March 12th

Middle East: What can Obama do to restore confidence in peace process? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Borzou Daragahi - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am Voices of skepticism and disdain abound when it comes to United States' efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. Many in the Arab world regard the Obama administration's steps to restart talks as too little too late by a government too beholden to Israel. But some also proposed ideas for moving forward, even after Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, where peace was overshadowed by Israel's announcement of plans to expand settlements in the West Bank. » Read more

Two Israeli soldiers accused of using human shield ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - March 12, 2010 - 1:00am Reporting from Jerusalem - Two Israeli soldiers involved in the Gaza Strip offensive a year ago used a 9-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield to open packages they believed were booby-trapped with explosives, the Israeli army charged Thursday. The soldiers, whose names were not released, have been indicted in military court for "unauthorized conduct" and "exceeding their authority in a manner that endangered life or health," the army said. The boy, whose case was forwarded to the Israel Defense Forces by the United Nations, was unharmed. » Read more

Biden to Leave Mideast Amid Unease ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am TEL AVIV — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. came to Israel early this week to promote new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and tighten the bonds between Israel and the United States. He left Thursday amid increased uncertainty over the nature and timing of those talks and with a sense of unease hanging over the American-Israeli relationship. » Read more

March 11th

The problem with illegal settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am The embarrassment the US vice president faced this week when, during his visit to Israel, the creation of a new settlement was announced should not have surprised him. The list of Israeli slaps in the face of US officials is endless. The situation has become such that many believe calls for a freeze of settlement activities should stop because they resulted in a frenzy to build even more Jewish settlements. » Read more

Israel provokes and damages push for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) March 10, 2010 - 1:00am During the Middle Ages, intellectuals endlessly debated the question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? To this we add a contemporary version: How often will Israel kick Washington in the teeth before it says “Enough!” Our question, of course, is occasioned by the visit of the US vice president, Joe Biden, to Jerusalem and Ramallah this week. Mr Biden was dispatched by the White House to assure Israelis of America’s commitment to their security. » Read more

What has Gaza gained since Hamas won four years ago? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Michael Young - (Opinion) March 11, 2010 - 1:00am As Israel and the Palestinian Authority prepare to resume indirect talks, through American mediation, some are insisting that the Islamist movement Hamas must be brought into the process. Hamas, the argument goes, is capable of obstructing progress in negotiations, so that only by engaging the group can the United States and the international community avoid such an outcome. The rationale is naive. » Read more

Israel shows what it really thinks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent (Opinion) March 11, 2010 - 1:00am Israel apologised for the embarrassment it had caused its most important ally by announcing it would build 1,600 new homes in disputed East Jerusalem at the very moment the US vice-president, Joe Biden, was in the country for a visit. But no apology – nor the implausible explanation that the announcement was a "procedural" matter of which Benjamin Netanyahu had not been informed in advance – can obscure the truth that this episode has revealed. » Read more

'I saw Israeli bulldozer kill Rachel Corrie' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am The final moments of Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist crushed to death beneath a pile of earth and rubble in the path of an advancing Israeli army bulldozer, were described to an Israeli court by an eyewitness yesterday. The parents of the 23-year-old, who was killed by the bulldozer in March 2003, were present to hear the harrowing account on the first day of hearings in a civil lawsuit they have brought against the state of Israel. The country has never acknowledged culpability over Ms Corrie's death. » Read more

Poll: 46% of high-schoolers don't want equality for Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yaheli Moran Zelikovich - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am Racism and refusal to evacuate alongside support for a democratic system of government – these are the jumbled sentiment of Israel's high school students, according to a recent poll. They support a democratic form of government, but more than half of them believe that Arabs should not be allowed to vote in Knesset elections. One out of every six students would not want to study in the same class with an Ethiopian or an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, and 21% of them think that "Death to Arabs" is a legitimate expression. » Read more

Construction bids issued in West Bank settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Shmulik Grossman - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am On the backdrop of the US-prompted construction moratorium imposed on West Bank settlements and the recent embarrassment over construction in east Jerusalem during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit, the Elkana Local Council issued a tender on Thursday for the building of new residential neighborhoods in the West Bank settlement. According to the council-issued tenders, proposals are sought by entrepreneurs interested in erecting new residential neighborhoods. The local council will leave arranging all the necessary political and planning permits up to whoever makes the winning bid. » Read more