Talk, But No Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) March 10, 2008 - 5:25pm

There are a few certainties when it comes to the Middle East. One is that Hamas militants will do anything to sabotage Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Another is that Israel will retaliate against serious assaults on its people. And a third is that without measurable improvements in the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians, a few spectacular acts of terrorism can derail even the best-intentioned peace talks.

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'this May Be The Last Chance'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gidi Weitz And Meron Rapoport - (Interview) March 6, 2008 - 7:39pm

Yasser Abed Rabbo is worried and one of the reasons for this becomes immediately apparent when we meet: An armed guard escorts him into his office on the third floor of a building in Ramallah midday on Saturday. "Who is he protecting you from - the Israelis or Hamas?" we ask. "From Hamas," he says without hesitating.

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Avoid Bush's Mideast Policies, Report Says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Federica Narancio - March 6, 2008 - 7:32pm

The Bush administration's attempt to reshape the Middle East after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks has not only failed but has also deepened existing conflicts and political instability, according to a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The result is a "new" Middle East, though different from what was anticipated. This new Middle East is one in which the threat of nuclear proliferation and sectarianism will pose a serious challenge to the next U.S. administration, argue the authors of the report, published late February.

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Palestinians Question Own Advocacy Group
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) March 6, 2008 - 7:19pm

The American Task Force on Palestine, a moderate group that has emerged in the past several years as the most prominent pro-Palestinian voice in Washington, is fighting off criticism from within the Palestinian American community that it has cozied up to the Bush administration at the expense of the Palestinian cause.

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' Birthright Palestine' Mimics Jewish World's Flagship Program
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Haviv Rettig - March 5, 2008 - 7:51pm

A new Palestinian NGO is taking a page out of the Jewish educator's handbook in its search to strengthen the connection of Palestinians overseas to their "historic homeland" and Palestinian society. The name of the program leaves no doubt as to its intent, or its inspiration. Birthright Palestine is described on its Web site as a "program created by native Palestinians for diaspora Palestinians."

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Forward From Gaza: How The U.s. Can Lead ((interview With Daniel C. Kurtzer)
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
by S. Daniel Abraham - (Interview) March 5, 2008 - 7:51pm

The problem right now is that everyone is looking only at tomorrow. There is no long-term thinking or activity taking place. The Israelis and Hamas are engaged in an effort to hurt each other. Hamas finds it in its own very significant interest right now to not only inflict some pain on Israel but to demonstrate that it has the capacity to hit Ashkelon and to withstand Israeli incursions.

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Arab Initiative Still The Best Deal Around
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) March 5, 2008 - 7:50pm

The Arab summit, scheduled for the latter part of March in Damascus, is in serious trouble even before it begins because of several political discords among Arab states as well as the region's continuing violent conflicts. Whereas a resolution to the crisis in Lebanon over the selection of a new president seems a prerequisite to holding the summit in Damascus, no one expects its leaders to even attempt to resolve the many other crises that have plagued the Arab world.

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Vanity's Fair?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - (Blog) March 5, 2008 - 7:44pm

A well-timed Vanity Fair expose caused a flap on the first day of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the Middle East. The article, "The Gaza Bombshell," by David Rose, cited confidential documents and interviews to allege that the Hamas takeover stemmed from a secret Bush administration plan to use Fatah security forces to confront Hamas. Hamas, the article said, caught wind of the plan and acted before Fatah could, seizing the Gaza Strip.

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Kosovo Raises Some Relevant Issues
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 4, 2008 - 6:35pm

If the current Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations fail--at the time of writing they have been suspended by the Palestinian side in protest at Israel's military response to rocket fire from Gaza--the Palestinian leaders in Ramallah ostensibly have a number of options. They can launch a third intifada in the West Bank. They can petition the international community to compel Israel to accept a single bi-national state solution. And they can declare independence.

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A Dark Overcast Warm Winter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Dr. Bernard Sabella - (Opinion) March 3, 2008 - 7:02pm

The weather here in Jerusalem and Gaza is overcast with many a dark cloud. It mirrors what is felt inside by so many Palestinians whose loved ones have been killed or injured by Israel’s army “Warm Winter” campaign against Gaza. The 110 Palestinians killed so far since Wednesday February 27th include at least ten children, the youngest a few months old, and an equal number of women. “Warm Winter” continues and it has put all of us Palestinians in a state of shock.

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