April 1st

Palestinian Christians to be barred from Old City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians, particularly Christians will be barred from entering Jerusalem's Old City and accessing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday, when eastern Orthodox Christians observe Sept An-Nour, or Saturday of light. Church officials were informed by Israeli police that only international pilgrims would be allowed to access the area, Jerusalem officials said on Wednesday.

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Village: Elon Moreh settlers create new outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Caravan homes, water tanks and tents were installed by settlers on lands belonging to the village of Deir Al-Hatab on Thursday, in what locals said appeared to be an attempt to create an outpost of Elon Moreh settlement. Head of the Deir Al-Hatab village council, Abdul Karim Hussein, said the outpost was set up in the early hours of the morning about 500 meters northeast of the village.

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Israel silent on Obama's four-month building freeze in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - March 31, 2010 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama asked Israel to agree to put a four-month freeze on plans to pursue controversial construction projects in East Jerusalem, in return for enabling direct Israel-Palestinian peace talks to start, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Wednesday. The paper quoted an unnamed official in Jerusalem. Officials at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv were unavailable for comment.

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When Israel and France Broke Up
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Gary J. Bass - (Opinion) March 31, 2010 - 12:00am

IN the face of rising tensions between the United States and Israel over housing construction in East Jerusalem, the Obama administration has rushed to reassert what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently called the “unshakable bond” between the two countries. No doubt, that relationship rests on enduring foundations, including broad American public sympathy for a besieged democracy, a mutual strategic interest in resisting Arab extremism and a sense of moral duty to preserve the Jewish people after the Holocaust.

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PA officials in US for security consultation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - April 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Abu Ali has left for Washington together with the commander of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, Ziyad Hab al-Rih, for security consultations. The meetings are aimed at examining the Palestinian Authority's preparedness for taking full security control of additional territories in the West Bank, which now belong to Areas B and C and will become part of Area A. The two officials will be joined by additional Palestinians officers later on.

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March 31st

The LA Times profiles the evolution of a play about an Israeli and Palestinian gay couple. Hamas demands Fatah apologize to the Palestinian people for peace negotiations. Fatah calls for the escalation of nonviolent protests. PM Fayyad joins a Land Day protest. A senior Fatah official arrested at a protest refuses to appear before an Israeli court in solidarity with others. Ha'aretz reports that the US is seeking a four-month settlement freeze in occupied East Jerusalem in exchange for direct negotiations, and editorializes that only a serious Israeli peace proposal can forestall an imposed settlement. French Pres. Sarkozy condemns Israeli settlement activity in occupied East Jerusalem. A Passover-themed YNet commentary compares Pres. Obama to "Pharaoh," a "dictator/king," calls him "hard-hearted" and describes Sec. Clinton as "hysterical." Alon Ben-Meir says the fundamentals of the US-Israel relationship have changed. The pro-Israel lobby presses Congress to soften Obama's tough stance on Netanyahu. Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler look at possible future scenarios. Scott McConnell says Pres. Obama should and may treat Israel like any other country.

Normalizing Relations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Conservative
by Scott McConnell - May 1, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama has probably studied the first President Bush’s standoff with Israel. Then as now, the issue of contention was Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank and Jerusalem. George H.W. Bush was hopeful about moving toward a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

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Israel recognizes Obama means business
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Asia Times
by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - March 31, 2010 - 12:00am

Against all expectations, it's becoming the forerunner of a peace plan. Indeed, it might in the end even surprise the world as Israelis and Palestinians are forced into peace. Even if, for now, it's shaping up as anything but peaceful. It's a battle royal. "It" is the ongoing and unprecedented crisis in relations between the United States and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that the divide between his government and the administration of President Barack Obama is still bridgeable.

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Israel lobby presses Congress to soften Obama's tough stance on Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Chris McGreal - March 30, 2010 - 12:00am

America's main pro-Israel lobby group is mobilising members of Congress to pressure the White House over its bitter public confrontation with Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. The move, by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), appears aimed at exploiting differences in the Obama administration as it decides how to use the crisis around settlement building in Jerusalem to press Israel towards concessions to kickstart peace negotiations.

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Time to change the status quo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) March 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The last few weeks have looked like a crash course in Middle East diplomacy, replete with the grandeur of talks and lofty speechmaking and the lows that shamed even those most committed to the peace process. As the media frenzy played out, the public watched as Israel and its closest ally celebrated proximity talks, clashed over the untimely announcement of new construction in Jerusalem and worked through their differences during the AIPAC conference in Washington and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s subsequent meeting with President Barack Obama.

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