Abu Mazen’s Conundrum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Caelum Moffatt - January 25, 2008 - 6:24pm

Israel’s current siege of Gaza must be inflicting the Palestinian President, Abu Mazen, with a sharp pain to the temples. This ache, which has been intermittent since June 2007, is undoubtedly caused this time by the confusion over how to act in response to the newest demonstration of Israeli aggression. The 1.5 million people of Gaza, the president’s people, are caught up as innocent victims in a fray between Palestinian rockets from the coastal strip and Israeli air strikes.

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Analysis: Hamas Outmaneuvers Israel With Three Quick Moves
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amoss Harel - (Analysis) January 25, 2008 - 6:23pm

In a week when Israeli leaders were boasting about their successful adoption of the conclusions in the Winograd Committee's interim report, which included in their view the attack on Syria, recent events on the Gaza Strip and Egyptian border are raising concerns to the contrary: Perhaps not enough lessons were learned or have been implemented.

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The Siege Of Gaza Has Failed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) January 25, 2008 - 6:22pm

While politicians and the media are waiting with bated breath for publication of the Winograd report on the Second Lebanon War, a new situation is taking shape on the Egyptian border that might eventually result in a new investigative committee. The diplomatic and security situation that arose on the Israeli-Egyptian border once the Egypt-Gaza border was flung wide open has apparently not yet penetrated the Israeli consciousness. But it is time to start asking pointed questions about the events of this week instead of about those of July 2006.

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Mary Dejevsky: The Town That Measures Life In 15-second Intervals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Mary Dejevsky - (Opinion) January 25, 2008 - 6:19pm

You can tell almost as much about a country from the things they want you to see as the things they would prefer you didn't. And just now one of things Israel really wants the outside world to see is daily life as it is lived in the depressed southern town of Sderot.

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Busting The Blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
January 25, 2008 - 6:18pm

UNDER the pressure of Israeli sanctions, Gaza this week blew a gasket. On January 23rd Palestinian militants blasted holes in the metal wall along the sealed Gaza-Egypt border. A bulldozer broadened the gaps. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of Palestinians poured through to buy fuel, food, spare parts and other supplies. Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, was annoyed but ordered his troops to let them in, saying they were “starving due to an Israeli siege”.

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The Agony Of Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
(Editorial) January 25, 2008 - 6:13pm

THE BREACHING early Wednesday of the barrier separating Gaza from the Egyptian side of the border town Rafah allowed an estimated 300,000 Gazans to seek staples and a brief experience of liberty outside their enclosed, suffocating strip of land. The highly publicized breakout of those Gazans also made it impossible to ignore the collective punishment being imposed on them by Israel's policy of closure and economic blockade.

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A Broken Society
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
(Editorial) January 24, 2008 - 6:02pm

If you bottle up 1.5 million people in a territory 25 miles long and six miles wide, and turn off the lights, as Israel has done in Gaza, the bottle will burst. This is what happened yesterday when tens of thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt to buy food, fuel and supplies after militants destroyed two-thirds of the wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt. It was the biggest jail break in history.

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They Neither See Nor Remember
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - January 23, 2008 - 8:47pm

The security establishment was quick on Monday to boast of the success of its tactic of escalation against Gaza: Look, the number of Qassams declined. By the time these lines are published, the security establishment may spin another logical axiom: Since we renewed the supply of diesel fuel on a one-time basis, the Palestinians have gone back to firing Qassams. The conclusion: Continue the escalation. The logic of escalation is the middle name of the current defense minister, Ehud Barak, and many Israelis are adopting it.

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This Brutal Siege Of Gaza Can Only Breed Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Karen Koning Abuzayd - (Commentary) January 23, 2008 - 8:41pm

Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution, with the knowledge, acquiescence and - some would say - encouragement of the international community. An international community that professes to uphold the inherent dignity of every human being must not allow this to happen.

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Siege On Gaza / Paying The Price
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) January 22, 2008 - 7:16pm

Defense Ministry officials yesterday pointed with satisfaction at the low number of Qassam rockets launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip in the past few days. Here was proof of the wisdom of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision last weekend to impose a total blockade on Gaza, in response to the ceaseless fire from Hamas. Just last week there were 42 launches a day on average, whereas in the past two days there were only four.

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