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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Putting Humpty Together Again In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Tim Mcgirk - February 1, 2008 - 6:27pm

Egypt's efforts to restore order on its breached border with Gaza suffered a setback Wednesday in Cairo, when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused to talk to the leaders of Hamas. Needing a Palestinian partner to police the Rafah crossing, President Hosni Mubarak had invited his Palestinian counterpart to meet with leaders of the Islamist movement that has, since last summer, been the only effective authority in Gaza. But Abbas's refusal to acknowledge the facts on the ground created by Hamas's takeover of the territory left the Egyptians with no easy way forward.

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Hamas Scores Another Victory: Israeli Media
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Mohammed Mar’i - January 25, 2008 - 6:24pm

Israeli media outlets yesterday said that Hamas has added another victory to its achievements in handling the strict siege imposed on Gaza Strip since the movement ousted the security sources of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials of rival Fatah movement last June.

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What Now For Hamas?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
by Martin Patience - (Analysis) January 22, 2008 - 7:07pm

srael labelled the Hamas-controlled Gaza a "hostile entity". The Islamist movement refuses to recognise Israel arguing that it is an illegitimate state. Israel intensified the siege last week, saying the move was in response to heavy rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. Nowadays, Gaza is a territory where the economy has collapsed, power shortages are a daily occurrence, and Israeli air strikes are common. But how is Hamas faring under this pressure?

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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.

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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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Cautious Hope For Peaceful Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Asia Times
by Kaveh Afrasiabi - January 2, 2008 - 2:34pm

Unlike 2007, a rather bloody year in the history of modern Middle East, 2008 should have a better prospect for peace than at any time since 2001, year zero in the American-declared "global war on terror", assuming that the lame-duck George W Bush administration does not somehow stifle that prospect.

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Rice\'s History Lessons
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) December 28, 2007 - 2:29pm

With the Annapolis conference and the Paris fund-raising effort to aid the Palestinians behind us, the Middle East peace process is now in need of constant vigilance. President George W. Bush will visit the region in January, but it is Condoleezza Rice who will be looked upon to provide a guiding hand. The new peace effort is very much her baby. A look at the war in Lebanon last summer, and Rice's management of it, provides some clues to the challenges ahead.

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Bush's Itinerary Includes Jerusalem, The West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 19, 2007 - 3:06pm

President Bush will make his first trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank next month to push Israel and the Palestinians toward peace, the White House announced yesterday. Bush also plans to stop during his nine-day trip in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The trip, which begins Jan. 8, comes after a conference in Annapolis last month reenergized White House efforts toward assisting Israel and the Palestinians in forming an independent Palestinian homeland.

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Gaza's Donkeys In Demand As Fuel Crisis Mounts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald Macintyre - December 10, 2007 - 7:07pm

It's not surprising the buyers at yesterday's weekly donkey market here were looking over their prospective purchases with care. They opened the jaws of the tolerant beasts to examine their teeth, and test-drove them, harnessed to a cart, out of the crowded yard to gauge their pulling power.

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