April 15th

Displaced Christians want pope to help them return
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Displaced during war decades ago, the Christians of Biram have never given up their dream of returning to this destroyed village in the hills of northern Israel. They still hold Easter rites, weddings and funerals in a stone church, the only building left standing. Now, they are pinning their hopes on Pope Benedict XVI, who is visiting the Holy Land in May. Biram's former residents and their descendants, some 3,000 Catholics altogether, are asking their spiritual leader to speak for them.

»

Mitchell due to arrive in Israel on second leg of Mideast trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - April 15, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell was due to arrive in Israel Wednesday on the second leg of his Middle East trip. Mitchell has already met with a number of Arab leaders during the trip in an effort to revive stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. After meeting with Morocco's foreign minister, Taieb Fassi Fihri, Mitchell reiterated his country's commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict, something that Israel's new government has so far refrained from explicitly backing.

»

'Israel unlikely to assist UN war crimes probe'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel is "very unlikely" to cooperate with a UN agency's probe into whether Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the recent Gaza war, a government official said Wednesday. Hamas, meanwhile, said it is ready to work with the investigators, to be led by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge who served as chief UN prosecutor of war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. International and local human rights groups have said there is strong suspicion both sides violated the rules of war in three weeks of fighting early this year that followed years of cross-border conflict.

»

A message Obama can’t ignore
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - April 15, 2009 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama will receive a message from the Arab world next week when he meets King Abdallah of Jordan in Washington. It will be an important message that the American president and his administration should appreciate because of its timing and content.

»

Palestinian waging long battle to live in his home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

When Fayez Rajabi built a home for his family in the West Bank town of Hebron, he never imagined he would have to fight for more than two years to move into it. Last December, the 45-year-old car parts dealer thought he might have cleared a major hurdle after the Israeli army evacuated some 250 settlers who had occupied the four-storey building for over a year and a half.

»

April 14th

Hopes are dim for the next round of Egyptian-mediated Palestinian accord government talks (1) (4). Speculation continues about the state of US-Israel relations following the installation of the new Netanyahu government (2) (3). Hamas agrees to investigate the deaths in custody of two men it accused of being collaborators with Israel (5). US Mideast Envoy George Mitchell plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Israel's stance regarding a two-state solution (8) (9). Al-Ahram Weekly features an interview with UNRWA Commissioner General Karen Abu-Zayd (10).

Syria seen keen on new peace talks with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Khaled Yacoub Oweis - (Analysis) April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Encouraged by President Barack Obama's overtures toward Washington's adversaries, Syria is pushing to restart peace talks with Israel, diplomats and political analysts say. Damascus has intensified its quest to relaunch the Turkish-mediated talks, diplomats in the Syrian capital said, despite the formation last month of a right-leaning Israeli government that has shown little interest in a U.S.-backed two state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.

»

The other face of fascism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram
by Muqtedar Khan - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

A foreign minister is to the rest of the world the face of the nation he or she represents. They epitomise the values and politics of the nation and personify its culture, identity and values. Israel has a new face now and that face is the ugly visage of fascism. Currently it travels under the name Avigdor Lieberman.

»

'Sounds worrying'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram
by Dina Ezzat - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Karen Abu Zayd is commissioner general of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Her job is to make sure that relief and human development are accessible to Palestinians under occupation, in Gaza, the West Bank and refugee camps scattered in countries neighbouring the occupied Palestinian territories. This mission is met through providing education, healthcare, social services and emergency aid to over 4.6 million refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic.

»

Candidly Speaking: Netanyahu & the two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Isi Leibler - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am

When our government enters into formal discussions with Washington, it will be obliged to make decisions that may set the tone for its long-term relationship with the new administration. President Barack Obama has yet to fully show his hand, but his policy of engaging with jihadists is likely to encourage efforts to pressure Israel into additional unilateral concessions to the Arabs that will need to be vigorously resisted.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017