NEWS:
Pres. Abbas approves the new PA budget [1] as submitted by PM Fayyad. (Xinhua)
Abbas and Jordan's King Abdallah [2] agree to cooperate to protect Arab and Islamic sites inoccupied Jerusalem [3]. (Xinhua/Ma'an)
Hamas leader Haniyyeh meets with the chief of Egypt's intelligence [4]services. (AP)
Hamas accuses Fata [5]h of blocking reconciliation talks. (Xinhua)
Settlers attack Palestinian school buses [6]. (Ma'an)
Israeli occupation forces clash [7] with Palestinians during "Land Day" commemorations. (AP)
Palestinians say seven children are injured [8] when settlers stoned school buses in the occupied West Bank. (Ma'an)
Abbas is accused of clamping down on critics [9] in civil society. (AP)
Israel begins to exploit offshore natural gas [10] reserves. (New York Times)
The Israeli military says it could withstand an attack from Syrian chemical weapons [11]. (Reuters)
Christians in the Middle East and Palestine celebrate Easter weekend [12]. (AP)
Hamas officials say Pres. Obama's visit to the region was counterproductive [13] for Palestinian reconciliation. (Xinhua)
Israel's military is dealing with complication [14]s arising from having women and ultra-Orthodox male service members. (LA Times)
Palestinian Americans [15] continue to face grave difficulties under the Israeli occupation. (The National)
A short documentary by Just Vision Media [16] about the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem wins a Peabody award. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)
COMMENTARY:
Suzanne Nossel [17] asks why it took so long for Israel to apologize to Turkey over the flotilla affair. (Foreign Policy)
Gideon Levy [18] says Israeli cruelty reached the point of no return in the 2008-2009 Gaza war. (Ha'aretz)
Amira Hass [19] says the new PA budget shows its dependence on Israel and the United States. (Ha'aretz)
Shoula Romano Horing [20] says Obama still can't be trusted by Israelis. (YNet)
Ha'aretz [21] says the Israeli military should stop arresting Palestinian children. (Ha'aretz
Asharq Al-Awsat [22] says Abbas refuses to take part in any Arab League summit which Hamas also attends. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Joseph Dana [23] says natural gas is the key to Israeli-Turkish reconciliation. (The National)
Abdullah Al Shayji [24] says Obama has achieved nothing with regard to Iraq and Syria or the two-state solution. (Gulf News)
Shlomi Eldar [25] interviews Yara Mashour, editor of the Israeli Arabic-language magazine Lilac. (Al Monitor)