March 2nd

Hamas and pro-al Qaeda cells set for more conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - (Analysis) March 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Hamas Islamists ruling the Gaza Strip face a growing security challenge from al Qaeda-inspired Palestinian groups in the religiously conservative enclave. Fundamentalist Muslims, or Salafis, whose agenda of global jihad, or holy war, against the West is against Hamas's nationalist goals, have stepped up bombing attacks in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, targeting Hamas security men and offices.

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EU: Israeli heritage list 'hinders peace efforts'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 2, 2010 - 1:00am

The EU criticized on Monday Israel’s decision to list shrines in Bethlehem and Hebron as national heritage sites. The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, the EU’s high representative for Foreign Affairs and security policy said in a statement, "The High Representative regards the recent decision by the Government of Israel to add sites in Hebron and Bethlehem to the list of Israeli national heritage sites as detrimental to attempts to relaunch peace negotiations.” “The European Union calls on Israel to refrain from provocative acts,” the statement added.

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In Hebron, PA cabinet criticizes Israeli heritage list
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 2, 2010 - 1:00am

In what was billed as a move to support the city, the Palestinian Authority cabinet held its weekly session in the Hebron Municipality Hall on Monday, protesting Israel's decision to include the Ibrahimi Mosque on the list of its national heritage sites. Under pressure from settlers, Israel listed Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque and Bethlehem’s Rachel’s Tomb as national “heritage sites” slated for renovation last week, sparking Palestinian protests.

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US Senator John Kerry presses Israel on Gaza access
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 2, 2010 - 1:00am

US Senator John Kerry raised the issue of Israel’s closure of the Gaza Strip during his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials in the Middle East, his spokesman said on Monday. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman "has long called for heightened access for humanitarian goods and foodstuffs," said spokesman Frederick Jones on the phone from Washington.

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Will Israel heritage sites spark next Palestinian intifada?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - March 1, 2010 - 1:00am

Amid spreading Palestinian protests against Israel's decision to declare shrines in two West Bank cities as Israel heritage sites, the Palestinian cabinet held a solidarity meeting Monday in the city of Hebron near one of the sites while some here worried about a new Palestinian intifada. Clashes on the Temple Mount plaza in Jerusalem's Old City Sunday capped a week of violence since the declaration of Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem as official Israel heritage locations.

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Israel has its faults, but apartheid isn't one of them
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) March 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Toward the end of last year, Jimmy Carter apologized for some of his very harsh statements about Israel. In an "open letter to the Jewish community" -- and with a vagueness that ill becomes him -- he airily mentioned criticisms that "stigmatize Israel" but omitted his own contribution: the implication that Israel is, like the racist South Africa of old, an "apartheid" state.

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Dubai cracks down on Israelis after killing of Hamas operative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - March 2, 2010 - 1:00am

In Israel's quest for normal ties with the Arab world, the United Arab Emirates has been among the few countries to offer a slight opening. It allowed an Israeli cabinet minister to attend an energy conference, let an Israeli tennis star play in a recent tournament, and offered a wink and a welcome to Israelis arriving with U.S., European or other third-country passports.

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March 1st

Dubai police say an assassinated Hamas operative was drugged and then killed. Two of the suspects may have traveled directly to the United States following the killing. Violence in the occupied territories spreads from Hebron to Jerusalem. Hamas may have been infiltrated by Israeli operatives. The Gaza Rafah border crossing is reopened. The EU says the PA is making "enormous progress" toward statehood. The Palestinian cabinet's weekly meeting is relocated to Hebron. Hamas seeks to extend the detention of a British journalist. Palestinians look for Arab support on proximity talks. Moshe Dayan's widow says Israel does not know how to make peace. Akiva Eldar says no one would accept PM Netanyahu's conditions. Amira Hass profiles Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank. The National and the Arab News denounce Israel's claims on holy sites. Articles in the American Interest look at the history and the legality of settlements, and the state of US-Israel relations.

Allies Divided
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Interest
by Benjamin E. Schwartz - (Analysis) March 1, 2010 - 1:00am

The storm following Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s rebuff of the Obama Administration’s appeal for Israel to halt all settlement expansion—including “natural growth”—overshadows a rarely noted but more fundamental and intractable divergence between Israeli and American policies. This split is rooted in the two governments’ contrasting answers to the following question: Is Palestinian political and geographic fragmentation a barrier to peace?

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Are the Settlements Illegal?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Interest
by Nicholas Rostow - (Analysis) March 1, 2010 - 1:00am

Israeli settlements in the territories that came under Israeli control as a result of the June 1967 war have long been a subject of often highly emotional debate within the United States, Israel and the international community. The Obama Administration’s decision to focus on settlements right out of the gate heightened attention on this already salient issue, but it is by no means clear that heightened attention will by itself facilitate resolution of the Palestine/Israel problem.

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