Senior PA official: Iran is provoking region ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 16, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The secretary-general of the Palestinian Authority on Monday accused Iran of provoking regional strife by violating the sovereignty of the UAE. Tayyeb Abdul Rahim condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent visit to Abu Musa, one of three Gulf islands claimed by both the UAE and Iran. The PA rejects Iranian threats to the Gulf states "as we reject the Israeli occupation and resist it," the secretary-general said in a statement. » Read more

A sea-change in trust ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Mohammed Najib - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am Ten years after Operation Defensive Shield, the wide Israeli operation in the West Bank, a new reality has been created on the ground, whose impact deeply affects West Bank residents. » Read more

How we got to here ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am Ten years ago, Israel reoccupied the Palestinian Authority areas that had been designated in peace agreements as "Area A", i.e., areas under the civilian and security authority of the Palestinian Authority. That Israeli aggression, dubbed Operation Defensive Shield, dramatically changed the status quo that was created by the Oslo agreements, which was intended to be a transition to a permanent solution agreed on through final status negotiations. » Read more

Lessons we must not ignore ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am There are important lessons to be learned from Operation Defensive Shield, the Israel Defense Forces' aggressive push deep into the West Bank beginning in late March 2002. Both Israelis and Palestinians ignore these lessons at their peril. » Read more

Of Herrings and Elephants: Benny Morris and "Palestinian Rejectionism" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Daniel Levy - (Blog) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am In his recent column for Open Zion, Benny Morris predicts that nothing will come of next week’s planned meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Palestinian who goes by the same title, Salam Fayyad. It is a safe prediction and one with which I fully agree. Morris however, uses his column to suggest that it is a prediction that can hold for any negotiation with any Palestinian, at any time, due to what he describes as a “deep, basic Palestinian rejectionism.” At the same time, settlements are belittled (they can be “finessed” according to Morris). MIDEAST STONES OF EXILE » Read more

Of Herrings and Elephants: Benny Morris and "Palestinian Rejectionism" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Daniel Levy - (Blog) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am In his recent column for Open Zion, Benny Morris predicts that nothing will come of next week’s planned meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Palestinian who goes by the same title, Salam Fayyad. It is a safe prediction and one with which I fully agree. Morris however, uses his column to suggest that it is a prediction that can hold for any negotiation with any Palestinian, at any time, due to what he describes as a “deep, basic Palestinian rejectionism.” At the same time, settlements are belittled (they can be “finessed” according to Morris). » Read more

Hamas and Syria’s Bitter Divorce ATFP World Press Roundup Article from As-Safir by Habib Fayad - (Analysis) March 23, 2012 - 12:00am The identity of the Hamas resistance movement cannot be limited to its relationship with the Syrian regime. Likewise, Damascus’ rejectionist strategy, which supports the Palestinian cause, cannot be reduced to its support for Hamas. Any rift between the two sides would undoubtedly affect the entire axis of resistance (Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran). However, a rift would not prevent Hamas from being the head of the Palestinian resistance, nor would it prevent the regime from being the hub of the axis. » Read more

Israeli Leftists Peddle Illusions In the Guise of Foreign Policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Amos Gilboa - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Leftists Peddle Illusions In the Guise of Foreign Policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Amos Gilboa - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am Recently, I have been seeing terrible visions in the morning before I open my eyes. Everything around me is destroyed, the wreckage reaches above my head. I crawl outside, hoping to be saved, but I see before me an abyss filled with corpses. This is it, all those intellectuals in the media were correct—those who decided long ago that our democracy is in shambles and has come to an end due to the iniquities of the state. That our society has descended to the lower limits of hell and has dissolved, due to the sins and transgressions of the state. » Read more

The plight of Palestinian Christians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Faysal Huazeen, Ibrahim Shomali - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am Based on our years as parish priests in Palestine, we were appalled by the false allegations regarding Palestinian Christians made in recent weeks by Israeli spokespeople, such as Ambassador Michael Oren. We were perplexed not because of their position, which has been part of the official Israeli narrative for many years, but by how openly they have distorted facts and misconstrued the plight of Palestinian Christians pursuing justice and peace. » Read more