April 24th

Israel must keep gas dispute with Egypt apolitical ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) April 24, 2012 - 12:00am The suspension (or cancellation) of Egypt's natural gas agreement with Israel has prompted extensive fear about bilateral relations, to the point that some see it as the first step toward scrapping the Camp David Accords. » Read more

AP Interview: Palestinian doubts 2-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Dan Perry - (Analysis) April 23, 2012 - 12:00am ABU DIS, West Bank — With gloom deepening over prospects for peace, a leading Palestinian is suggesting they might drop the "two-state solution" that has underpinned two decades of negotiations, aiming for Israel and a Palestinian state next to each other. Instead, Palestinians might seek a multi-ethnic state covering all of historic Palestine — including today's Israel, said former Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia in an interview at his office in this West Bank town. » Read more

Peace Without Partners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ami Ayalon, Orni Petruschka, Gilead Sher - (Opinion) April 23, 2012 - 12:00am FOR three years, attempts at negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian leadership have failed because of a lack of trust. It now seems highly unlikely that the two sides will return to negotiations — but that does not mean the status quo must be frozen in place. Israel doesn’t need to wait for a final-status deal with the Palestinians. What it needs is a radically new unilateral approach: It should set the conditions for a territorial compromise based on the principle of two states for two peoples, which is essential for Israel’s future as both a Jewish and a democratic state. » Read more

CBS's 'Strategic Terror Attack' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - (Blog) April 23, 2012 - 12:00am A controversial report aired by CBS News has pitted Israel’s top envoy to the United States against the network’s flagship news show and now has the Jewish community up in arms. » Read more

Abbas sacks supervisor of official Palestinian media ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 24, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sacked Yasser Abed Rabbo, media supervisor of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) due to their disagreements, an Palestinian source said on Tuesday. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that sacking Abed Rabbo as a media supervisor "doesn't mean that he was sacked as the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee." » Read more

Clampdown on Palestinian media spreads to the Web ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by George Hale - April 24, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority has quietly instructed Internet providers to block access to news websites whose reporting is critical of President Mahmoud Abbas, according to senior government officials and data analyzed by network security experts. » Read more

Erekat: PLO to ask Security Council for settlement censure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 24, 2012 - 12:00am JERICHO (Ma'an) -- PLO official Saeb Erekat said Tuesday that Palestinian leaders are examining ways to secure a resolution from the UN Security Council condemning Israeli settlement building, after Israel gave legal sanction to three settler outposts. In an interview with official PA radio Voice of Palestine, Erekat called on the Israeli government to choose between peace and settlement expansion, warning that sanctioning more settlements on Palestinian land will kill the two-state solution. » Read more

Israel bans a textbook promoting Arab rights as 'unbalanced' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ben Lynfield - April 23, 2012 - 12:00am The right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has banned a high school civics textbook as "unbalanced," a move critics say is part of a broader bid to shift Israel's values in a direction that is more nationalistic and less democratic. Officials cited factual errors in the book as the main factor in the decision. But liberal educators say the errors could easily be corrected and that the larger issue is a national struggle to define Israel's identity. » Read more

UNRWA inaugurates Dutch-funded housing project for 1,300 Gazans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 24, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) on Tuesday inaugurated a housing project, funded by the Netherlands, to reside 1,300 Palestinian homeless in southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. The UNRWA said in a press statement that the houses, funded by a 7.2-million-U.S. dollar donation from the Dutch government, will provide shelter to 1,300 Palestinians in western Khan Younis refugee camp. » Read more

Israel punishes Palestinian hunger-strikers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jihan Abdalla - April 23, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 23 (Reuters) - Israel has taken measures against some 1,200 Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike, denying them family visits and separating them from inmates not taking part in the protest, prison authorities said on Monday. The open-ended strike, dubbed the "battle of empty stomachs" by organisers, began last Tuesday. The prisoners are demanding better jail conditions and for Israel to end detention without trial for Palestinians suspected of security offences. » Read more