April 20th

Obama, don't forget Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) April 20, 2010 - 12:00am These have been busy days for Jewish bloggers when it comes to Israel. One of them, the formidable Ed Koch, has virtually incinerated President Obama for his Israeli policy. The Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel has taken out full-page ads in major newspapers to tell Obama, in effect, to lay off Jerusalem, and Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, wrote the president to say how concerned he was about the administration's Israel policy. In short, it stinks. » Read more

Mood Is Dark as Israel Marks 62nd Year as a Nation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - April 19, 2010 - 12:00am Every year, Israelis approach the joy of their Independence Day right after immersing themselves in a 24-hour period of grief for fallen soldiers. Before the fireworks burst across the skies Monday night to celebrate the country’s 62nd birthday, the airwaves filled with anguished stories of servicemen and -women killed, the Kaddish prayer of mourning and speeches placing the deeply personal losses of a small country into the sweep of Jewish history. » Read more

'Palestinians will rule themselves' says Ehud Barak ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News April 20, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said Israel must, eventually, allow the Palestinians to rule themselves. In an interview with Army Radio he said in the future there would be a separate Palestinian state "whether you like it or not". The interview comes as Israelis mark Memorial Day, commemorating Israeli soldiers killed in action. Mr Barak, a former top ranking soldier, leads the Labour Party which is part of the current government coalition. » Read more

IDF looks to cut off PA protest funding ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - April 20, 2010 - 12:00am The army has begun looking into ways to crack down on the Palestinian Authority’s financial support of the so-called nonviolent public uprising it is supporting in the West Bank, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Leading efforts against the PA’s financial mechanism is the IDF’s Central Command, in conjunction with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). IDF sources said recently that PA officials, including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, were directing and overseeing the weekly protests that the IDF faced in the West Bank, including in Ni’lin, Bil’in and near the Shavei Shomron settlement. » Read more

April 19th

‘U.S. Can Stop Israeli Settlements’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Ziad Abu Zayyad, Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - (Interview) April 19, 2010 - 12:00am Ziad Abuzayyad was Palestinian cabinet minister responsible for Jerusalem affairs and a member of the Palestinian Legislature. During previous rounds of peace talks with Israel he was a leading member of the Palestinian negotiating team Currently, Abuzayyad is co-editor of the ‘Palestine-Israel Journal’ which seeks to create a platform for exploring tangible ways to advance a peaceful two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. » Read more

Obfuscating through violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from April 19, 2010 - 12:00am It seems that the era of relative peace between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel is over. Ever since Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, secured an amnesty for senior members of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh, on condition that they lay down their weapons and join the official security forces, calm has prevailed in the West Bank. » Read more

Thank You Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - April 18, 2010 - 12:00am I do not know how Binyamin Netanyahu thinks as the Prime Minister of Israel, but from what he has done so far it seems to us that this man is either a secret agent for the Arabs or that he is a megalomaniac who believes that he can do whatever he wishes to do! » Read more

Hamas…and Sanitation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) April 18, 2010 - 12:00am According to what was reported by Israeli Army Radio a few days ago, a delegation of experts and engineers affiliated to Hamas's so-called government in Gaza visited Israel in secret around two and a half months ago "with the goal of benefiting from Israel expertise in the field of wastewater treatment and turning this into potable drinking water." For its part, Hamas quickly denied this, which was expected and something that we have gotten used to from previous secret visits to Israel, particularly as there have been many such visits. » Read more

What would happen if Palestinians unilaterally declared statehood? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shlomo Avineri - (Opinion) April 19, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad recently announced that his government intends to declare an independent Palestinian state in the summer of 2011, even if no agreement is reached with Israel. This statement obviously generated unease in Israel, and not only among supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu's government - especially as it was accompanied by hints that European countries, and even the European Union itself, would recognize such a unilateral declaration of independence. » Read more

This Independence Day, Israel still turning its back on the Arab peace plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) April 19, 2010 - 12:00am "If I am you and you are me, I am not me and you are not you" - The Kotzker Rebbe. » Read more