March 4th

Palestinian boy claims police beat him ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Omri Efraim - March 3, 2011 - 1:00am An 11-year old boy arrested in east Jerusalem for throwing stones claims officers beat him while his hands were tied. Hospital tests confirm the boy sustained injuries to the eye, head, and stomach. M. was arrested on Monday in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. It was his fifth run-in with the law, and his two brothers were also arrested. The three were interrogated in the presence of their father, an imam and one of the leading figures in Silwan residents' protest against Israeli forces. » Read more

Netanyahu may be breaking away from the far-right to the center ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - March 4, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached the point where he needs to make a decision, something he has avoided doing for two years: choosing between the ideology he was raised on and which is part of his internal belief system, and the duties of the leader of a small country entirely dependent on international support. Like all of his predecessors, Netanyahu too has surrendered to external pressure and embarked on a political initiative that will break through the stifling isolation in which Israel finds itself. » Read more

Palestinians may be looking for peace beyond Washington ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Schachter - (Editorial) March 4, 2011 - 1:00am President Barack Obama has spoken more forcefully than any of his predecessors about the importance of a Palestinian state. His eagerness to advance that goal undoubtedly influenced his introduction of the unprecedented and unrealistic position ? then adopted by the Palestinian Authority ? to make a total Israeli construction freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem a precondition for further peace negotiations ?(though progress was scant following an earlier freeze?). » Read more

Netanyahu: Binational state would be disastrous for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - March 4, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected in the coming weeks to put forward a peace initiative in a bid to break through the deadlock in the peace process and extricate Israel from international isolation. Netanyahu has warned in recent days during closed meetings that “a binational state would be disastrous for Israel,” and therefore it is necessary to undertake a political move that will remove this threat. » Read more

World must act on settler violence: Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) March 2, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday urged the international community to take action to halt Jewish settler violence towards Palestinians. Following a series of attacks against Palestinians across the West Bank, the Ramallah-based leadership issued a statement demanding the international community "intervene with Israel over the violent and provocative actions by settlers, which the Israeli authorities refuse to control." » Read more

Major Palestinian party looks to oust Fayyad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi - March 3, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' dominant Fatah political faction has demanded that he sack Western-backed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, according to a letter shown to Reuters on Thursday. The letter, signed by senior Fatah officials, was sent to Abbas on Saturday, but the president "did not take it seriously", a Fatah official told Reuters. However, the request underlined deep political friction at the heart of the Palestinian Authority, with many Fatah activists clearly frustrated by Fayyad, who has no significant political base of his own but wields substantial power. » Read more

Barak reveals doubts Israeli cabinet can make peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters March 3, 2011 - 1:00am Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday he thought Israel's right-wing dominated government was "not really conducive to making diplomatic progress" with the Palestinians." In an interview with Israel's Channel 10 television, Barak said he feared what he called "a tsunami approaching," or "growing international pressure to delegitimise Israel" over a six month stalemate in U.S.-brokered talks with Palestinians. » Read more

Gaza banks shut down after Hamas confiscation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - March 3, 2011 - 1:00am All banks in the Gaza Strip temporarily shut down on Thursday after Hamas-affiliated men forced a local branch to cash some $500,000 in checks. Gaza bankers said the ruling Hamas militant group sent police to confiscate the money from a branch of the Palestine Investment Bank. They said the police were accompanied by members of a committee Hamas had appointed in 2009 to oversee the Palestine Investment Fund, which is run by the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank. » Read more

Israel: No Palestinian peace deal possible now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - March 3, 2011 - 1:00am Israel has concluded that a final peace deal with the Palestinians cannot be reached at this time and is weighing alternatives to try to prove that it is interested in keeping peacemaking with the Palestinians alive, officials said Thursday. With popular protests shaking up the Mideast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under fierce international pressure to prove he is serious about getting peacemaking moving again, especially after the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's West Bank settlement construction last month. » Read more

Israeli-Arab leaders under fire for Libya visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Diaa Hadid - March 4, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli-Arab leaders are on the defensive over a much-publicized visit to Libya last year, where they fawned over Moammar Gadhafi and posed for a series of photographs beaming alongside the longtime ruler. Known as loud critics of Israel's treatment of its Arab minority, they are now facing uncomfortable questions about their long history of cozying up to some of the Middle East's most authoritarian leaders. » Read more