January 18th

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

January 16th

Honorary Citizenship Of The Moon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - January 16, 2008 - 5:34pm "Daniel Barenboim, the world-renowned Israeli pianist and conductor, has received Palestinian citizenship" and a Palestinian passport, the Haaretz English edition reported on Monday, using a Reuters story. The Ynet version said that the Palestinian Authority had granted Palestinian citizenship to Barenboim, whereas The New York Times reported that the Argentinian-born Israeli pianist and conductor had agreed to accept Palestinian citizenship and an honorary Palestinian passport. » Read more

Haaretz Probe: Shin Bet Count Of Gaza Civilian Deaths Is Too Low ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - January 16, 2008 - 5:33pm Israeli security forces killed 810 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and 2007, Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin reported Sunday at the weekly cabinet briefing in Jerusalem. He estimated that some 200 of those killed were not clearly linked to terrorist organizations. » Read more

One Soldier's Assessment Of The Global War On Terror ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - January 16, 2008 - 5:32pm I do not spend much time mingling with officers in the United States armed forces, but when I do, usually at a conference or international gathering, or reading texts on the Web, I always come away from the experience more heartened than threatened. Presumably, so does President George W. Bush, who spends much of his time deploying or threatening to use the US military against terrorists around the world, Iran, or mainstream Islamist movements that defy the US. » Read more