February 15, 2008

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

An article in the Agence France-Press uses the plight of the flower industry in Gaza to highlight the effects of Israel’s economic lockdown (5). The Boston Globe discuses Imad Mughniyeh’s life and sudden death (2.) The Foreword’s Nathan Guttman covers’ Salam Fayyad’s speech to ATFP (3) and George Hishmeh argues that a lack of action from the Bush administration has led to dwindling hope in the peace process (4.) Steven Erlanger analyzes Israel’s Gaza predicament in the International Herald Times (8).

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Israelis Seek Support For Gaza Attack, Abduct 70 In West Bank

 

While arresting 70 Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, Israel took nearly 70 foreign ambassadors to its border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as part of a diplomatic campaign to enlist international support for tougher action against the enclave's Hamas rulers.

Hamas Leader In Egypt For Border Talks

A leading member of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas entered Egypt from Gaza on Thursday to resume talks with the Egyptian government on arrangements at the border, a security source said.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Gazan who was Palestinian foreign minister in a short-lived government led by Hamas, crossed with about four other Hamas officials and headed for the coastal town of El Arish, the capital of the Egyptian border province.

 

Israel's Quandary In Gaza

JERUSALEM: Israel hoped that by pulling its settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005, it would also leave behind responsibility for the Gazans. With the help of the West and more moderate Arab countries, the Palestinian Authority could begin to create a prosperous state, the new Palestine, as if the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank were somehow irrelevant.

Israeli Generals Oppose Checkpoints

Checkpoints and roadblocks in the occupied West Bank are harming the Middle East peace process according to a group of retired Israeli generals.

The 12 senior former commanders have written a letter to Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, urging the army to remove roadblocks saying that they fuel Palestinian hatred of Israel. 

 

The Peacebuilding Prince

Prince Hassan bin Talal, brother of the late King Hussein of Jordan, is worried about the future of Christians all over the Arab world, including the Holy Land—the name he gives to the combined area of Israel, the Palestinian region, and his homeland of Jordan. The prince holds two degrees from Oxford University and is renowned worldwide for his views on the relationship of religion and society.

Adrian Hamilton: Democracy Has Become A Devalued Concept

It's not only the concept of humanitarian intervention that has been fatally undermined by the decade of Bush and Blair. It is the whole ideal of promoting democracy abroad. Not that either the White House or Whitehall have given up on the rhetoric. Indeed, President Bush still goes on about America's historic role in promoting democracy around the world. It was the one single theme that he picked up from the neo-cons at the beginning of his administration and has hammered on about ever since.

Palestinians Say Militant Hub Is Now Safe Town; Israel Unconvinced

Local Hamas activists have pledged to obey the law, Mideast envoy Tony Blair has taken a stroll through once gunman-infested neighborhoods and policemen are now the only ones carrying weapons in public

in this former militant hub.

 

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