February 23rd

The Palestinian Perspective: Prime Minister Faya'd in Conversation with TML's Felice Friedson
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Felice Friedson - (Interview) February 23, 2009 - 1:00am

The Media Line’s Felice Friedson conducted an exclusive interview with Prime Minister Faya’d in his Ramallah office on February 19, 2009. Among the issues they discussed were the current state of the Palestinian Authority, the crisis in Gaza, Fatah vs. Hamas, and the future of relations with Israel. TML: Mr. Prime Minister, what is the most serious problem caused by the division of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank: in effect the creation of two Palestinian states?

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Israel replaces envoy to Egypt talks, Hamas angry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - February 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will replace Israel's lead envoy to Egyptian-brokered truce talks with Hamas after he publicly criticized the government's negotiating strategy, officials said on Monday. Amos Gilad, an adviser to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, has shuttled to Cairo to try to consolidate the January 18 ceasefire that ended a three-week Israeli assault in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

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Israelis set more talks on coalition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel's political rivals Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni, meeting yesterday for the first time since the inconclusive Feb. 10 election, agreed to hold further talks about a future government. Netanyahu, head of the hawkish Likud party, was asked Friday by President Shimon Peres to form a new ruling coalition. He has vowed to press on with efforts to persuade centrist leader Livni, Israel's foreign minister, to join him in a government.

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Holy Land Christians urge pope to call off visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
February 22, 2009 - 1:00am

A group of Palestinian Christians has asked Pope Benedict XVI to call off his planned visit to the Holy Land in May. The 40 community activists wrote to the pope that his visit would help boost Israel's image and inadvertently minimize Palestinian suffering under Israeli occupation. The group urged the pope to link his visit to a series of Israeli measures. The letter said this must include improved access to Christian places of worship and halting taxation of church properties.

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Defence chiefs urge hawk Netanyahu to strike deal with Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Uzi Mahnaimi - February 22, 2009 - 1:00am

ISRAEL’S next prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will face an early test when he finally takes office in the next few weeks: should he ditch an election pledge and follow his defence chiefs’ strategic advice to explore a peace treaty with Syria? During his campaign Netanyahu, the leader of the conservative Likud party, had struck a belligerent note and pledged he would never agree to Syria’s main demand that the Golan Heights, seized by Israel in the 1967 war, should be returned.

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Hamas: Welcoming the Americans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) February 21, 2009 - 1:00am

Hamas considered the visit of a US delegation to Gaza a step in the right direction and it asked the delegation to convey a true image of Israel’s crimes in the Gaza Strip to the US administration.

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February 20th

President Shimon Peres invites Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new Israeli government (1) (2), while Kadima leader Tzipi Livni expresses her reservations about some of the extremist parties that may be included (3). The three U.S. legislators who visited Gaza yesterday issue statements about the destruction and reiterate the American position on conditions for engaging Hamas (4) (8). An editorial in Haaretz warns against allowing a place for ultra-rightist Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman in the new government (5). An editorial in the Boston Globe speculates on John Kerry's upcoming visit to Syria (7). In Newsweek, Fareed Zakaria expresses concern over the rightward and intolerant direction of Israeli politics (10). Mideast envoy George Mitchell voices his support for Egyptian mediated Palestinian unity talks (13).

Critics aside, Israeli officials see successes in Gaza operation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - February 16, 2009 - 1:00am

A month after the Gaza war, with Kassam rockets continuing to fall in southern Israel, many skeptical Israelis are questioning whether the war achieved anything. Since the cease-fire on Jan. 18, militiamen have fired nearly 50 rockets and mortars at civilian targets in the Gaza periphery. Israel has retaliated with targeted assassinations and airstrikes against smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egyptian border.

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The Cleanser: Lobby Whistles Up Cordesman to "Prove" Israel Waged a Clean War in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch
by Norman Finkelstein - February 19, 2009 - 1:00am

Anthony H. Cordesman, a leading military analyst from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has published a “strategic analysis” of the Gaza massacre.(1) He reaches the remarkable conclusion that “Israel did not violate the laws of war.” The report is based on “briefings in Israeli [sic] during and immediately after the fighting made possible by a visit sponsored by Project Interchange, and using day-to-day reporting issued by the Israeli Defense Spokesman.” Cordesman omits mention that Project Interchange is funded by the American Jewish Committee.

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Mitchell could support PA unity gov't
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch
by Alexander Cockburn, Hilary Leila Krieger - (Editorial) February 19, 2009 - 1:00am

US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell expressed support for Egyptian efforts to forge a Palestinian national unity government, indicating that America could take a new tack on Fatah-Hamas reconciliation, during a conference call Thursday with Jewish leaders.

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