February 26th

Close Gaza tunnels? Some Palestinians say yes. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Erin Cunningham - February 25, 2010 - 1:00am When Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak confirmed in late January that his government was planning a new wall along Egypt's border with Gaza that will descend 100 feet below the surface – to shut down the Gaza tunnels that have smuggled trade goods, people, and weapons under the border for years – merchants here rushed to stock up. Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, dubbed the structure "the wall of death." » Read more

Dubai assassination: UAE demands justice but with what leverage? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Carol Huang - February 22, 2010 - 1:00am Diplomatic tensions are heating up over the forged European passports used by a hit squad that came to Dubai to murder of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. But there's not a lot that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can do beyond complaining to European ambassadors. The focus now is mostly on European countries calling in Israeli diplomats, and the European Union, which today issued a public condemnation of the use of forged passports. » Read more

More Clashes Over Israeli Claim to Shrine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - February 25, 2010 - 1:00am Dozens of Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli forces for a fourth day on Thursday at various locations in this volatile city over the inclusion of a hotly contested religious shrine here, the Cave of the Patriarchs, in a list of places earmarked for renovation as Jewish heritage sites. » Read more

Mayor’s Housing Offer Sets Off Row in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - February 25, 2010 - 1:00am The mayor of Jerusalem is offering 120 Palestinian families in a jumble of houses scheduled for demolition a deal he believes they can’t refuse: new apartments atop shops and restaurants, a day care center, boutique hotels and a huge park. Tourists and income will flow. It is — as the mayor likes to say — win-win. » Read more

February 25th

Are serious negotiations around the corner? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) February 25, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinians and many others around the world are trying to figure out whether the current US-backed push to restart Mideast talks will lead to serious negotiations or will it be just another act that leads nowhere. » Read more

‘Two-State Solution’ Faces a Patchwork of Challenges ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - February 24, 2010 - 1:00am As the Obama administration struggles to restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, a two-state solution remains the final goal, supported by governments in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Washington and Moscow. It enjoys at least lip service from everyone from Benjamin Netanyahu on the right to Noam Chomsky on the left. It is a term that has become as much mantra as policy. » Read more

Palestine's strongest weapon is peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) February 25, 2010 - 1:00am To live under occupation is to face many indignities and dilemmas. How to deal with the occupier? By violence or by peaceful means? History has examples of both. But parallels are never exact. The dilemma facing Palestinians is whether to go on working with the international consensus that supports our independence, or to wage war against the overwhelmingly superior forces of the occupier, Israel. » Read more

A tale of two assassinations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) February 24, 2010 - 1:00am There are times when it's a good idea to assassinate a Hamas leader, even in a foreign country, and times when it's a bad idea. The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month (which everyone presumes to have been the Mossad's work) was a bad idea. By contrast, the Mossad's attempt in September 1997 to kill Khaled Mashaal in Amman was a good idea that went bad in the execution, so to speak, as I wrote in a column titled "Hit 'em back" two weeks afterward. » Read more

March to mark Goldstein massacre ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Greer Fay Cashman, Yaakov La, Tovah Lazaroff - February 25, 2010 - 1:00am Amid heightened tensions in Hebron, Palestinians plan to march in the city on Thursday, to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the Baruch Goldstein massacre. On February 25, 1994, the Israeli American physician killed 29 Muslims who were praying at the mosque that is part of the Cave of the Patriarchs complex. He wounded another 150 before being beaten to death. The march comes after the cabinet on Sunday added the Cave of the Patriarchs to the list of Jewish heritage sites marked for renovation and preservation. » Read more

US slams Israel over designating heritage sites ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press February 25, 2010 - 1:00am The Obama administration criticized Israel for designating two shrines on Palestinian territory as Israeli national heritage sites. The criticism came as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she hopes long-stalled peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians will resume. Clinton told a congressional committee that groundwork is being laid to restart the talks with the help of US envoy George Mitchell. She did not say exactly when the negotiations might resume, but her remarks come amid a flurry of US diplomatic activity in the region. » Read more