April 7th

Poll: Majority of Egyptians support maintaining Israel peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 7, 2011 - 12:00am A poll conducted by The International Peace Institute published by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday shows that a majority of Egyptians would like to see a continuation of the peace treaty with Israel. "Maintaining and advancing peace with Israel has far wider appeal than a rupture in relations," reads the report on the poll, citing 60 percent of those polled as supporting maintaining the peace treaty with Israel. Those polled added, however, that they are also vying for the creation of an independent Palestinian State. » Read more

World Bank: Palestinian economic growth stunted by 'closure regime' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - April 6, 2011 - 12:00am The World Bank on Wednesday commended the Palestinian Authority for its institution-building efforts, but voiced concern over limited economic growth in Palestinian-run areas in both Gaza and the West Bank. "Rebuilding the Palestinian economy's productive capacity is a priority,” Mariam J. Sherman, World Bank Country Director for the West Bank and Gaza told donors, in presenting her report on the matter. "While we commend the solid performance of Palestinian institutions, we are concerned about the prospect for continued economic growth," said Sherman. » Read more

Authors of peace initiative invite Bibi to take lead ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviel Magnezi - April 6, 2011 - 12:00am A group of businessmen, former defense establishment officials and leading professors presented before the press on Wednesday the "Israeli Peace Initiative" that aims to restart the stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt their proposal. The manifest calls for a two-state solution based on the1967 borders, with a Palestinian state stretching across most of the West Bank, with east Jerusalem as its capital. » Read more

Rattling the Cage: Goldstone was never the problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) April 6, 2011 - 12:00am For Israel and its blind supporters, Operation Cast Lead just got stamped glatt kosher. Richard Goldstone writes in The Washington Post that IDF investigations have changed his mind, that he now thinks Palestinian “civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy,” so Israel is saying this proves the war in Gaza was a good war, a just war. The most moral war on Earth. » Read more

Justice for Gaza conflict victims: a response to Richard Goldstone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Dear Richard Goldstone As Palestinian human rights organisations, we were surprised by your op-ed, Reconsidering the Goldstone report on Israel and war crimes. Your conclusions that "civilians were not intentionally targeted [by Israel] as a matter of policy? and that Israel has "to a significant degree? sufficiently self-investigated incidents potentially amounting to war crimes in Operation Cast Lead are of particular concern. » Read more

Ford Foundation, Big Funder of Israeli NGOs, Pulling Out ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - April 6, 2011 - 12:00am After being a target for political attacks during the past year, progressive nongovernmental organizations in Israel are now bracing for another hit: the loss of one of their largest donors. The Ford Foundation, which has provided $40 million to civil society NGOs in Israel since 2003, will not resume its funding for programs in Israel once its current grant round ends in two years. The reason, the organization explains, has to do with changing priorities, not with politics. » Read more

Arab revolutions and the Israeli role ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Osman Mirghani - (Opinion) April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Responding to the ongoing demonstrations that are taking place in a number of cities, Syrian officials spoke of a conspiracy against the country, hinting that Israel were behind this, due to Syria's "national role." The intimations of a conspiracy were mentioned several times by President Bashar al-Assad in his recent speech in which he said that there is significance in the city of Deraa being chosen as the starting point for anti-governmental demonstrations. » Read more

Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Israel's Peace Now updates U.S. on West Bank construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ofer Aderet - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli left-wing non-government organization Peace Now has urged the U.S. to pressure Israel into evacuating West Bank outposts, according to an American diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, adding that the group regularly updated both Washington and the Defense Ministry on ongoing settlement construction. » Read more

Goldstone’s about-face ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Whenever anything happens in the world, Jews and Israelis ask the question: Is this good for Jews? But when a South African Jew who also insists that he is a Zionist was appointed to a human rights commission, the Jewish answer was a strong no. It was clear that the usual character assassination and political spin aimed at delegitmising anyone asked to investigate Israel’s war crimes would be much more difficult if the person is a Jewish judge. » Read more

Israeli settlement activities impede peace efforts: Jordanian FM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 6, 2011 - 12:00am Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Wednesday condemned Israel's settlement activities for impeding the peace efforts, state-run Petra news agency reported. At a meeting with David Hale, deputy envoy of the United States for Middle East peace, the Jordanian official condemned Israel's unilateral, illegal and provocative measures in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in East Jerusalem. Judeh said the Israeli settlement activities obstruct the peace efforts, calling for freezing these activities immediately. » Read more