January 23rd, 2009

Q. and A. With Taghreed El-Khodary in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Interview) January 19, 2009 - 1:00am

This afternoon we have answers from Taghreed El-Khodary, our correspondent in Gaza, to some of the many questions submitted by readers for our Q&A. Ms. El-Khodary, who was born in Gaza, has reported for The New York Times since 2001. During the recent conflict, Ms. El-Khodary was one of the few people reporting from inside Gaza, in part due to the fact that the Israeli military refused to give Western reporters access to the Palestinian territory during the fighting.

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An Unenviable Job
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) January 23, 2009 - 1:00am

We welcome President Obama’s choice of George Mitchell to be his new Middle East envoy. It is an unenviable and essential job. A former Senate majority leader, Mr. Mitchell has the stature to represent the new administration. He negotiated the 1998 Good Friday accord in Northern Ireland, good training for taking on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a Lebanese-American, his appointment also sends an important signal that the United States will continue to be an unwavering ally of Israel but also sensitive to the Palestinians’ many legitimate grievances.

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Palestinian Rival Says It Is Attacked by Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Sabrina Tavernise - January 23, 2009 - 1:00am

The 27-year-old in a sweatsuit limped to the table, heaved himself into a chair and began to talk about how he had been shot. Men from Hamas have begun to assault people they suspect of supporting its chief political rival, Fatah, he said, and on Sunday, he became one of the victims. It was impossible to verify the man’s account, which he provided on the condition that he remain anonymous, out of concern for his safety. But it came during a week in which leaders of Fatah accused Hamas of harassing and harming its members in the Gaza Strip.

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As Obama Visits State Dept., Clinton Announces Two Special Envoys
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Karen Deyoung, Glenn Kessler - January 23, 2009 - 1:00am

President Obama traveled to the State Department yesterday afternoon for a visit that was as rich in symbolism as in substance, underscoring his pledge to give top priority to diplomacy as he outlined an activist policy in the Middle East and warned that "difficult days lie ahead" in Afghanistan.

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No Home to Return to in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Griff Witte - January 23, 2009 - 1:00am

When members of the Sultan family ran from their home as an Israeli tank shelled its northern wall, there was no time to shut the front door. There was also no need. The house, which family patriarch Samir al-Sultan began building at the age of 15, was all but destroyed as Israeli forces advanced into the Gaza Strip in early January, turning the house's contents into a mangled mess of glass and mortar. With no home to return to and no prospects for rebuilding, the Sultans on Thursday were among the thousands of Palestinians in Gaza searching for somewhere to go.

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January 22nd

ATFP Welcomes the Appointment of Senator George Mitchell as Middle East Special Envoy
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - January 22, 2009 - 1:00am

ATFP welcomes the appointment of former Senator George Mitchell as Middle East Special Envoy, and views this appointment as a clear signal of President Obama's strong commitment to an early, energetic engagement in peace making in the Middle East.


In the aftermath of the war in Gaza control of the strip is a subject of debate (1). Reports that the IDF used phosphorous arms on Gaza prompt an international outcry (2). In an op-ed for The New York Times Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi promotes the one-state solution (4). As the Arab League meets this week in Kuwait, all talk is focused on Gaza (5). President Barack Obama is reportedly set to appoint George Mitchell as his Mideast envoy (6). Israel warns that they may renew their military strike if Hamas reopens its network of underground tunnels (7). Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is the recipient of Obama’s first phone call in office (11).

The One-State Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Muammar Qaddafi - (Opinion) January 21, 2009 - 1:00am

THE shocking level of the last wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which ended with this weekend’s cease-fire, reminds us why a final resolution to the so-called Middle East crisis is so important. It is vital not just to break this cycle of destruction and injustice, but also to deny the religious extremists in the region who feed on the conflict an excuse to advance their own causes.

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Israeli envoy in Egypt to discuss lasting Gaza truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
January 22, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli envoy Amos Gilad was in Cairo on Thursday for Egyptian-mediated talks on clinching a lasting truce with Hamas expected to focus on stemming arms smuggling across the porous Gaza-Egypt border. Gilad arrived "for a short visit to meet with senior officials to discuss consolidating the ceasefire in Gaza," Egypt's state MENA news agency said. Egypt invited Hamas to Cairo for separate talks on Thursday on shoring up the fragile ceasefire that took effect on January 18, but the Islamists will only send a delegation to Cairo on Sunday, the foreign ministry said.

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Outcry Erupts Over Reports That Israel Used Phosphorus Arms on Gazans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - January 21, 2009 - 1:00am

In early January, a week into Israel’s war in Gaza, the home of Sabah Abu Halima was hit by an Israeli shell. Ms. Abu Halima, the matriarch of a farming family in the northern Gaza area of Beit Lahiya, was caught in an inferno that burned her husband and four of their nine children to death.

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