Israel Bars Access From W. Bank, Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
March 19, 2008 - 7:19pm

Israel declared a heightened security alert on Wednesday and barred Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from entering the country, fearing Hezbollah guerrillas may try to carry out a major attack during holiday celebrations this week. The Purim holiday coincides with the end of a 40-day mourning period for Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bombing in Syria last month. Israel has denied involvement, but the Lebanese guerrilla group has blamed Israel and vowed revenge.

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Barghouti, Abbas Popular For Palestinian Voters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Angus Reid Global Monitor
March 18, 2008 - 6:51pm

Two members of Fatah are the most popular presidential contenders for residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO). 24.3 per cent of respondents say Marwan Barghouti is their favourite candidate in the next presidential election, while 23.1 per cent prefer incumbent Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas member Ismail Haniyeh is third with 12.4 per cent, followed by Mustafa Barghouthi of the Palestinian National Initiative with 9.5 per cent, and former national security advisor Mohammed Dahlan with 5.2 per cent.

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Right-wing Israelis Storm Arab Area
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
March 17, 2008 - 6:49pm

Dozens of right-wing Jewish activists on Sunday stormed the Arab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem of a Palestinian gunman who killed eight Israelis at a Jewish seminary earlier this month, police and witnesses said. Dozens of protesters broke through police barriers and hurled stones at cars and houses in the neighbourhood of Jabal Mukaber, where the family of the seminary attacker lives. About 200 people had gathered outside the village and a number of protesters broke through the police barrier, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

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Rendering The Pa Irrelevant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) March 17, 2008 - 6:45pm

Although the calm in Gaza did not last for more than a few days it marks a very significant development in the ongoing power struggle between Israel, Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

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Uncritical Merkel Gets Red Carpet Treatment In Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Speigel International
by Ralf Beste, Ralf Neukirch And Christoph Schult - March 17, 2008 - 6:42pm

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become Israel's staunchest ally in Europe. This week, the country has pulled out all the stops to welcome the German leader. Back home, though, many wish Merkel would finally speak up about Israeli excesses in the Gaza Strip.

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Illegitimate Use Of Mourning
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) March 10, 2008 - 5:49pm

We can assume that the young people who harassed Education Minister Yuli Tamir outside the Mercaz Harav yeshiva as she emerged from there yesterday after consoling the mourners, were not sent to do so by the rabbis who head the yeshiva. And nevertheless, the unbridled incitement shouted by the youths found an echo among the national-religious leadership, its rabbis and its educators.

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Israeli Intel Report Paints Grim Picture
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
March 10, 2008 - 5:45pm

Israel's intelligence community painted a bleak picture of threats facing the Jewish state. The report – an annual assessment somewhat similar to Washington's National Intelligence Estimate, or NIE, was delivered to the Israeli cabinet on Sunday.   The report singles out Iran and Hamas as the two most pertinent threats to the Jewish State. It comes on the heels of an attack against Jewish religious students in Jerusalem last week, the worst such attack in four years.  

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Fatah Must Reinvent Itself, Or Risk Irrelevance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Mouin Rabbani - (Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:43pm

With preparations accelerating, it seems increasingly likely that Fatah, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, will hold its Sixth General Conference during 2008. Yet given the advanced state of disintegration in which the movement finds itself, it may well be a case of too little too late. Simply put, Fatah's very survival now hangs in the balance.

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In The Name Of The Palestinian Cause
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Mshari Al-zaydi - (Opinion) March 10, 2008 - 5:42pm

  Question: Who is currently in control of Gaza, or rather who has been in control of Gaza until the recent Israeli raids took place? The answer: Hamas.   Next question: Who is in charge of the decision making process within Hamas, its funding and its foreign affairs? The answer: Khalid Mishal, head of the Hamas politburo and he is located in Damascus.   One last question: What or who is the major influence upon Mishal?

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Hamas Wages Iran’s Proxy War On Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Marie Colvin - March 10, 2008 - 5:37pm

The Hamas commander was in a hurry. Hunched forward in a navy-blue parka, with the wind-chapped skin and drawn eyes of someone who had been outdoors all night, he had just returned from the front line with Israel. The whine of drones overhead signalled that his enemy was hunting for blood. For someone who had survived the fiercest fighting between Israelis and Palestinians since 2000 and the deaths of scores of his fellow fighters, the commander, already a senior figure in his late twenties, appeared remarkably composed.

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