Coverage continues about the son of a Hamas founder who spied for Israel. Dubai names more suspects in the Mabhouh assassination. Israeli officials insist the botched killing hasn't harmed relations with Western intelligence services, but Australia says forging passports isn't the act of a "friend." Israel becomes an issue in a California Senate race. The PLO says Israel's claims on holy sites in Hebron invalidates peace talks, and the US adds its condemnation. Sec. Clinton is upbeat about resumed negotiations. Pres. Abbas expresses satisfaction with EU support for East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Ari Shavit says to save Zionism, Israel must end the occupation. Gideon Levy mocks Israeli propaganda. Palestinians in Hebron march to commemorate the Goldstein massacre. Larry Derfner comparison the Mabhouh hit with the 1997 attempted assassination of Khalid Mishaal. Ghassan Khatib says peace is the strongest Palestinian weapon. Nathan Jeffay examines the challenges to peace posed by settlements. Daoud Kuttab asks if serious negotiations are really about to start.

Are serious negotiations around the corner?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinians and many others around the world are trying to figure out whether the current US-backed push to restart Mideast talks will lead to serious negotiations or will it be just another act that leads nowhere.

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‘Two-State Solution’ Faces a Patchwork of Challenges
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - February 24, 2010 - 1:00am

As the Obama administration struggles to restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, a two-state solution remains the final goal, supported by governments in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Washington and Moscow. It enjoys at least lip service from everyone from Benjamin Netanyahu on the right to Noam Chomsky on the left. It is a term that has become as much mantra as policy.

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Palestine's strongest weapon is peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

To live under occupation is to face many indignities and dilemmas. How to deal with the occupier? By violence or by peaceful means? History has examples of both. But parallels are never exact. The dilemma facing Palestinians is whether to go on working with the international consensus that supports our independence, or to wage war against the overwhelmingly superior forces of the occupier, Israel.

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A tale of two assassinations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) February 24, 2010 - 1:00am

There are times when it's a good idea to assassinate a Hamas leader, even in a foreign country, and times when it's a bad idea. The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month (which everyone presumes to have been the Mossad's work) was a bad idea. By contrast, the Mossad's attempt in September 1997 to kill Khaled Mashaal in Amman was a good idea that went bad in the execution, so to speak, as I wrote in a column titled "Hit 'em back" two weeks afterward.

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March to mark Goldstein massacre
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Greer Fay Cashman, Yaakov La, Tovah Lazaroff - February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

Amid heightened tensions in Hebron, Palestinians plan to march in the city on Thursday, to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the Baruch Goldstein massacre. On February 25, 1994, the Israeli American physician killed 29 Muslims who were praying at the mosque that is part of the Cave of the Patriarchs complex. He wounded another 150 before being beaten to death. The march comes after the cabinet on Sunday added the Cave of the Patriarchs to the list of Jewish heritage sites marked for renovation and preservation.

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US slams Israel over designating heritage sites
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

The Obama administration criticized Israel for designating two shrines on Palestinian territory as Israeli national heritage sites. The criticism came as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she hopes long-stalled peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians will resume. Clinton told a congressional committee that groundwork is being laid to restart the talks with the help of US envoy George Mitchell. She did not say exactly when the negotiations might resume, but her remarks come amid a flurry of US diplomatic activity in the region.

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Dispersing white phosphorous clouds over Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

If you have a moment or are bored or depressed, if you suspected there might be some truth in the criticism of Israel, or if you just feel like laughing out loud, just enter the Information and Diaspora Ministry's Web site.

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To preserve Zionism, Netanyahu must end the occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

Finally there is a vision. Speaking to Haaretz earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defined for the first time his vision of the future: Israel as a global technology leader, grounded in its values and moving toward peace from a position of power. You can like the vision or hate it, accept it or reject it, but now it is clear what Netanyahu is proposing against Peace Now of the left, and how he is dividing those in the center. His overall goal is now apparent.

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Report: Australia already warned Israel against faking its passports
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

Australian authorities had already warned Israeli intelligence against using doctored passports in its clandestine activities around the world, the Australian newspaper The Australian reported on Thursday. The Australian report came as Canberra warned Israel earlier Thursday that if it was involved in the alleged use of three forged Australian passports in the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai, it would not be considered the act of a friend.

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