 2008 - 6:26pm Israel sealed all border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Friday, cutting the flow of vital supplies in an attempt to stop Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli border towns. But the rockets kept flying and Israel hit back with airstrikes against a rocket squad, a Hamas government building and a Hamas militia base, killing one militant and two civilians, Hamas said. U.N. officials warned that the Israeli closure of the Gaza crossings would increase hardship in the impoverished territory of 1.4 million Palestinians. » Read more