January 6th

Hezbollah…. Is this your Vision for Gaza? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) January 5, 2009 - 1:00am One can only feel sadness with regards to what is happening in the Gaza Strip, which can only be described as a brutal and ruthless Israeli attack in the face of clear international inability to call a halt to this continued aggression on almost 1.5 million Gazans. » Read more

CNN NEWSROOM TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT: Crisis between Gaza and Israel deepens ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN January 5, 2009 - 1:00am Aired January 5, 2009 - 09:00 ET HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Two huge stories and the world is watching this morning. Sirens well and explosions thunder in Gaza. The crisis with Israel deepens. And in Washington, an incoming president and his new challenges. Barack Obama gets to work today on the nation's lousy economy. New details on his plans and what they could mean to you. Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Today is Monday, January 5th and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM…. Joining us now from Washington, Dr. Ziad Asali. He's with the American Task Force on Palestine. » Read more

Israeli Strike Hits Refugees Near a U.N. School in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Taghreed El-Khodary, Isabel Kershner - January 6, 2009 - 1:00am Despite mounting diplomatic pressure to end its offensive in Gaza, Israel’s military onslaught unfolded for an 11th day on Tuesday amid reports that it had struck near a United Nations school, killing at least 30 people among hundreds who had sought refuge from the fighting. » Read more

Forty-two killed after Israeli shell hits UN school in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - January 6, 2009 - 1:00am Forty-two women and children were killed in an attack at a UN-run school in Gaza today, the third such assault in 24 hours. The attack, which appeared to come from an air strike from two Israeli F16s, happened at the al-Fakhora school in Jabaliya refugee camp, causing carnage inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. Initial reports had said the devastation was caused by a tank shell exploding. » Read more

Mideast political conundrum: Settlement expansion is a threat to peace negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) January 6, 2009 - 1:00am The renewed violence between Israel and Hamas, in which 1.5 million innocent Palestinians are caught, is yet another definitive demonstration that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel will not be able to secure its future, normalize its relations with the region and live in peace without an agreement with the Palestinians; Palestinians will not achieve liberation and independence without an agreement with Israel. » Read more

Mideast political conundrum: Settlement expansion is a threat to peace negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) January 6, 2009 - 1:00am The renewed violence between Israel and Hamas, in which 1.5 million innocent Palestinians are caught, is yet another definitive demonstration that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel will not be able to secure its future, normalize its relations with the region and live in peace without an agreement with the Palestinians; Palestinians will not achieve liberation and independence without an agreement with Israel. » Read more

January 5th

Reflections on the Israeli holocaust in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from IkhwanWeb January 3, 2009 - 1:00am The virtual holocaust Israel is now waging against the Gaza Strip is taking its toll on innocent civilians. The shocking scenes speak for themselves. The gruesomeness transcends reality; it exceeds by far the most eloquent of words. Gaza-2008-9 is very much like Dresden-1945. And as Dresden was annihilated by the RAF toward the end of the Second World War, the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza are being decapitated and thoroughly terrorized by the Israeli army, the Wehrmacht of our time. » Read more

Will Israel never learn from its mistakes? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National January 5, 2009 - 1:00am The Israeli military’s ground incursion into the Gaza Strip is a tragic but unsurprising development in the current conflict, with the ostensible goal of stopping the rocket fire into Israel. An aerial bombardment was never going to be enough to eliminate the highly mobile rocket teams employed by Hamas and other militant groups based in Gaza. But because the escalation of violence was so readily apparent, the continued refusal of the United States to allow a UN Security Council mandated ceasefire to pass is inexcusable. » Read more

Righting a Wrong for the Sake of the People of Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - January 5, 2009 - 1:00am There is a clear difference between the 1.5 million people that make up the population of the Gaza Strip, and the few hundred which comprise the leadership and activists which fill the Hamas movement's ranks. Whatever differences one might have with the movement, one must realize that Gaza is not Hamas; and that the Gaza Strip is not owned by the Hamas movement, and its people are not Hamas soldiers, yet it is being punished in place of the movement. » Read more

Why Israel Is Bombing Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Ephraim Sneh - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am When demands are made of Israel to halt its military activities in Gaza, a brief historical reminder is in order. In September 2005, Israel vacated Gaza, dismantled all the settlements in the Gaza Strip and did not leave a shred of a presence there. » Read more