April 29th

Palestinian reconciliation leaves Israel worried ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 28, 2011 - 12:00am News that the two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, have agreed to form a national unity government and hold national elections was received with great concern in Israel. "The Palestinian National Authority needs to choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "Peace with both is impossible because Hamas aspires to destroy the State of Israel and says so openly," he said. » Read more

Palestinian unity deal brings with it risks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Tom Perry - April 28, 2011 - 12:00am Driven by regional upheaval, a deal to end conflict between Hamas and Fatah is being celebrated by Palestinians but could put at risk Western aid and set off a new phase of confrontation with Israel. Palestinians believe the surprise unity deal unveiled on Wednesday will strengthen their hand as they seek international backing for independence, presenting a united front and ending a divide that has set back their quest for statehood. » Read more

U.S. affirms aid to Palestians -- for now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Andrew Quinn - April 28, 2011 - 12:00am The United States will keep aid flowing to the Palestinian Authority, but future help depends on the new Palestinian government, the State Department said on Thursday. One day after a unity deal between rival Palestinian factions, the State Department said roughly $400 million in annual U.S. funding would be reassessed as the policies of the new leadership emerge. "The current Palestinian government remains in place and our assistance programs continue," State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke-Fulton said in an email. » Read more

Israeli artillery fire injures 4 in central Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 29, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli forces fired on an area east of Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza Thursday evening, injuring four, including a woman and two children, local sources said. Three artillery shells were fired into farm lands east of the refugee camp, eyewitnesses told Ma'an. The injured were taken to Al-Aqsa hospital in the central Gaza region of Al-Wusta, but their injuries were not critical, the sources said. » Read more

Abbas meets Israeli Peace Initiative delegates ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 29, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas met Thursday with the leadership of the Israel Peace Initiative at his government headquarters in Ramallah, where he heard their presentation of a regional peace initiative. The group met a day after officials in Cairo announced a unity "understanding" between rival parties Fatah and Hamas, which will see the creation of a technocratic government to oversee the transition to the first government elections since 2006. » Read more

Egypt sends invites for signing ceremony ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 28, 2011 - 12:00am The Egyptian government sent invitations on Thursday to Palestinian political parties for the signing of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement, in a ceremony to be held next Tuesday in Cairo. The event will be used to set an implementation mechanism for the unity deal, to be approved by all political groups. Factions welcomed the invitations, and prepared to send delegations to Egypt. » Read more

Arab spring pushes Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah to reconcile ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Kristen Chick - April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah say they've agreed to end a four-year rift. If the agreement holds, it could pave the way for the first Palestinian elections since 2006 and end a period of simmering hostilities that have weakened both the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government in Gaza. In a deal brokered by Egypt, the two sides agreed in principle to form an interim government made up of “independents” and to hold elections in a year, officials said at a press conference. Officials said they would formally ink the deal within weeks. » Read more

Palestinian unity deal gives Netanyahu new line of attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - April 28, 2011 - 12:00am After months of playing defense against a Palestinian campaign for international recognition of statehood, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may now have a new line of attack. The Palestinian reconciliation deal announced in Cairo yesterday would pave the way for a unity government between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party and Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US, and the European Union. » Read more

Obama and 'the Jewish lobby of one' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) April 29, 2011 - 12:00am Among the most durable pieces of conventional wisdom circulating in Washington these days is that President Obama would never risk a confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (when he comes to town in May) out of fear of angering Israel's supporters in America a year before the U.S. presidential election. The notion that domestic politics and the pro-Israel community hold the president's Middle East policy hostage seems to bind Washington like a hard-and-fast political law of gravity. The only problem is it's dead wrong and dangerous. » Read more

Abbas seeks to allay fears on accord with Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - April 28, 2011 - 12:00am A day after his Fatah movement initialed a reconciliation agreement with militant Islamist group Hamas, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sought Thursday to counter warnings from Israel and suggestions in Washington that the accord would undermine peace efforts. Meeting at his headquarters with a group of Israeli businessmen and former security chiefs advocating an Israeli peace initiative, Abbas gave assurances that the Palestine Liberation Organization, which he heads, would still be responsible for handling negotiations. » Read more