Israel Sees Upside In Hole In Gaza Wall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - January 25, 2008 - 6:13pm

When Palestinians toppled a metal wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt Wednesday, many expected Israeli officials to howl over Egypt allowing Hamas "terrorists" to rearm. After all, a cornerstone of the current peace process was supposed to be isolating Gaza. But the Israeli response has been surprisingly muted. In fact, some Israeli officials see some advantage in the breach.

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An Embattled Olmert Stresses Peace Credentials At Herzliya
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Dina Kraft - January 24, 2008 - 6:01pm

ghting for his political life, Ehud Olmert told the Israeli people that keeping him in office was their best hope of reaching the promised land of peace. "There is no other option to what I am offering," Olmert said Wednesday in his keynote address at the Herzliya Conference, referring to ambitious peace efforts with the Palestinians launched under the aegis of the United States at the Annapolis peace conference last November.

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Trapped In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) January 24, 2008 - 5:56pm

The neglect and mistreatment of the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip is a disgrace, and a very dangerous one. They are pawns in the struggle among Hamas, which controls Gaza and uses the territory to bombard Israel daily; its rivals in the Fatah movement that run the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank; and Israel. If something isn’t done quickly to address the Gazans’ plight, President Bush’s Annapolis peace process could implode.

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Israel Vows To Keep Pressure On Gaza To Stop Rocket Salvoes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - (Analysis) January 23, 2008 - 8:39pm

Despite international and Arab protests, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has indicated Israel will keep up its pressure on the Gaza Strip in an effort to force Hamas and other Palestinian militias to stop their cross-border rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. But Israel relaxed its blockade somewhat on Tuesday after masses of Palestinians tried to cross the Gaza-Egypt border. On Wednesday, the crowds succeeded in knocking down the border fence, and thousands of Palestinians streamed into Egypt to stock up on supplies before returning to Gaza.

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Editorial: Even A President...
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
(Editorial) January 23, 2008 - 8:38pm

Even a president of the United States must get used to being defied by his enemies. But it is far more galling to be defied by one's friends. And when a president of the United States on one of his extremely rare visits to the Middle East manages to get humiliatingly defied by Saudi Arabia and Israel on the same trip, something is clearly very wrong somewhere. That was the hapless fate of U.S. President George W. Bush on his much heralded swing through the region to promote his current favorite causes of peace and democracy.

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A Mideast Lesson For Bush
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
by H.d.s. Greenway - (Opinion) January 22, 2008 - 7:06pm

PRESIDENT BUSH'S trip to the Middle East last week seems to have been an effort to blow some air into his sagging, anti-Iranian balloon. His Sunni allies in the region are indeed worried about the rising power and belligerency of Shi'ite Iran, but they also know that it was Bush's war in Iraq that empowered Iran, and they are not sure they trust him to come up with a solution.

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Palestinian Group Sounds Like Al Qaeda But Forgoes Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - January 22, 2008 - 7:01pm

A new fundamentalist player is emerging in Palestinian politics. The group sounds like Hamas – or even Al Qaeda – but doesn't support suicide bombings or secret militias. In recent months, it has shown it can put tens of thousands of supporters into the streets.

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A Shameless Deserter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - January 18, 2008 - 6:39pm

There is nothing more dishonorable than a soldier who deserts his unit during a war. There is nothing more cowardly and despicable than a soldier who runs off and abandons his comrades on the battlefield to save his own skin. How selfish, spineless and ugly of the Yisrael Beiteinu party to quit the coalition while a bloody battle is underway in Gaza. How egotistical of its chairman, Avigdor Lieberman, to choose the worst possible moment to shirk his government responsibility.

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President Bush — Neither A Peacemaker Nor A Warmonger
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-sharif - January 18, 2008 - 6:37pm

There were two sides to President Bush as he toured the Middle East last week. One was Bush the peacemaker, who called for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and vowed to see negotiations culminating in a peace treaty between the two sides before the end of his term in about a year. The other side was Bush the Iran basher — not exactly the warmonger since no one believes the president of the United States has the clout or the stomach to launch another war in this troubled region.

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Bush Speaks His Mind
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
(Editorial) January 18, 2008 - 6:28pm

U.S. President George W. Bush may have trouble getting things done. He has no such trouble speaking his mind, however tortured the English in which he does so. He was the first American president to speak of a Palestinian state, back in 2001. It is true that he never used the term again until recently, but on his just completed Middle East tour he has been on a roll.

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