Situation Assessment / What Bush Can And Can't Accomplish
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - January 9, 2008 - 6:26pm

All it took was for the engines of Air Force One to fire up to produce two major breakthroughs in talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The first was the announcement by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that they were willing to start talks dealing with the conflict's core issues. The second was Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman's promise not to cause a coalition crisis by withdrawing from the government during Bush's visit.

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The President Has Arrived
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Joharah Baker - (Opinion) January 9, 2008 - 6:24pm

No doubt, the subject of the hour is US President George W. Bush’s visit to Israel and Palestine, which begins today, January 9. Both Israel and the Palestinians are taking extraordinary measures to ensure that Bush’s visit proceeds without a hitch. In Jerusalem, where the US President will be staying, a reported 8,000 Israeli police and security guards have been stationed for his protection.

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Analysis: Bush Could Find Time Running Out For Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Richard Beeston - (Analysis) January 9, 2008 - 6:19pm

When President Bush set foot in Israel today for the first time in a decade, he may have been tempted to believe that peace could finally be at hand in that tortured land. On the apron of Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli leaders and dignitaries turned out in force to pay their respects to the man regarded as the Jewish state’s most powerful supporter. Tomorrow, Mr Bush will receive a no less respectful reception when he travels to the West Bank to be greeted by President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership.

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Bush Must Dispense Bitter Pills For Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Zbigniew Brzezinski - (Commentary) January 9, 2008 - 6:17pm

President George W. Bush embarks this week on a trip to the Middle East that may determine how history judges his legacy. So far, it is safe to say that the judgment will be largely negative. Mr Bush’s foreign policy has undermined America’s global legitimacy, not to mention his own credibility. He has plunged the US into a protracted conflict in the Gulf region while neglecting the increasingly ominous al-Qaeda challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Last, global public opinion has turned against the US.

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In The Middle East, No Time To Spare
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by George Moffett - January 9, 2008 - 6:12pm

As President Bush commences his twilight foray into Arab-Israeli diplomacy, he is confronted by a singular and regrettable fact: Israel's long-term survival is not necessarily a given. Threatened by Islamic radicalism, demographic trends, and advances in missile technology, the Jewish state may be living on borrowed time. If he is to help redeem Israel from a tenuous future, Mr. Bush must reiterate one message above all: There will be no peace without a viable Palestinian state.

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Mideast Leaders Vow To Refocus On Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Bourdreaux - January 9, 2008 - 6:09pm

As President Bush headed to the Middle East to check on their peace talks, Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed Tuesday to launch them in earnest, six weeks late. It was that long ago that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stood beside Bush at an international conference in Annapolis, Md., and announced the start of full-scale negotiations with the aim of creating a Palestinian state by the end of 2008.

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Bush's Trip To Mideast To Test His Credibility
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Usa Today
by Charles Levinson - January 9, 2008 - 6:06pm

President Bush is due in the Middle East on Wednesday to try to rekindle hope for a lasting peace, but first he'll have to win over skeptics such as Ghazi Bustami. "For seven years, Bush served Israel and made war," says Bustami, 31, the portly, soft-spoken Palestinian owner of a TV repair shop in this West Bank city. "Now with a few months left in his presidency he thinks of the Palestinians. But it's too late."

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Bush Nudges Israel, Palestinians On Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Anne Gearan - January 9, 2008 - 6:04pm

President Bush, in the Mideast to push along a peace deal by the end of his presidency, gave orders to both sides on Wednesday. He told Israelis that "illegal" settlement outposts in disputed land must go and told Palestinians that no part of their territories can be "a safe haven for terrorists."

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Hamas And Fatah Still At Loggerheads
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Manal Lutfi - January 8, 2008 - 6:15pm

Officials of the Palestinian opposition factions in Damascus have revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat their plans to hold a Palestinian national conference on 23 January to discuss the issue of the Palestinian refugees and Palestinian national rights. The officials said that most Palestinian factions will attend the conference but that the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine will not attend. They pointed out that it is likely that the Fatah Movement, which has received an invitation, will attend the meeting.

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Action, Please, An Interview With Ali Jarbawi
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) January 8, 2008 - 6:14pm

bitterlemons: Are you optimistic about US President George W. Bush's visit? Jarbawi: Palestinians are not optimistic. We always hear a lot of talk and promises but on the ground we see the opposite. Settlements are expanding, Israeli army incursions continue unabated, there are arrests, and land is confiscated. All these Israeli policies continue and we hear only promises. We need action rather than words. bitterlemons: What exactly do you see Washington's role as being?

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