March 24th

Lebanon Press says PLO Bomb 'Settling of Scores' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) March 24, 2009 - 12:00am BEIRUT (AFP) – The killing of a top Palestine Liberation Organisation official in Lebanon could be a "settling of scores" between rival factions, Lebanese newspapers said on Tuesday. Kamal Medhat, the PLO's number two in Lebanon, was killed in a roadside bombing outside the Mieh Mieh refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Monday along with three other people, including two of his bodyguards. "Mieh Mieh: a fratricide?" said the French language L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper. As-Safir newspaper, which is close to the Syrian-backed Lebanese opposition, echoed the view. » Read more

A case to answer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian (Editorial) March 24, 2009 - 12:00am Evidence that Israel committed war crimes in its 23-day operation in Gaza mounts by the week. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have both appealed for a United Nations inquiry, after conducting their own investigations. Last week Ha'aretz published the testimonies of Israeli soldiers who alleged that a sniper shot a Palestinian mother and her two children, and that a company commander ordered an elderly woman to be killed. Yesterday Physicians for Human Rights accused soldiers of ignoring the special protection that Palestinian medical teams are entitled to receive. » Read more

Rightists Proest as Netanyahu Moves Closer to Coalition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - March 24, 2009 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel’s conservative Likud Party initialed a coalition agreement with the center-left Labor Party early Tuesday, taking the prime minister-designate and Likud leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, a significant step closer to forming a broad government and avoiding leading a narrow right-wing coalition. » Read more

Clash in tense Israeli-Arab town ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News March 24, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli-Arab protesters have clashed with police as Jewish Israeli right-wingers marched in the majority-Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. Stun grenades and tear gas were used as hundreds of Israeli-Arab protesters threw stones, police said. Israeli-Arab residents of the town view the march as highly provocative and had vowed to stop it. The High Court gave permission for the march, but police had postponed it several times, fearing violence. About 2,500 police in riot gear were deployed as about 100 far-right activists marched in the town, waving Israeli flags. » Read more

It's now or nothing for Palestine peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) March 24, 2009 - 12:00am The recent Israeli attack on Gaza made little strategic difference leaving Hamas still in charge of the strip, diminished militarily but arguably strengthened politically. Israel's use of disproportionate military force yielded political and public relations setbacks, with the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit still in captivity and occasional rockets still being fired from Gaza. » Read more

March 23rd

Labor and Likud launch coalition talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post March 23, 2009 - 12:00am Coalition talks between Labor and Likud negotiations teams kicked off Monday morning in Kfar Hamaccabiah in Ramat Gan. Entering the meeting, Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon (Labor) said that the meeting would focus on diplomatic and socioeconomic issues. "We will try to arrive at an agreement so that we can present it to the party's conference tomorrow, but we may be unsuccessful," Simhon said.

PA source: Iran-backed group may be behind Haifa bomb attempt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - March 23, 2009 - 12:00am A senior source in the Palestinian Authority told Haaretz Sunday that he suspects Hezbollah or another organization with links to Iran was behind the attempted bombing of the Lev Hamifratz shopping mall in Haifa on Saturday night. According to the source, the PA holds definitive intelligence that Hezbollah has been trying for some time to recruit members of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an attempt to get operatives of those terror groups to carry out an attack in Israel. » Read more

End of the one-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Adel Safty - March 22, 2009 - 12:00am Commentators in Israel and elsewhere have noted the two major trends to emerge from the recent Israeli elections, namely the collapse of the Labour party and the left bloc, and the rise of the extreme right. But there is a more significant development. The Israeli assault on Gaza and the vehement opposition from the Palestinian citizens of Israel to it brought to the fore the tension inherent in the Zionist tenet of a state that is both Jewish and democratic. » Read more

Enough with the cosmetics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) March 23, 2009 - 12:00am Don't let them tell you that Benjamin Netanyahu needs Labor in order to handle the Iranian threat. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will probably continue building the bomb, regardless of whether Ehud Barak continues comfortably filling the defense minister's chair or, like Tzipi Livni, supports action against Iran from the opposition bench. » Read more

Dead Palestinian babies and bombed mosques - IDF fashion 2009 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Uri Blau - March 20, 2009 - 12:00am The office at the Adiv fabric-printing shop in south Tel Aviv handles a constant stream of customers, many of them soldiers in uniform, who come to order custom clothing featuring their unit's insignia, usually accompanied by a slogan and drawing of their choosing. Elsewhere on the premises, the sketches are turned into plates used for imprinting the ordered items, mainly T-shirts and baseball caps, but also hoodies, fleece jackets and pants. A young Arab man from Jaffa supervises the workers who imprint the words and pictures, and afterward hands over the finished product. » Read more