Avoid Bush's Mideast Policies, Report Says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Federica Narancio - March 6, 2008 - 7:32pm

The Bush administration's attempt to reshape the Middle East after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks has not only failed but has also deepened existing conflicts and political instability, according to a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The result is a "new" Middle East, though different from what was anticipated. This new Middle East is one in which the threat of nuclear proliferation and sectarianism will pose a serious challenge to the next U.S. administration, argue the authors of the report, published late February.

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West Bank Barriers Keep Rising Despite Promises Of Relief
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Griff Witte - March 6, 2008 - 7:28pm

Karim Edwan's skepticism about the U.S.-backed Middle East peace process is rooted in his morning commute. To travel from his home in this West Bank village to his job as an emergency room doctor, the 35-year-old must take at least two cabs, skirt a barbed-wire fence, climb a dirt mound, talk his way through multiple Israeli checkpoints and remove his shoes for a full-body security check. Before the obstacles were imposed, the trip to his hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus took 30 minutes. Now it takes two hours.

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Palestinians Question Own Advocacy Group
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) March 6, 2008 - 7:19pm

The American Task Force on Palestine, a moderate group that has emerged in the past several years as the most prominent pro-Palestinian voice in Washington, is fighting off criticism from within the Palestinian American community that it has cozied up to the Bush administration at the expense of the Palestinian cause.

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Forward From Gaza: How The U.s. Can Lead ((interview With Daniel C. Kurtzer)
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
by S. Daniel Abraham - (Interview) March 5, 2008 - 7:51pm

The problem right now is that everyone is looking only at tomorrow. There is no long-term thinking or activity taking place. The Israelis and Hamas are engaged in an effort to hurt each other. Hamas finds it in its own very significant interest right now to not only inflict some pain on Israel but to demonstrate that it has the capacity to hit Ashkelon and to withstand Israeli incursions.

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Rice Encircled By Mideast Troubles
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Sana Abdallah - March 5, 2008 - 7:49pm

The mission of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to restart the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations was Tuesday facing serious challenges as the Palestinian leadership insisted that Israel first halt its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Following talks with Rice in Ramallah, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said he was committed to the peace process, but blamed the Israeli attacks and the siege of Gaza for sabotaging the negotiations.

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Seeking Alternatives
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) March 4, 2008 - 6:31pm

Most Palestinians, from the general public to officials, have already concluded that the current negotiations, initiated at the Annapolis conference, have very little or no chance of success. For that reason, several debates have been held and initiatives offered to find an alternative strategy for the Palestinian leadership to pursue.

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Abbas Calls For Middle East Truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
March 4, 2008 - 6:30pm

After meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah, he urged Israel to "halt its aggression so the necessary environment can be created" Mr Abbas suspended the talks in protest at Israel's offensive in Gaza, in which more than 110 Palestinians have died. Ms Rice insisted she still believed a peace deal could be achieved this year. Before flying to the West Bank, Ms Rice held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo and other senior government officials.

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The Gaza Dilemma
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) March 4, 2008 - 6:26pm

THE UPSURGE in fighting between Israel and Hamas over the weekend, and the resulting suspension of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, demonstrates again a crucial flaw in the Bush administration's Middle East strategy. President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have assumed that Hamas could be bottled up and ignored in the Gaza Strip while a deal for a Palestinian state was worked out.

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Rice To Raise Humanitarian Issues With Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - March 4, 2008 - 6:25pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she planned to tell Israeli officials to ease the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip and avoid attacks that might kill civilians, but she repeatedly refused to say whether she supported a cease-fire.

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A Dark Overcast Warm Winter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Dr. Bernard Sabella - (Opinion) March 3, 2008 - 7:02pm

The weather here in Jerusalem and Gaza is overcast with many a dark cloud. It mirrors what is felt inside by so many Palestinians whose loved ones have been killed or injured by Israel’s army “Warm Winter” campaign against Gaza. The 110 Palestinians killed so far since Wednesday February 27th include at least ten children, the youngest a few months old, and an equal number of women. “Warm Winter” continues and it has put all of us Palestinians in a state of shock.

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