February 11, 2008

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

ATFP's Ziad Asali and Ghaith al-Omari discuss empowering Palestinian moderates (1). Daniel Gavron writes in the New York Times about Israel's reasons to celebrate...and plan for the long term (2). The Toronto Star's Oakland Ross highlights the industry of necessity in Gaza(4). Ghassan Khatib looks at the long term consequences of Palestinian division (5). The Jerusalem Post reports on Hamas' plans (6) and examines the legitimacy of Israel's response (7). Agence France-Presse examines the passing of Congressman Tom Lantos from an Israeli perspective(9). Finally, Angus Reid reports on a poll suggesting continued Palestinian disapproval of Hamas(11).

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Ramon: Agreement Of Principles, Not Full Peace Deal, Likely In 2008

Vice Premier Haim Ramon on Monday appeared to scale back expectations for reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians this year, saying instead that Israel hoped the two sides would reach a declaration of principles and not necessarily a final agreement.

On a January visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, President George Bush said that an Israeli-Palestinian "peace agreement should happen, and can happen, by the end of this year."

In Gaza, Cars Are Cooking With Gas

At least one line of business still seems to be booming in this benighted land, and it does not involve firing rockets.

It involves tinkering with cars.

"We are under siege," says Ali Awad, 48, an automobile mechanic who is especially adept at a certain procedure ideally suited to the strapped circumstances that nowadays prevail in the Gaza Strip, where punitive sanctions imposed by Israel have crippled an already stumbling economy.

"We have to survive. We cannot just go out and steal."

Palestinian Divisions Serve No One

Palestinians themselves are first and foremost to blame for the breakdown in their internal relations and the split between Fateh and Hamas and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This is especially true of the fierce military clashes in Gaza that led to this division between the two major Palestinian factions and the two main areas of Palestinian territory.

Hamas: Don't Rule Out More Border Breaches

"Don't rule out the possibility of hoards of Palestinians bursting through the borders of Israel and Jordan just like they did at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt," Hamas's deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk warned on Saturday.

In an interview with Qatari newspaper Ayam, Marzouk said that Hamas would carry out suicide bombings "as required," and insisted that Israel could not break the spirit of the Palestinian people.

Analysis: Is Gaza Blockade A Legitimate Tool Of War?

The British foreign secretary issued a carefully crafted statement this Friday expressing "concern" at reports that Israel had reduced electricity supplies to Gaza and called on Israel to "reverse its decision" and to "fulfill its obligations under international law."

The statement also "condemned" the suicide attack in Dimona and called upon the Palestinians to stop rocket attacks against "innocent civilians."

Olmert\'s Career Barely Surviving

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert\'s political career has managed, by the skin of its teeth, to survive the recent Winograd Report, which lambasted the Israeli government and the Israeli military\'s handling of the second Lebanon War in 2006.

However, if the bereaved parents of the Israeli soldiers who died and the reservists who survived the war have anything to do with it, Olmert will soon be history.

Israel Mourns Holocaust Survivor Lantos

Israel on Monday hailed the late US congressman Tom Lantos, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who played a key role in rallying US support for the Jewish state.

Israel "expresses great sorrow" over the loss of the 80-year-old Lantos, who died earlier the same day from cancer of the esophagus, the foreign ministry said.

Lantos "was a leader in promoting Israeli-US ties in Congress. His commitment to human rights and the commemoration of the Holocaust were the pillars of his public work," it said.

Rice To Mideast Next Week To Push Peace Talks

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories next week to push peace talks stalled amid escalating violence, Palestinian officials said on Sunday.

Rice "will visit us within the coming days and she will try to push the negotiations," Ahmed Qorei, the former prime minister heading the Palestinian team in the revived Middle East peace talks, told journalists.

Palestinians Still Reject Hamas Actions In Gaza

The vast majority of Palestinians continue to think negatively of Hamas’ forceful takeover of the Gaza Strip last year, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. 72 per cent of respondents oppose the group’s actions, down two points since December.

Hamas Leaders Go Into Hiding As Israel Plans Targeted Killings

Leaders of the ruling Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip have scaled back their public appearances and stepped up other security measures, fearing
Israeli assassination attempts in response to a wave of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel, Hamas officials said Monday.

The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet internal security service are preparing to step up assassinations against key Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip in response to the continued Qassam rocket attacks against Sderot.

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