January 8th, 2008

On First Trip To Israel, Bush Hopes To Inject Vigor Into Peace Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Michael Abramowitz, Jonathan Finer - (Opinion) January 8, 2008 - 6:05pm In the six weeks since Israeli and Palestinian leaders left Annapolis, Md., pledging to end "bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples," violence has escalated over long-standing territorial disputes and security concerns, leaving little optimism here on the eve of President Bush's visit that the fledgling dialogue will bring peace. » Read more

January 7, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 18 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Middle East Peace Report - January 8, 2008 - 6:04pm NO OUTPOST CRACKDOWN, PART I: On the eve of President George W. Bush’s visit to Israel, Peace Now held a demonstration at the site of the largest unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost. This outpost, known as Migron, was constructed on privately-owned Palestinian land and the Israeli government has repeatedly expressed to the High Court of Justice its intention to remove it. At the rally, former Knesset Member and Peace Now leader Mossi Raz said that all illegal outposts “must be evacuated now, and the settlements as well. » Read more

Bush Takes Altered Goals To Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Howard Lafranchi - January 8, 2008 - 6:04pm Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, President Bush has vowed to transform the Middle East for the sake of American security. This week, Mr. Bush sets off on a nine-day tour of a region that, if anything, has transformed him. » Read more

Drawing A New Map For Journalism In The Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Robert Worth - January 8, 2008 - 6:01pm IT has been almost four years since Abdul Rahman al-Rashed set out to cure Arab television of its penchant for radical politics and violence. It was never an easy task. But as the director of one of the leading satellite channels in the Middle East, he thinks he has made a difference. » Read more

January 7th

Peace And The Nation-state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eyal Chowers - (Opinion) January 7, 2008 - 6:25pm » Read more

Outposts / Status Quo Is Just Fine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) January 7, 2008 - 6:24pm The archives of newspapers and Internet sites are filled with hundreds of reports from recent years along the following lines: "The government will soon remove the illegal outposts. The evacuation will be done gradually. Defense officials are worried about violent resistance by settlers and the hilltop youth." All these reports were belied: the Sharon and Olmert governments did not want to remove the West Bank outposts. They preferred to risk political and legal contempt, to be seen to have violated repeated promises to U.S. President George W. » Read more

Another Obstacle To Zionism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - January 7, 2008 - 6:23pm After recognizing "Jewish population concentrations" in the territories, President George W. Bush brought down from the attic the old American position under which the settlements are an obstacle to peace. Bush was not entirely accurate. The settlements are not an obstacle to peace. What would happen if the Palestinians were to announce tomorrow morning that they welcome the settlers and are relinquishing their demand for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with its capital in East Jerusalem? » Read more

Israel Uses Absentee Land To Build Settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Mohammed Mar’i - January 7, 2008 - 6:22pm The Israeli Housing Ministry expropriated land belonging to residents from West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Beit Sahour in accordance with the “absentee law” for the construction of more than 1,000 housing units in East Jerusalem’s Har Homa settlement in Jabal Abu Ghneim. The ministry’s move is in violation of both an instruction from the Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to stop applying the absentee law in East Jerusalem and explicit promises by Israel to the United States that it will not apply that law in Jerusalem’s eastern quarters. » Read more

What, Me Worry That Bush Is Coming? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) January 7, 2008 - 6:21pm Recent experience suggests that we should be very worried that President George W. Bush is coming to the Middle East next week to promote peace. The last time he made such a journey, in June 2003, what ensued was an accelerated cycle of violence and ideological conflict that sees most of the Middle East today wracked by warfare, routine terrorism, and intense political confrontation, threats, and stress. » Read more

Storm Grows Over Jerusalem District ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Martin Patience - January 7, 2008 - 6:19pm Yellow cranes swivel in the winter sun on a hill in south-east Jerusalem; occasional bursts of drilling puncture the otherwise peaceful atmosphere. In almost any other part of the world this scene would go largely unnoticed. But for Israelis and Palestinians the issue of construction at Har Homa/Jabal Abu Ghneim has rapidly become a political battleground. The Israeli government announced plans last month to build 300 new apartments at the Har Homa development in occupied East Jerusalem, drawing a furious diplomatic response from the Palestinians. » Read more