January 28th

Gaza Border Crisis Puts Egypt On The Spot ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Ian Pannell - January 28, 2008 - 7:20pm Alaa smiled and pulled me by the arm. Firstly he wanted to check my credentials. "You are a foreign correspondent?"   I nodded and we got the camera ready to record an interview.  He shook his head - not an interview, he just wanted to just tell me something. In faltering English he declared: "This is the happiest day of my life!" » Read more

360 Days ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) January 28, 2008 - 7:18pm Reading about the Vietnam War, as I have been doing lately, is maddening. As President Lyndon B. Johnson makes fateful decisions that will ultimately leave 50,000 Americans dead and destroy his presidency, I almost want to shout out, “Stop! Are you blind? Can’t you see where this is leading?” But, of course, LBJ couldn’t see that. » Read more

To Avoid Fence, Jerusalem Arabs Are Making Move To Jewish Areas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Dina Kraft - January 28, 2008 - 7:17pm At Cafe Malcha in this city's French Hill neighborhood, Hebrew and Arabic newspapers sit on the counter and both languages are spoken amid the din of espresso machines and customers' laughter. The cafe’s back room is a well-known meeting place for Jewish and Arab businessmen, some of whom live in French Hill, a quiet neighborhood of stone apartment buildings and pine trees around Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus. » Read more

Israel Vows Not To Block Supplies To Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Steven Erlanger - January 28, 2008 - 7:16pm Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel promised the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday that Israel would no longer disrupt the supply of food, medicine and necessary energy into the Gaza Strip and intended to prevent a “humanitarian disaster” there. Last Wednesday, the Hamas rulers of Gaza broke open the border to Egypt, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to seek goods that Israel had restricted in its clampdown on the region. » Read more

January 28, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 21 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Middle East Peace Report - January 28, 2008 - 7:15pm Military Escalation is a Boon for Hamas: Even before the breach of the Gaza-Egypt border, the escalation in cross-border attacks between Gaza and Israel had pumped up public support for Hamas. This was the principle finding of a poll conducted in the West Bank and Gaza by the Ramallah-based AWRAD research center, when compared with an AWRAD survey from shortly before the November Annapolis peace conference. » Read more

Bush Hits A Wall In The Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jim Hoagland - January 28, 2008 - 7:14pm Watching Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner and other congressional leaders craft a stimulus package to calm the turbulent economy is like watching President Bush pursue his equally implausible and belated Middle East peace initiative. In each case, the challenges are so much larger than the means suddenly being brought to bear that you don't know whether to laugh or to cry. » Read more

Israeli 'economic Warfare' To Include Electricity Cuts In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Ellen Knickmeyer - January 28, 2008 - 7:13pm Saying they were waging "economic warfare" against the Gaza Strip's Hamas leaders, Israeli officials told the Supreme Court on Sunday that the military intends to start cutting electricity to the Palestinian territory and continue restricting fuel. The statements by Israel's state attorney, outlining Defense Ministry plans, came in response to a lawsuit filed by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups. » Read more

Hamas Helps Egypt To Reclose Gaza Border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Omar Sinan - January 28, 2008 - 7:12pm Hamas militants joined Egyptian forces for a second day Monday in trying to restore control at three breaches in the Gaza border, building a chain-link fence to seal off one opening and directing traffic at two others. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have flooded into Egypt unchecked over the past six days since Hamas militants blasted holes in the border partition. They have been voraciously buying up food, fuel and other goods made scarce by Israeli and Egyptian closures of Gaza's borders. » Read more

January 25th

Naming Names From Gaza To Damascus And All The Way Through Lebanon! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Raghidadergham.com by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) January 25, 2008 - 6:27pm There are times when naming names becomes inevitable because any reluctance to do so, whether in the name of diplomacy, politics or any other consideration, may terribly discredit the hesitant party and hurt the victims of harmful maneuvering, be they innocent civilians in Palestine or an entire generation in Lebanon. There are times when entrusted mediators or self-proclaimed backchannels have to act according to their consciences under a moral and political responsibility that obliges them to name things as they are. » Read more

Hamas Scores Another Victory: Israeli Media ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Mohammed Mar’i - January 25, 2008 - 6:24pm Israeli media outlets yesterday said that Hamas has added another victory to its achievements in handling the strict siege imposed on Gaza Strip since the movement ousted the security sources of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials of rival Fatah movement last June. » Read more