January 26th

This Is Not a Test
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) January 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. “Guy walks into a bar ...” No, not that one — this one: “This is the most critical year ever for Palestinian-Israeli diplomacy. It is five minutes to midnight. If we don’t get diplomacy back on track soon, it will be the end of the two-state solution.” I’ve heard that line almost every year for the last 20, and I’ve never bought it. Well, today, I’m buying it.

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Martyrs vs. Traitors myth gains currency in Gaza war's wake
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) January 25, 2009 - 1:00am

The conflict in Gaza has the potential of becoming a transformative political event in the Middle East that allows Islamists to capture the Arab political imagination for at least a generation. Along with familiar appeals to religious and cultural "authenticity," and dubious claims regarding good governance and democracy, Islamists are beginning to consolidate an exclusive claim to the most powerful Arab political symbols: Palestine and nationalism.

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The Bullets in My In-Box
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - January 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Faisal Husseini, a Palestinian leader who died at the start of this decade, used to tell a story about his first visit to Israel. The 1967 war had just ended, borders were suddenly opened and he took a drive to Tel Aviv, where at some point he found himself detained by an Israeli policeman. Questions and answers ensued. At one point the policeman said to him, “As a proud Zionist, I must tell you ....” At which Mr. Husseini burst out laughing.

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A Flurry of Tunnel Repairs Is Underway in Gaza's South
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jonathan Finer - January 25, 2009 - 1:00am

While the neighborhoods of Gaza remain in ruins, and tens of thousands of residents still lack water and power, reconstruction of its more illicit infrastructure was well underway Saturday in this bustling town on the Egyptian border. A Caterpillar backhoe bored into the sandy earth. Generators rumbled under the cover of tattered white tents. And above and below ground, teams of workers set about restoring the warren of smuggling tunnels that the Israeli air assault had sought to destroy.

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January 25th

Martyrs vs. Traitors myth gains currency in Gaza war's wake
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Chicago Tribune (Opinion) - January 25, 2009 - 1:00am

The conflict in Gaza has the potential of becoming a transformative political event in the Middle East that allows Islamists to capture the Arab political imagination for at least a generation. Along with familiar appeals to religious and cultural "authenticity," and dubious claims regarding good governance and democracy, Islamists are beginning to consolidate an exclusive claim to the most powerful Arab political symbols: Palestine and nationalism.

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January 23rd

The Washington Post reports on the 15,000 Gaza civilians still living in emergency shelters (1). President Obama appoints Senator George Mitchell as Mideast Envoy (2), while an editorial in The New York Times discusses the difficulties ahead for him (4). Tensions flare between Hamas and Fatah supporters (3) as Fatah fears that the Gaza offensive has weakened their support (7) . A New York Times blog features reporter Taghreed El-Khodary answering questions submitted by the public about Gaza (5). The UN’s humanitarian chief tells the BBC that the destruction in Gaza is worse than he had anticipated (6). An editorial in The Economist suggests that now is the time to take serious steps towards peace (8).

At Last, an Honest Broker
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by M.J. Rosenberg - January 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Hopefully, George Mitchell’s tenure as special envoy to the Middle East will turn out to be a case of what Yogi Berra would call, “deja vu all over again.” Specifically, we could use a repeat of May 9, 2007, which was the highlight of Mitchell’s career thus far. That was the day that the conflict over Northern Ireland, which began in the twelfth century (and in which 3,500 people had been killed since 1966) ended. It was the day when Protestant leader Reverend Ian Paisley joined former senior IRA commander Martin McGuiness in a power-sharing Catholic-Protestant unity government.

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Israel to allow Egypt to boost force on Gaza border to fight smuggling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer, Barak Ravid - January 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel has taken a favorable view of an Egyptian request to increase the force of its border guards along the Philadelphi Route by at least 750 - and possibly as much as 1,500 - according to a senior Israeli political source. Meanwhile, the head of the political-security bureau at the Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, discussed the matter of expanding the Egyptian border force with Omar Suleiman, head of the Egypt's intelligence, in Cairo last night. In Rafah, residents told Haaretz that the Egyptians had deployed 1,200 regulars whose mission is to secure the border and prevent smuggling.

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Inching steadily better than stalemate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) January 23, 2009 - 1:00am

US President Barack Obama signalled interest in finding a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, made more imperative after the horrors of the just-ended Israeli war on Gaza. Obama called four Middle East leaders on his first day in office; choosing His Majesty King Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as his interlocutors on the Palestinian issue, Obama may have wished to show that he is siding with the voices of moderation in the region, not with the so-called rejectionists.

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Obama Shifts Mideast Politics Into High Gear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Claude Salhani - January 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Just two days after his inauguration U.S. President Barack Obama began to move forward on his electoral promise to work on the Middle East issues. Obama's first telephone call as president of the United States was to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whom Obama assured of his administration's interest in finding a lasting and just solution to the Middle East crisis.

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