ATFP Board member Saliba Sarsar says Sari Nusseibeh is right that only a two-state solution can provide peace. Egypt’s new FM is likely to take a tougher line with Israel. The Israel-Lebanon border is quiet. Pres. Abbas gives PM Fayyad, whose national unity plan has divided Fatah, more time to form a cabinet. Food shortages grow in Gaza. Israel denies visas to an Anglican Bishop and to a Palestinian man married to a Jewish Israeli woman. PM Netanyahu says the world automatically sides with the Palestinians. Abbas says he won’t accept a state with temporary borders. A Palestinian worker is killed in a tunnel collapse. Jordan’s King says Israeli-Palestinian peace is the key to regional security. Israel plans work at a contested Jerusalem holy site. DM Barak says peace does not contradict Israeli security. Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters joins a cultural boycott of Israel. Israel is one of the least popular countries in the world. The Jordan Times says peace is urgently needed. Uri Avnery says Israel is placing itself on the wrong side of history.

Israel on history’s wrong side
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) March 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Of all the memorable phrases uttered by Barack Obama in the last two years, the one that stuck in my mind more than any other appeared in his historic speech in Cairo in the early days of his term.

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Always time for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) March 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel says that now is not the time to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, presumably because of the turmoil that has hit several Arab countries. The time to arrive at peace is always right, and Israel should not resort, once again, to procrastination or look for reasons not to agree to peace with the Palestinians where there are none.

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Israel ranked among least popular states
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
March 7, 2011 - 1:00am

More than 28,000 people were polled between December of 2010 and February of this year in a survey designed to gauge attitudes towards various countries worldwide. Just 21% of those polled expressed a positive opinion of Israel, while 49% expressed a negative attitude towards the Jewish state. However dismal, the numbers are still an improvement from last year, when just 19% were pro-Israel.

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Roger Waters voices support for Israel boycott
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
March 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Roger Waters, founding member, vocalist and bassist of the iconic rock band 'Pink Floyd' has voiced his support for a cultural boycott of Israel. The British musician performed in Israel in 2005, ignoring calls from Palestinian rights advocates to cancel. While in Israel, Waters visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He was taken to the controversial separation fence in the West Bank, which he called "an appalling edifice to behold."

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Palestinian with Jewish wife and IDF veteran son denied permanent visa
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yanir Yagna - March 7, 2011 - 1:00am

A Palestinian man who is married to a Jewish woman and whose son served in the Israel Defense Forces was recently informed that he is ineligible for a permanent visa to live in Israel. "I can't buy a home here like a human being, I can't open a business for fear that they'll soon kick me out," said Adel Hussein, who has lived most of his life in the West Bank city of Tul Karm, but now wants to live near his son in Israel. "There is no explanation as to why they're not letting me be a permanent citizen. My son served in a combat unit - is that not total loyalty to the state?"

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Barak: Mideast peace does not go against Israel's security interests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
March 7, 2011 - 1:00am

A peace agreement with the Palestinians does not stand in contradiction with Israel's security needs, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio on Monday, saying that immediate action needed to be taken to advance peace efforts. Barak's comments came after sources in the Prime Minister's Office said last week that the PM was considering a plan to cooperate with the Palestinians on the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders, as part of an interim peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority that would be implemented immediately.

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Israel plans work at contested Jerusalem holy site
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - March 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel has given preliminary approval for renovations at a contested holy site in East Jerusalem where rebuilding has triggered violence in the past, a city official said on Sunday. Municipal planners last week approved the project to repair an earthen ramp near the Mughrabi Gate connecting the Wailing Wall remnant of an ancient Jewish temple to a complex revered by Muslims and Jews, both of whom claim the area as their own.

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Fair solution to Palestinian issue key to Mideast security: Jordan' s king
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 7, 2011 - 1:00am

King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday said the key to stability, peace and security in the Middle East is to find a just solution for the Palestinian issue, the state- run Petra new agency reported. The solution, he said, should lead to the realization of the Palestinian hopes in establishing an independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories. The king made his remarks at a meeting with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Sunday, when the two sides looked into developments in the region and issues of mutual concern.

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Palestinian worker killed in tunnel collapse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 7, 2011 - 1:00am

An 18-year-old Palestinian worker was killed on Monday when a smuggling tunnel beneath Gaza's southern border with Egypt caved in, medical sources said. Hundreds of tunnels are located beneath the borderline, which were used for bringing in materials forbidden by Israel through the commercial crossing points with Gaza. Tunnel business flourished between 2007 and the middle of 2010, when an Israeli blockade against Gaza was in its highest level. Construction materials and petrol flow to Gaza mainly through the tunnels.

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