April 22nd

Obama offered Netanyahu a gentlemen's agreement on Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - April 22, 2010 - 12:00am If the Independence Day speeches delivered this week by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin were any indication, Jerusalem Day came early this year. As they took the podium to vow that "united Jerusalem" would never be divided, both were no doubt aware that President Barack Obama's adviser, Dan Shapiro, was making his way to the region. » Read more

Palestinians to step up "Popular Resistance" against Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 21, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian officials, Arab, Israeli and foreign members of international solidarity movements on Wednesday announced that they would step up "Popular resistance " to challenge the Israeli settlement's expansion and the construction of the West Bank Separation Wall. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told an international conference held in the village of Bel 'ein, west of Ramallah in the West Bank, that the Palestinians will keep their "popular resistance as part of a step towards establishing their future independent Palestinian state." » Read more

Israel evicts freed Palestinian prisoner from West Bank to Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 22, 2010 - 12:00am The Israeli army has on Wednesday expelled a freed Palestinian prisoner from the West Bank to Gaza Strip, an official said. Nash'at al-Waheidi, in charge of public relations in the Gaza- based Palestinian Prisoners' Committee, said in a press statement that Israel started to implement its military order of evictions. Last week, the Israeli Ha'aretz Daily revealed that the Israeli army had issued an order to expel thousands of Palestinians, who are not basically registered as West Bank residents, from the territory to the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Israel arrests 24 Palestinians in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 22, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli forces arrested 24 Palestinians during its raids in the West Bank early Thursday, Palestinian security sources said. The arrests took place during the Israeli incursion into the cities of Jenin, Qalqilya, Bethlehem and surrounding villages, according to the sources. Meanwhile, an Israeli army force also operated in an area east of Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip, and Israeli bulldozers backed by tanks leveled some groves, according to local residents. » Read more

Israeli PM rejects calls for east Jerusalem freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Amy Teibel - April 22, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's prime minister has rejected U.S. calls to halt construction in disputed east Jerusalem, clouding a new peace mission by Washington's Mideast envoy. Benjamin Netanyahu's made the comments to Channel 2 TV, shortly after the arrival of envoy George Mitchell on Thursday. Netanyahu declared: "There will be no freeze in Jerusalem." Netanyahu was repeating a long-standing position, but the timing of the statement threatened to undermine Mitchell's latest efforts to restart peace talks. » Read more

Rockets fired at Israel fall in Jordan-source ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters April 22, 2010 - 12:00am Two rockets were fired from the Jordanian port of Aqaba towards Israel on Thursday but landed on an empty warehouse in Jordan, a Jordanian security source said. Jordanian Minister of State for Information Nabil al-Shareef told the state news agency Petra: "A limited explosion took place in the early hours of the morning at a refrigration warehouse at the northern edge of the city that caused minor damage." Aqaba is adjacent to the Israeli city of Eilat. » Read more

US Mideast envoy launching new mission--officials ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi - April 22, 2010 - 12:00am A White House envoy planned to begin a new Middle East peace mission on Thursday that could determine whether Israel and the United States sink deeper into discord over Jewish settlement policy. George Mitchell's visit to Jerusalem and the West Bank will be his first since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned a month ago from low-profile talks with U.S. President Barack Obama that underscored a rift between the two leaders. » Read more

PA: Palestinian work in settlements will stop this year ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 22, 2010 - 12:00am By the end of the calendar year there will be no Palestinians working in Israeli settlements, Ramallah-based Minister of Labor Ahmad Majdalani announced Thursday. The move comes amid a government campaign to boycott settlement products, following the prohibition of such goods in Palestinian markets, and the implementation of a ban on the sale of phone cards and SIM chips for Israeli cellphone providers with mobile towers in settlements. » Read more

Israeli army to investigate human shield report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 22, 2010 - 12:00am The Israeli army said Wednesday it would investigate allegations that a 14-year-old boy was used as a human shield by Israeli forces in Beit Ummar, a Hebron village, following a Ma'an inquiry. The Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) said at 11am on Friday 16 April four jeeps entered the main street of Beit Ummar as local children responded by throwing stones. » Read more

Palestinian official denies report that President Mahmoud Abbas is ailing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - April 21, 2010 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas has undergone weeks of medical treatment after a fall in the bathroom left him with a "major bruise" on his back, says Palestinian peace negotiator and PLO member Saeb Erekat. He denied a report in Arabic daily Al Quds Al Arabi and also in Israeli media that Mr. Abbas is in declining health. » Read more