April 13th

Netanyahu pledges Palestinian talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
April 12, 2009 - 12:00am

Benyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has said he will hold peace talks with the Palestinians. Netanyahu's comments on the stalled peace process - his first since he took office at the beginning of the month - came in a phone call with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, on Sunday. Abbas had called Netanyahu to extend holiday greetings for the Jewish Passover ceremony. The two had a "friendly and warm" conversation, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.

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If we give, we'll get
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - April 13, 2009 - 12:00am

It's a good thing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak didn't listen to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Instead of going to hell, as Lieberman has recommended, he sent his police to stop would-be terrorists planning to send many Israelis to that destination. I wonder what Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, well known for his fondness of Egypt, might have to say about the operation against Hezbollah in Egypt.

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Gaza boat explodes in apparent attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 13, 2009 - 12:00am

An unmanned Palestinian fishing boat exploded off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Monday in an apparent attempt to hit naval patrols in the area, the Israeli military said, reporting no casualties. An army spokesman said the nearest Israeli vessel was "a safe distance" from the Palestinian boat when it blew up about 300 metres off the northern Gaza shore near the border with Israel.

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Netanyahu and Obama Prepare for First Round
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Mel Frykberg - April 13, 2009 - 12:00am

The new U.S. administration and the new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are preparing for a possible confrontation on the future of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as well as several other issues. A collision course between the two countries seems inevitable as U.S. President Barack Obama reiterates his support for a two-state solution to the protracted conflict while Netanyahu's new Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman states that Israel is no longer obliged to honor previous peace agreements with the Palestinians.

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April 10th

ATFP President Ziad Asali Speaks at Annual Conference on World Affairs
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - April 7, 2009 - 12:00am

Ziad Asali, President of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), spoke at several panels at the Sixty-first Annual Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado, Boulder, held from April 6 –10.


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tells the Quartet that continued peace talks with Israel are conditioned on its acceptance of previous agreements and the freezing of settlement growth (1). British Foreign Secretary David Miliband affirms that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state (2). A Jordanian sponsored summit of Arab foreign ministers meets to discuss a unified Arab position towards peace (3). A recently released poll shows that a majority of American Jews show strong support for a more assertive U.S. role in Mideast peace efforts (6). Reema Ali gives her perspective on the issue of a settlement freeze (7) In the New York Review of Books David Hare examines the development and significance of the West Bank separation barrier (8). MJ Rosenberg urges President Obama to endorse the Arab Peace Initiative (9).

Missing a Historic Opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Khaleej Times
(Editorial) April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

That the change of guard in Israel and the rise of radical Zionists like Avigdor Lieberman to power is bad news for peace process cannot be overemphasised. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, himself renowned for absurdly unreasonable views, couldn’t have made a more disastrous choice when he picked up Lieberman as his foreign minister.

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Christians mark Good Friday in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Hundreds of Christian clergymen, worshippers and pilgrims are marking Good Friday at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Brown-robed Roman Catholic friars filed into the ancient church after its doors were unlocked this morning. Pilgrims knelt to kiss a stone believed to mark the spot where Jesus' body was placed after he was crucified. Processions following Jesus' footsteps through the alleys of Jerusalem's Old City are planned for later in the day.

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Deputy FM: Obama's Ankara speech did not favor Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon (Yisrael Beiteinu) said Friday that U.S. President Barack Obama's speech in Turkey earlier this week did not include any support for the Annapolis peace process, Army Radio reported. Ayalon denounced calls which interpreted Obama's reference to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation launched in Annapolis in 2007 as a warning against the policies of Israel's government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's statement that the new government was not bound by Annapolis understandings.

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Soccer, a Link to Normalcy For West Bank Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Like any soccer match among 6-year-olds, the gang behind the village school brought as much structure to the game as a swarm of bees. But Omar Abu Hamad, coach of the champion Wadi al-Nees Blue Eagles of the Palestinian Football Association, was already scouting his next generation of players -- including the speedy sons of two of his current stars. If all goes well, he said, this village of 800 in the occupied West Bank will continue to produce a punch-above-its-weight squad for Palestinian league play, and contribute to a Palestinian national team worthy of the world stage.

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