New Tensions in Jerusalem’s Arab Neighborhoods
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 6, 2008 - 1:00am

A series of recent Israeli actions in the mainly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem have raised tensions there, with Palestinian and Israeli critics contending that they are part of a wider plan to “Judaize” historically charged areas around the Old City.

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Obama's 'Palestinian friend' laments catastrophic U.S. policy in Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - December 5, 2008 - 1:00am

No one stopped Rashid Khalidi, the Columbia University professor of Modern Arab Studies, at Ben-Gurion airport. Having just landed after the long flight from New York, the professor was anticipating the traditional reception from airport security personnel reserved for visitors with "suspicious" names. To his surprise, he entered the airport like anyone else, with no problems or delays. Perhaps word had gotten around at Ben-Gurion that he was the Palestinian friend of United States President-elect Barack Obama.

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It's grim in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Anne Penketh - (Blog) December 3, 2008 - 1:00am

I met Karen AbuZayd, the head of UNRWA, when she was sitting in the basement dining room of a trendy London hotel beside a mirror on which an artist has written in gold letters: "this is shit."It is understandable that Mrs AbuZayd, whose UN agency looks after the welfare of Palestinian refugees, did not wish to be photographed in front of the art work. But the message on the mirror aptly sums up the dramatic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, as she was the first to point out.

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Looking ahead to a Clinton State Department, Israelis and Arabs retool their expectations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Bourdreaux, Jeffrey Fleishman, Paul Richter - November 30, 2008 - 8:00pm

Nearly a month after Barack Obama's election, his decision to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton for secretary of State is causing Arabs and Israelis to readjust expectations of his administration's policies toward the Middle East. During the campaign, Obama carried the hopes of many Arabs for a new brand of diplomacy more open to their views, one that would revive America's power and prestige in the region and end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Israel alarmed by EU bid to reopen Orient House as part of peace plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 30, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli officials are deeply concerned over an internal European Union document outlining the EU's plans for advancing an Israeli-Palestinian deal in 2009. Inter alia, it calls for increased pressure on Israel to reopen Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, including Orient House, which formerly served as the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in the city. The document, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, was written by the French Foreign Ministry, as France currently occupies the EU's rotating presidency.

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UN accuses Israel of punishing aid workers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Anne Penketh - November 30, 2008 - 8:00pm

The UN official responsible for the welfare of 4.6 million Palestinian refugees has accused Israel of extending its punishment of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip to include international humanitarian staff. Karen AbuZayd, who is based in Gaza City, said that Israeli authorities have within the past month stopped UN staff based in Gaza from using the diplomatic pouch. They gave no reason for the move, which is a clear breach of international law.

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Still talking: Annapolis one year on
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
by Paul Wood - November 26, 2008 - 8:00pm

At dinner in Ramallah recently, amid heaped plates of rice and chicken, a raucous but friendly political debate was going on with the usual arm waving and raised voices. One of those at the table was a tough-looking young officer in an elite unit of the Palestinian security forces. He brandished his forearm, declaring: "If you cut my veins open, the blood will fall on the ground to make the word 'Fatah'". Who was the most important enemy: Hamas or the Israelis, I asked. Hamas, everyone told me. They had to be dealt with before anything else could be accomplished.

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Fatah leader who fled to West Bank returns to Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
November 25, 2008 - 8:00pm

A Gaza leader of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah faction returned home on Tuesday more than three months after fleeing to the West Bank following deadly clashes between his clan and the Islamist Hamas movement. "I feel how any Palestinian feels on returning to his family and friends," Ahmed Hilles told reporters after entering the Gaza Strip from Israel through the Erez border crossing.

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Middle East Priorities For Jan. 21
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft - (Opinion) November 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

The election of Barack Obama to be the 44th president is profoundly historic. We have at long last been able to come together in a way that has eluded us in the long history of our great country. We should celebrate this triumph of the true spirit of America. Election Day celebrations were replicated in time zones around the world, something we have not seen in a long time. While euphoria is ephemeral, we must endeavor to use its energy to bring us all together as Americans to cope with the urgent problems that beset us.

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What Obama Needs to Do First
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) November 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

The Palestinian Authority, in a brilliant display of public relations, ran Hebrew-language ads this week, in Israel’s four major newspapers, endorsing the Arab Peace Initiative (formerly known as the Saudi plan) and calling on Israelis to support it, too. The Palestinian Authority is also urging President-elect Barack Obama to put his prestige behind the initiative as a critical first step to help end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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