March 11th

U.S. official: Obama won't cut military aid to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
March 11, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama will not cut the billions of dollars in military aid promised to Israel, a senior U.S. administration official said Wednesday. The $30 billion in aid promised to Israel over the next decade will not be harmed by the world financial crisis, the official told Israel Radio. He spoke on condition of anonymity. The Obama Administration however expects the next government of Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to continue peace negotiations with the Palestinians, he said.

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Dr. Ziad Asali discusses ATFP with the Media Line
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
(Interview) March 5, 2009 - 1:00am

Media Line: I am speaking with Dr. Ziad Asali who is the founder and currently heads the organization called the American Task Force on Palestine. Dr. Asali, let’s start with the very beginning the [American] Task force on Palestine appears to say what it does in its name, are you geared towards educating the American public, the American Congress, everybody, what exactly is your role?

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March 10th

An Israeli human rights organization petitions the High Court for an immediate halt to Israeli mining operations in the West Bank (1). Two former North American Ambassadors to the Middle East propose a “special regime” be charged with administering Jerusalem (2). Intra-Palestinian talks on forming a consensus government are underway in Egpyt (3). Mel Frykberg looks at the tense relationship between Israeli settlers and West Bank villagers (4). Israel reportedly grants amnesty to 20 Fatah members (5). Two rockets are fired into southern Israel from Gaza, resulting in some property damage but no injuries (8).

Encountering Peace: Political dead ends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) March 10, 2009 - 12:00am

There are those who want and can't, those who don't want and can, those who don't want and can't, and there are those who want and can. Mahmoud Abbas has been one of those who wanted and couldn't, as was Ehud Olmert. Binyamin Netanyahu is probably one who doesn't want but can. A Palestinian national unity government, should it come to life, will also be one that doesn't want but could. The Obama administration is definitely one that wants and can, but what will it do in the face of those in the Middle East who so clearly don't want?

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'Netanyahu to focus first on PA'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - March 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu has no intention of sidelining the Palestinian track in favor of a Syrian one, Dore Gold, one of Netanyahu's top foreign policy advisers, said Monday. Gold's comments came the same day that Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published in the United Arab Emirates daily Al-Khaleej that while a peace deal with Israel was possible, normal relations would only come about if Israel ended its conflict with the Palestinians.

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2 rockets fired from Gaza; damage caused
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shumlik Hadad - March 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Two Qassam rockets were fired Monday morning from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev. One rocket landed in an open area in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, without causing injuries or damage. The second rocket hit an open area near a kibbutz south of Ashkelon. There were no injuries, but the kibbutz fence sustained damage. On Monday, a senior Islamic Jihad source told Ynet that the Hamas government in Gaza arrested 10 al-Quds Brigades gunmen recently for allegedly firing rockets at Israel.

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Clinton advances Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by James J. Zogby - (Opinion) March 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent Middle East trip was striking by any measure. Despite grumbling by some in the Arab media for what they derided as “excessive caution” or claiming that she merely echoed the policies of the previous administration - some going as far as to mock her as “Condi Clinton” - her overall performance was significant and substantial.

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Paradigm shift on Gaza needed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Husam Zomlot - (Opinion) March 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Last week's donor conference at Sharm Al Shaikh for the reconstruction of Gaza produced no great news. The pledged $5 billion (Dh18.35 billion) for a two-year recovery and reconstruction package will help to rebuild houses and infrastructure; only for Israel to destroy them again at the earliest opportunity. This has been a recurring theme in Palestine for the past 15 years.

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Israel offers amnesty to 20 Fatah militants: sources
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel has given amnesty to 20 wanted militants of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement in the West Bank city of Nablus, senior Palestinian security sources said Tuesday. Israel has officially informed the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) that its security apparatus decided to offer amnesty to 20 wanted militants, who are members of al-Aqsa MartyrsBrigades, Fatah's armed wing, said the sources who declined to give their names.

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Israeli Settlers Terrorize Palestinian Villagers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mel Frykberg - March 10, 2009 - 12:00am

"I couldn't run. My pregnancy was too far advanced and there was nowhere to hide," said Amna Salman Rabaye, 31, as she recalled the terrifying incident several months ago. Rabaye from the Palestinian Bedouin village of At Tuwani in the southern West Bank was grazing her sheep when she was assaulted by a security guard from the adjacent illegal Israeli settlement of Ma'on. "We saw a group of masked Israeli settlers armed with sticks and chains heading towards us. The younger shepherds ran and managed to escape, leaving me with the flock of sheep," Rabaye told IPS.

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