April 25th

Good morning, Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by David Rosenberg - (Opinion) April 22, 2011 - 12:00am Sometime in September the United Nations General Assembly will vote (in all probability) in favor of Palestinian statehood. How the vote will be taken and what its significance for the relationship between infant Palestine and the rest of the world and for the day-to-day management of Israel’s occupation is anyone’s guess. » Read more

West Bank Shooting Comes Amid Upsurge in Violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Rosenberg - April 24, 2011 - 12:00am One Israeli was killed and three others were injured by gunfire early on Sunday as they were leaving a Jewish holy site in the city of Nablus, amid signs of an upsurge of Palestinian attacks on Israelis originating in the generally quiet West Bank. » Read more

For Israelis and Palestinians, the status quo is neither sustainable nor desirable ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Gary Younge - (Opinion) April 25, 2011 - 12:00am Back in 2008 a Florida couple running a small business that throws children's parties bought two costumes that looked like Tigger and Eeyore on eBay from a firm in Peru for $500. When Walt Disney saw the characters advertised online, it threatened legal action for an infringement of copyright laws and presented the couple with a seven-point demand to cease and desist. » Read more

Israelis shot in West Bank tried to break through Palestinian roadblock, probe shows ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson, Anshel Pfeffer - April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian security forces opened fire early Sunday on three cars full of Israelis who entered the West Bank compound of Joseph's Tomb without permission and then tried to break through a local checkpoint, according to an initial investigation by the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian Authority. Ben-Joseph Livnat, a 25-year-old father of four and nephew of Culture and Science Minister Limor Livnat, was killed in the shooting. Three other people were wounded, and are in light to serious conditions. » Read more

Minister Livnat: My nephew was killed by a terrorist disguised as a Palestinian policeman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson - April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Hundreds attended the funeral of Ben-Joseph Livnat Sunday, who was killed and three others were wounded earlier in the day when a Palestinian security officer opened fire on their car as they were leaving the holy site of Joseph's Tomb near the West Bank city of Nablus. The funeral procession left Alon More near Nablus, heading toward the Mount of Olives Graveyard. Livnat, 25, is the nephew of Science and Culture Minister Limor Livnat, and is survived by his wife and four children. » Read more

Report: Hamas seeks to kidnap more IDF soldiers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 25, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas is planning to take advantage of the relative calm in Gaza to arrange additional kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, according to a report by Israel Radio quoting an article published Sunday in Hamas' Al-Resalah newspaper. The report said that Hamas would potentially perpetrate the abductions to attain additional bargaining chips in the event that Gilad Shalit is killed during Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. The Hamas newspaper report added that the past five years in which they have held Shalit hostage will prove helpful in the organization fulfilling its goal. » Read more

Tensions mount in West Bank after Nablus shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Tensions in the West Bank mounted Sunday after a shooting incident in the city of Nablus killed one Israeli and wounded four others. A Palestinian policeman opened fire when a group of Israelis entered Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish holy site in the West Bank city of Nablus, early Sunday without "proper permits," according to an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) statement. » Read more

Arab changes to hopefully push forward stalled Mideast peace before September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Talks on new American and Israeli plans and initiatives to push forward the peace process have increased in the past few weeks, while the Palestinians are working in full swing for the establishment of an independent state in September. The Middle East peace process has been stalled, since the Palestinians had suspended the direct peace talks with Israel in October, one month after it was launched in Washington. The talks with Israel were suspended after Israel refused to freeze settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. » Read more

How the Likud Came to Be ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily by Elliot Jager - April 22, 2011 - 12:00am The party faithful who gathered in Tel Aviv on April 14 for a pre-Passover toast heard Benjamin Netanyahu announce that he would amplify Israel's security-and-peace principles at a joint session of the U.S. Congress next month. Surveying the crowd from the podium, the prime minister no doubt took comfort from a recent survey showing that 76 percent of Likud members opposed annexing all of Judea and Samaria. Yet he would also have known that 10,000 party recruits had been newly signed up by uncompromising settler leaders. » Read more

Bibi and Obama: hand over peace process to the UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Tony Karon - April 25, 2011 - 12:00am President Barack Obama and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we are told, are in a "bizarre diplomatic race" to be the first to outline a new initiative for Middle East peace. That's according to the New York Times, which last week reported that Mr Netanyahu is planning to preempt Mr Obama when he addresses US Congress next month, at the invitation of the president's Republican adversaries. » Read more