March 20th

Soldier says rabbis pushed "religious war" in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters March 20, 2009 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, March 20 (Reuters) - Rabbis in the Israeli army told battlefield troops in January's Gaza offensive that they were fighting a "religious war" against gentiles, according to one army commander's account published on Friday. "Their message was very clear: we are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land," he said. » Read more

The Dangers of Indulging Extremism… from the Taliban to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) March 20, 2009 - 12:00am New York - Indulging extremism and adapting to it is not in the interest of the US, nor is it favorable to the future of the Middle East. What is meant here is not Islamic extremism alone, but also Jewish extremism, as it characterizes Israel's inclinations during the present phase. » Read more

Can There be Hope in the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times March 20, 2009 - 12:00am With Avigdor Lieberman set to join the next Israeli government and Israel clamping down with more Hamas arrests this week, it is even less easy than usual to generate much hope for a peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. But there has been one intriguing glimmer of a more hopeful future emerging from that small fragment of popular culture that is shared by Israelis and Palestinians alike. Noa, a popular Israeli singer and peace activist, was asked last year to make a bid to represent Israel at this year's Eurovision song contest in Moscow in May. » Read more

'Shooting and crying' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - March 20, 2009 - 12:00am Less than a month after the end of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, dozens of graduates of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military preparatory program convened at Oranim Academic College in Kiryat Tivon. Since 1998 the program has prepared participants for what is considered meaningful military service. Many assume command positions in combat and other elite units of the Israel Defense Forces. The program's founder, Danny Zamir, still heads it today and also serves as deputy battalion commander in a reserve unit. » Read more

US makes demands on Palestinian unity government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) March 19, 2009 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Thursday that Hamas must be committed to non-violence and meet other international demands before Washington can recognize a Palestinian unity government with the radical group's members. The statement referred to the quartet of the United States, United Nations, Russia and the European Union, which have mapped out the conditions for pursuing Palestinian-Israeli peace. » Read more

What hopes now for peace in the Middle East? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - March 20, 2009 - 12:00am The stark headline on yesterday's New York Times read "Israel faces isolation as new leader gets ready". The report referred to the backlash against the recent offensive in Gaza. But a bigger theme was Israeli concern at overseas reaction to the imminent premiership of a man for whom a two-state solution is not a priority – not to mention his appointment of a nationalist demagogue, Avigdor Lieberman, as Foreign Minister. » Read more

'Final word on Schalit yet to be said' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post March 20, 2009 - 12:00am Egyptian sources said Friday said a final decision on the Gilad Schalit deal was "yet to be made," a day before the IDF soldier marks 1,000 days in Hamas captivity and his family spends its last hours in a protest tent outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem. Speaking to the London-based Al Hayat newspaper, the sources said a final decision on Schalit will be made before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert leaves office. The sources said Israel's announcement on Tuesday was "a maneuver intended to pressure Hamas." The Jerusalem Post could not confirm Al Hayat's report. » Read more

PA says Israel 'ethnically cleansing' east Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) March 19, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority accused Israel of 'ethnically cleansing' east Jerusalem of Palestinians, following the tearing down of dozens of buildings in the capital's east. "There is an unprecedented escalation of the Government of occupation and what they call the municipality of Jerusalem against the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem through the destruction of tens of houses and the issuance of demolition orders against dozens of others," said Nabil Abu Roudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

UN envoy: Gaza op seems to be war crime of greatest magnitude ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz March 19, 2009 - 12:00am A United Nations human rights investigator said on Thursday that Israel's offensive against Hamas in densely populated Gaza appeared to constitute a war crime of the "greatest magnitude." Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said the Geneva Conventions required warring forces to distinguish between military targets and surrounding civilians. "If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law," Falk said. » Read more

Israeli Coalition Appears Fated to Clash With U.S. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Howard Schneider - March 20, 2009 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, March 19 -- The foreign minister of Israel's incoming government lives in a West Bank settlement and will begin life as a diplomat battling the perception that he is anti-Arab. » Read more