Hard Mideast Truths ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) February 11, 2010 - 1:00am For over a century now, Zionism and Arab nationalism have failed to find an accommodation in the Holy Land. Both movements attempted to fill the space left by collapsed empire, and it has been left to the quasi-empire, the United States, to try to coax them to peaceful coexistence. The attempt has failed. » Read more

Between the Prince and Mashaei ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) February 10, 2010 - 1:00am The news of the handshake between Prince Turki al-Faisal and Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon at the Munich Conference continues to dominate the Arab media and as a result has become a game of political football on the field of opportunism. This news has also given impetus to the process of "news laundering" which is an issue that I previously devoted an article to (28/1/2009). » Read more

Hamas's Apology ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Osman Mirghani - (Opinion) February 11, 2010 - 1:00am Hardly a day goes by without us being disturbed by the exchange of [verbal] heavy artillery in the war of words that is taking place between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas movement. This is a war that is overshadowing all other issues on the Palestinian scene, to the extent that it eclipses the concern towards the suffering of the helpless Palestinian citizens who are under oppressive occupation and facing harsh internal division and escalating suffering, particularly in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Palestinian Christian priests call for non-violent resistance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - February 11, 2010 - 1:00am The voice of Father Jamal Khader coming over the waves of Radio Mawwal in Bethlehem was soothing and confident. A caller asked him to explain the words of Jesus, “to love your enemy”, in light of the occupation and walls built by Israel and the injustice against Palestinians. Father Khader, who was being interviewed along with Rifaat Kassis, the coordinator of a new initiative by 16 Jerusalem-based Christian leaders, said that Christians are committed to these words without reservation. » Read more

Peaceful resistance - serious threat to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) February 11, 2010 - 1:00am Israel's recent raids into Ramallah to arrest and deport foreign activists working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is part and parcel of a strategy to end peaceful Palestinian resistance against the occupation. Having brutally crushed armed resistance and coopted the Palestinian Authority's police forces to provide "security" for Israel and its illegal West Bank colonies, Israel is determined to deny Palestinians all means of expression against the occupation and expropriation of their country. » Read more

Gaza the world is creating ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Editorial) February 11, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli officials say crossings into Gaza for goods and trade will remain closed for as long as Hamas remains in power in the Strip. Such words clearly constitute blackmail of the worst kind, but are not in essence that different from the position of the international community, which has acquiesced in Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip even though Hamas has demonstrably ended its rocket fire. Israel’s unashamed admission that it is willfully and deliberately starving 1.5 million people for political ends shows two things. » Read more

Palestinians accuse Israel of driving them out of Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 10, 2010 - 1:00am A Palestinian official on Wednesday accused Israel of working to drive Palestinians out of East Jerusalem. "What happened in (East) Jerusalem, mainly in Shu'fat refugee camp, was an Israeli attempt to push the city's population to leave it," said Adnan al-Hussini, Palestinian National Authority ( PNA)'s Jerusalem governor. The eastern part of the holy city has seen tension for three days since Israeli military forces raided a refugee camp there and arrested dozens of Palestinian residents on Monday. » Read more

PNA condemns killing an Israeli in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 10, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) condemned on Wednesday the killing of an Israeli soldier at an Israeli army roadblock south of northern West Bank city of Nablus. PNA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in a press statement sent to reporters that PNA condemns the attack, stressing that PNA would keep carrying out its firm security measures in order not to repeat such incidents. » Read more

Israel rerouting barrier near West Bank village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - February 11, 2010 - 1:00am Israel began work on Thursday to reroute a section of its West Bank separation barrier to restore land to a village that has become a flashpoint of Palestinian opposition to the enclosure. The move comes 2 1/2 years after Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the barrier must be moved to ease the hardship of Palestinians in the village of Bilin. Some Palestinians welcomed the development but stressed it fell far short of their demand to dismantle the entire enclosure. » Read more

Palestinian killer had personal problems - Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller - February 11, 2010 - 1:00am A Palestinian policeman who stabbed to death an Israeli soldier in the West Bank said he was "tired of living", an Israeli general said on Thursday, indicating a suicidal motive for the attack. Mahmoud Khatib, 34, killed Ihab Chattib, a career non-commissioned officer from Israel's Druze Arab minority and not related to the attacker, at a road junction in the occupied territory on Wednesday. The assailant was then run down by an Israeli motorist and arrested. » Read more