March 5th

Israel to let more aid into Gaza in gesture to Clinton ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Nir Hasson, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am Israel will increase the range of goods permitted into the Gaza Strip as a gesture to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who concluded her visit to the region Wednesday. In recent weeks, Israel has prevented such products as jam, pasta and paper from reaching the besieged coastal territory. "We want humanitarian aid to get into Gaza in sufficient amounts to alleviate the suffering of the people," Clinton said, but stopped short of calling for a full opening of the crossings. » Read more

Hillary Clinton shores up weakened Palestinian leader ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am Hillary Clinton pledged her full support yesterday to the ailing Palestinian Administration of President Abbas, whose efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Israel have brought little progress, and whose standing among his own people has slipped dramatically. Speaking in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority, the US Secretary of State said that Mr Abbas's Administration was the only legitimate government of the Palestinian people - yet another snub to Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip and which the US regards as a terrorist organisation. » Read more

Clinton's caution in Israel has some Palestinians grumbling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News by Dion Nissenbaum - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am On her first visit as secretary of state to the de facto Palestinian capital, Hillary Clinton publicly chided Israel on Wednesday for demolishing dozens of Arab homes in East Jerusalem, a move that's undermining anemic peace talks with the Palestinians. » Read more

Deceptive unity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 4, 2009 - 1:00am Talks on forming a united Palestinian Authority government between West Bank-based Fatah and Gaza-based Hamas commenced in Cairo last week. Egypt is sponsoring the talks, with the tacit blessings of the international community. This is a mistake. The Obama administration should take a close look at the likely consequences of such an arrangement. » Read more

Driver Shot Dead After Rampage in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am The Palestinian driver of a construction vehicle flipped over an Israeli police car and rammed an empty bus here on Thursday, injuring two police officers before he was shot dead, police said. Police later identified the assailant as a Palestinian resident of Beit Hanina, a predominantly Arab neighborhood in northeast Jerusalem. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man, Mari al-Radeideh, 26, was married and the father of one child. Jerusalem’s deputy police commander, Niso Shahar, told reporters: “We have no doubt that it is a terror attack.” » Read more

March 4th

Hope Amidst Despair ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Ahmad Majdoubeh - August 15, 2008 - 12:00am The demise of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who was laid to rest on Wednesday, evokes a complex of emotions in the Palestinian people themselves, in Arabs and in all advocates of stability and peace all over the world. What can one say on such an occasion? Naturally, one wants to say a great deal. However, compared to what Darwish himself has said, what we say, no matter how elaborate and elegant, is a drop in an ocean. And that is why my advice to readers is: rather than read what people say about Darwish, read Darwish himself. It is way superior, and way more elegant. » Read more

The Murder Of Fadel Shana ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) August 15, 2008 - 12:00am THERE has been worldwide condemnation by journalists of yet another decision by an Israeli military tribunal to clear Israel troops of killing journalists. The death in April of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana while filming an Israeli tank during an incursion into Gaza roused media protests that Israeli soldiers were deliberately targeting members of news organizations sent to cover their activities. » Read more

Jaffa Pool Restricts Entry Of Arab Residents ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Omer Ori - August 15, 2008 - 12:00am Jewish and Arab relations in the city of Jaffa have always been tense, and Jewish residents' committees of some of Jaffa's neighborhoods have decide to do something about it, at least where the city pool is concerned: They rent out the pool every two weeks – to Jews only. "There was quite a bit of violence at the pool on the Arab residents' part and we had to figure out what to do," said a source familiar with the subject. » Read more

Clinton says two-state solution 'inescapable' for Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - March 4, 2009 - 1:00am Hillary Clinton threw herself into the turmoil of the Middle East crisis yesterday by backing the creation of a Palestinian state despite opposition from the incoming Israeli Government. The US Secretary of State also dispatched high-level envoys to Syria to discern the opportunities for regional talks. » Read more

Clinton Says She Pressed for Gaza Border Opening ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mark Landler - March 4, 2009 - 1:00am A day after announcing a new diplomatic initiative in the Middle East, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled here Wednesday to show support for the Palestinian Authority, saying she had pressed the Israeli government to open border crossings to war-torn Gaza. “We have obviously expressed concern about the border crossing,” Mrs. Clinton said after a meeting with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. “We want humanitarian aid to get into Gaza in sufficient amounts to help alleviate the suffering of the people in Gaza.” » Read more