April 10th

Blair: Netanyahu will back establishment of Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am International Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said he estimates Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will promote the establishment of a Palestinian state.   » Read more

All he did was kill an Arab ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nehemia Shtrasler - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am Julian Soufir wants to be let out. He doesn't even understand why he's being kept at the Abarbanel Mental Hospital. He says he's recovered and feels fine. His doctors say he has made progress and should be released in a few months. But he already wants to be put in less restrictive conditions and immediately afterward be granted parole. After all, Passover is the holiday of freedom and all he did was kill an Arab. » Read more

Obama to keep the ball rolling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am Barrack Hussein Obama hit the jackpot during his visit to Turkey when he was introduced with stress on his rarely used middle name to the Turkish parliament and, in response, the visiting American president assured the legislators that the United States is not at war with Islam. Likewise, Turkey’s recently acquired role, as a much-needed bridge for some feuding Middle Eastern nations, won high praise from Obama, a gesture that contrasted sharply with the failed US policies during the Bush administration. » Read more

Colonial values rule again in Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am For years, pro-Israeli zealots and other fanatics in the United States who run out of arguments quickly revert to their fallback position that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East - and thus should be supported against Arab dictators. There is some truth to this argument, but not compelling integrity. Israel is indeed a domestic democracy for its Jewish citizens, and most Arab countries are not convincingly democratic. » Read more

Obama: Endorse the Arab Peace Initiative Now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) April 7, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama returns from his first overseas trip even more popular (i.e., powerful) than when he left. It is not only that his predecessor set the bar so low. Barack Obama (and First Lady Michelle Obama) were the most impressive figures to represent the United States abroad in at least a good half century. » Read more

Wall: A Monologue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books (Editorial) April 10, 2009 - 12:00am All right. Let's be serious, let's think about this. Please, please: consider the state of affairs, consider the desperation, consider the depth of the despair. A country has reached a point at which 84 percent of its people are in favor of building a wall along its borders. » Read more

Elliott Abrams and the Politics of Fait Accompli ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times by Reema I. Ali - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am In an open editorial in the Washington Post edition of April 8, Elliott Abrams argues that the proposition that expansion of settlements by Israel on lands which are to constitute the future Palestinian state as an impediment to peace is a fallacy. He claims that such a request is designed only to create tension between the ultra-right government of Israel and the U.S. administration since according to him these settlements are already there and are part of the realities on the ground. Israel has created rightly or wrongly a fait accompli on Palestinian lands. » Read more

American Jews Approve of Obama's Handling of Arab-Israeli Conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America April 9, 2009 - 12:00am A new survey of American Jews shows strong support for a more assertive American role in Middle East peace efforts, even if that means exerting greater pressure on Israel to reach a compromise with its Arab neighbors. The poll released by J Street - a Jewish-American political action group that describes itself as pro-peace - has some good news for President Barack Obama. » Read more

Arab FMs to discuss Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews April 9, 2009 - 12:00am Jordan will host a "consultative" meeting of six Arab foreign ministers on Saturday to discuss the Middle East peace process, a senior official said on Thursday. The top diplomats of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Syria, the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon in addition to Jordan and the Arab League will hold talks in Amman ahead of a planned visit to Washington by King Abdullah II, a key US ally. "It will be a consultative meeting to coordinate an Arab position towards peace," the official told AFP. » Read more

'Jerusalem should be capital for the Palestinians and Israel' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 9, 2009 - 12:00am Jordan's King Abdullah II pressed on Britain the need for "serious negotiations" between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the Palestinians over a two-state solution on Thursday, in a meeting with the British Foreign Secretary. David Miliband, speaking at a joint press conference following the meeting, expressed Britain's concerns at Israeli plans to demolish scores of houses in East Jerusalem, leaving around 1,500 Palestinians homeless. » Read more