April 8th

US hits back at Lieberman: The goal is two states ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 8, 2009 - 12:00am The US State Department hit back at Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's warning on Tuesday to those pressuring Israel on its foreign policy agenda. The Yisrael Beitenu chairman and recent appointment to the top ministerial position also said that the world was willing to listen to his ideas, accusing the Israeli left of attacking his positions to score points abroad. "We have never interfered with other people's affairs and we expect of others not stand with a stopwatch in hand," Lieberman told party members at a conference. » Read more

Palestinians injured by IDF fire near settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - April 8, 2009 - 12:00am At least 16 Palestinians were injured Wednesday morning during a clash which broke out between settlers and residents of the West Bank village of Khirbat Safa, near the Bat Ayin settlement. An Israeli citizen was lightly hurt in the incident. Last Thursday, a 13-year-old youth was killed in a terror attack in the Gush Etzion community. His family ended its seven days of mourning Wednesday morning. » Read more

Abdullah holds ‘productive’ talks with Obama’s envoy to Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Erika Niedowski - April 8, 2009 - 12:00am Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, held talks on Monday with the Obama administration’s special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, in a meeting the Minister of Foreign Affairs described as “productive”. “America, Europe and Arab nations must continue to work together towards a practical solution that will ensure the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations,” Sheikh Abdullah said in a statement after the session. “Today we had a productive discussion that confirmed our two countries’ mutual commitment to regional peace and stability.” » Read more

Netanyahu and Barak won't get an American free ride ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Amnon Lord - (Opinion) April 8, 2009 - 12:00am The second government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is centered on the Likud's partnership with Labor party leader Ehud Barak. This new and seemingly unlikely collaboration between rivals Netanyahu and Barak was born out of their mutual recognition that, regarding the two major challenges facing Israel, they think alike. » Read more

Abbas 'reshuffles Fatah military posts' in Lebanon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star April 8, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered the reshuffling of Fatah's military posts in Lebanon, Palestinian sources told Al-Liwaa newspaper Tuesday. "The move follows last month's assassination of Kamal Medhat, the deputy of Palestine Liberation Organization representative in Lebanon Abbas Zaki," Al-Liwaa said. Medhat was killed along with three other people in a bombing that targeted his motorcade at the entrance to the southern refugee camp of Mieh Mieh on March 23. » Read more

April 7th

A Harsh Reality for Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ahmad Tibi - (Opinion) April 7, 2009 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The right-wing coalition of the new Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, does not bode well for Palestinians in Israel. With the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister, the extremists are going after the indigenous population and threatening us with loyalty tests and the possibility of “transfer” into an area nominally controlled by the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Grappling with the ‘Problem of Lieberman’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - April 7, 2009 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, WEST BANK // While the new right-wing Israeli government undoubtedly poses a challenge to the international community, with its continued refusal to commit to the two-state solution, it is the presence of Avigdor Lieberman, the new foreign minister, that poses the most interesting questions. » Read more

Tackling the Gaza maze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) April 7, 2009 - 12:00am With both the Israeli and Palestinian political systems in shambles, the 1967 peace plan pursued by the West seems a distant dream. In whatever remains of Palestine, it is no longer surprising to see the two-state solution fading further out of reach. What is surprising is that the US and the Europeans still want to pursue the peace process to adjacent nation-states. » Read more

Steering Israel to peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Opinion) April 7, 2009 - 12:00am ANY lingering hopes abroad — and there were some — that Avigdor Lieberman, who replaced Tzipi Livni as Israel’s foreign minister last week, was suddenly going to be transformed from nationalist demagogue to peace-seeking statesman were cruelly dispelled when he spoke on Wednesday, brutally rejecting the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating process that started at Annapolis well over a year ago. » Read more

Reaching People on Both Sides of the Arab-Israeli Divide ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times by Ghassan Rubeiz - (Opinion) April 7, 2009 - 12:00am Writing fairly about the Arab-Israeli conflict often feels like walking on thin ice. Arab readers advise me to be "bold" in reporting on Palestinian suffering. In contrast, pro-Israeli readers advise me to be more sensitive to the "Jewish perspective," I try, and often fail, but I continue to try. » Read more