Abbas: Fatah Ready To Control Crossings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Etgar Lefkovits - February 7, 2008 - 7:29pm

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that his security officials are ready to take responsibility for the border crossings in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip as part of a moribund international border agreement that was scrapped after the Islamic group seized control over the coastal strip last year. "We are ready to take over responsibility of the crossing points together with the European Union, the Egyptians and the Israelis," Abbas told a group of European parliamentarians in his West Bank headquarters.

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Olmert Too Weak To Deliver
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-sharif - February 6, 2008 - 7:59pm

n the intricate and volatile workings of Israeli politics a day is a lifetime and the chances of survival are measured not by how many are on one’s side but by the weakness or strength of one’s opponents. Thus Ehud Olmert finds himself relatively stronger after the final findings of the Winograd Commission on the 34-day-war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in the summer of 2006 were published last week.

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New Revelations On The Opinions Of Youth, Women And Educated Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Arab World For Research And Development - February 6, 2008 - 7:59pm

Youth and the Educated Palestinians are Becoming Less Supportive of Hamas and More Supportive of Fateh Women are still more Supportive of Hamas Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) had conducted an opinion poll dated 16-18 January 2008 after and during the latest Gaza attacks. A representative sample, of 3200 Palestinians, was interviewed in all West Bank and Gaza districts. The main results were published on January the 23rd showing a decline in the support for Fateh and a slight increase in the support for Hamas.

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Blair Calls For ‘urgency’ In Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - February 6, 2008 - 7:57pm

Tony Blair has warned that the current round of Middle East peace talks must be pursued with ”greater urgency and greater focus” if Israelis and Palestinian are to achieve their goal of a peace agreement by the end of the year.

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Us Condemns Suicide Bombing In Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 5, 2008 - 7:23pm

The United States on Monday condemned the suicide bombing that killed a woman in Israel, saying it underscored the need to make progress on the Middle East peace process launched in November. The White House also called on the Palestinian Authority to crack down on terrorism and criticized the Islamist movement Hamas for backing such attacks.

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The Israei Factor: Ranking The Presidential Candidates
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shmuel Rosner - February 4, 2008 - 7:59pm

Republican John McCain   The Arizona Senator believes America must give Israel whatever equipment and technology it needs for defense.

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Editorial: Uneasy Calm
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) February 4, 2008 - 7:53pm

After close to two weeks of unchecked inundation into Rafah by an estimated 700,000 of the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza, quiet once again reigns after Egyptian troops have closed the border. But for how long the calm will prevail and how long the border will be sealed is still undetermined. Because of the continuing Israeli siege of Gaza, another breach is bound to occur sooner or later.

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Trust Obama On Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Martin Peretz - (Opinion) February 4, 2008 - 7:50pm

Florida, of course, was a different story, but back in Iowa there was no need for Barack Obama or any other candidate to worry about the Jewish vote. There are 7,000 Jews in the entire state, including 100 hassidim, who work a kosher meat-packing plant in Pottsville.

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Obama's Israel Shuffle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Mother Jones
by Justin Elliott - (Opinion) February 4, 2008 - 7:49pm

Last week, when Barack Obama became the first major candidate to break the silence on the situation in Gaza, he didn't criticize Israel, whose blockade of a civilian population has been roundly condemned by human rights organizations, nor did he call for restraint from the United States' top ally in the Mideast. Instead, he fired off a letter to U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad with a resounding message—one that could have been mistaken for words straight from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) website.

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Brotherhood Sought
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al- Ahram
by Serene Assir - February 1, 2008 - 6:42pm

One week on from the mass act of popular refusal among Palestinians that broke the siege of Gaza, movement in and out of the occupied territory has being radically cut down as Egyptian Central Security forces were deployed in thousands to block the entry of Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula via Rafah and Arish. Meanwhile, calls to Egyptian authorities for a greater show of solidarity -- indeed, sovereignty from the will of Israel -- to break the siege imposed seven months ago on Gaza intensified over the course of the week.

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