March 6, 2008

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

A Nathan Guttman opinion in The Forward examines the role of ATFP and the criticisms it faces in advocating for a two-state solution (1). The New York Times reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to resume talks with Israel, although when remains uncertain (2). In the Washington Post, Griff Witte discusses how barriers continue to be build in the West Bank despite promises of relief (4). The Middle East Times comments on a report released by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace concerning Bush’s mideast policies (7). Also in the Middle East Times an editorial analyses the current gaza situation (8).

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Under Pressure, Abbas Says He’ll Talk Peace, But Actual Dialogue May Be Remote

After coming under heavy pressure from the United States, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said Wednesday that he intended to resume negotiations with Israel on a peace plan.

But he did not say when he would return to talks, and he is under political pressure at home not to do so if the Palestinian death toll continues to rise from Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Picking Up Pieces, Gazans Debate Israel Incursion

In a small shop by their rocketed, bullet-pocked apartment building, the Abed Rabo family argued raucously about the impact of the 48-hour Israeli military incursion, which killed nearly 100 Palestinians, including some neighbors.

“We all support resistance to the Israelis,” said Hitam Abed Rabo, 33, a lawyer with the military court set up by Hamas, which she supports. “They talk about responding to rockets, but nothing justifies what the Israelis did here. They have to be confronted with strong resistance, so they don’t come back.”

West Bank Barriers Keep Rising Despite Promises Of Relief

Karim Edwan's skepticism about the U.S.-backed Middle East peace process is rooted in his morning commute.

To travel from his home in this West Bank village to his job as an emergency room doctor, the 35-year-old must take at least two cabs, skirt a barbed-wire fence, climb a dirt mound, talk his way through multiple Israeli checkpoints and remove his shoes for a full-body security check.

Before the obstacles were imposed, the trip to his hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus took 30 minutes. Now it takes two hours.

Karim Edwan's Skepticism About The U.s.-backed Middle East Peace Process Is Rooted In His Morning Commute.

British humanitarian agencies said Thursday that the situation in the Gaza Strip was the worst in 40 years and urged the European Union to hold talks with Hamas, which runs the impoverished territory. They also called for an end of Israel's punishing blockade of Gaza, which has worsened an already desperate state of affairs for the civilian population.

Egypt: Anger Over Israel 'approaching Boiling Point'

Fury erupted on the streets and in parliament this week following violent Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip. But as protests were held nationwide in support of besieged Palestinians next door, Cairo continued to keep the volatile Rafah border crossing -- the only means out of the strip not under direct Israeli control -- tightly sealed.

Avoid Bush's Mideast Policies, Report Says

The Bush administration's attempt to reshape the Middle East after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks has not only failed but has also deepened existing conflicts and political instability, according to a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The result is a "new" Middle East, though different from what was anticipated. This new Middle East is one in which the threat of nuclear proliferation and sectarianism will pose a serious challenge to the next U.S. administration, argue the authors of the report, published late February.

Editorial: The Gaza Pressure Cooker

To understand what is happening with the Gaza Strip and why it is happening one needs only to look at a simple kitchen utensil: a pressure cooker with a malfunctioning release vent. Eventually the pot will explode.

'this May Be The Last Chance'

Yasser Abed Rabbo is worried and one of the reasons for this becomes immediately apparent when we meet: An armed guard escorts him into his office on the third floor of a building in Ramallah midday on Saturday. "Who is he protecting you from - the Israelis or Hamas?" we ask. "From Hamas," he says without hesitating.

Hamas: Cease-fire Deal Must Include West Bank

Hamas said Thursday that any Gaza Strip cease-fire with Israel must include an end to Israel Defense Forces operations in the West Bank, as Egypt launched talks with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a bid to secure a truce.

Hamas spokesman in Gaza Ayman Taha told A-Shams Radio that the Hamas delegation dispatched to the Egyptian city of El-Arish on the Sinai Peninsula had returned to the Strip.

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