April 30th

Roger Cohen profiles PM Fayyad, and Time magazine lists him in its top 100 most influential people in the world. Fayyad calls for lifting the siege of Gaza. A cosmetics company ceases operating in Israeli settlements. Sec. Clinton says Arab states should do more on peace. Pres. Abbas says the US has pledged to stop Israeli provocations, and US officials reportedly promise not to veto a Security Council resolution if further settlement activity occurs in Jerusalem. Tzvia Greenfield says Israel must make peace if it wants to survive. Pres. Obama has reportedly said that if talks are still stalemated in the fall, he will call an international conference. Israelis worry that settler violence is spinning out of control. Jordan's King Abdullah says Israel is playing with fire. Israelis are concerned Palestinians will seek UN recognition of a state. The State Department says Israel must remove unauthorized outposts. Some Palestinians urge Pres. Abbas to appoint a deputy. The UN distributes laptop computers to Gaza students. Divestment bills do not pass in two California universities. Tariq Alhomayed asks when Arab tolerance for Hamas will end. ATFP President Ziad Asali outlines new nonviolent Palestinian strategies for independence.

Gaza…The Next Explosion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) April 29, 2010 - 12:00am

The Arabs might be taken by surprise by the situation in the Gaza Strip blowing up at any moment; all the signs indicate that the situation on the street has reached boiling point and that divisions between the Hamas leaders, as well as divisions between Hamas and its other allies in the Gaza Strip, have increased.

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The sensible Palestinian statehood plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) April 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians have recently been developing a peaceful multilevel strategy to achieve their national goals of a negotiated peace agreement with Israel, an end to the occupation, and the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

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Divestment Bills Fail at Two Calif. Universities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
April 29, 2010 - 12:00am

The student government at the University of California, Berkeley fell a vote short in a bid to override a veto against a divestment bill. Meanwhile, a vote early Thursday morning by the Associated Students at the University of California, San Diego reportedly was unsuccessful in passing a similar measure. At Berkeley, 13 senators voted early Thursday morning to override the veto, with five voting to uphold it. Fourteen votes were necessary for the override. The vote at about 4 a.m. followed a meeting that began in the evening attended by about 200 people, according to reports.

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One Laptop Per Child reaches Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
April 29, 2010 - 12:00am

The UN in the Gaza Strip has begun distributing thousands of laptop computers to children in its schools. The rugged laptops are made by the non-profit organisation One Laptop Per Child, which aims to give a computer to every child in the developing world. One Laptop Per Child say computers are a good way of improving the education of children living in poverty. Humanitarian conditions have deteriorated in the Gaza Strip in the last three years, the UN says.

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'U.S. told Palestinians it would consider allowing UN censure of Israel'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
April 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration would consider allowing the United Nations Security Council to censure Israel over its activity in West Bank settlements in order to encourage the Palestinians to participate in peace talks, a Palestinian source told The Guardian on Friday. According to the source, U.S. special Mideast envoy George Mitchell's deputy, David Hale, told Abbas that the Obama administration views Israeli construction in East Jerusalem as "provocative."

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Abbas urged to name deputy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - April 30, 2010 - 12:00am

In the wake of reports that he’s facing health problems, Fatah is demanding that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appoint a deputy, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Senior Fatah officials who met with Abbas, 75, over the past week urged him to consider appointing a deputy president, to prevent power vacuum if he were unable to carry out his duties.

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'Israel must remove 23 outposts'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - April 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The US pushed back against indications Israel has abandoned its commitment to take down authorized outposts Thursday, calling on Jerusalem to live up to its obligations. “The Israeli government has pledged to take specific actions,” US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. “They have responsibilities and we would expect them to fulfill those responsibilities.”

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J'lem fears PA may seek UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, David Horovitz - April 30, 2010 - 12:00am

While Israel and the Palestinian Authority are finally expected to begin US-mediated indirect “proximity” talks in the very near future, concern is growing among some in the Israeli government that the PA is planning to marginalize the diplomatic process and instead unilaterally seek UN recognition for a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines.

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Jordan's Abdullah: Israel playing with fire
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
April 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Jordan's King Abdullah II said Thursday that Israel was "playing with fire" in Jerusalem, stressing that the Hashemite Kingdom retains all political, diplomatic and legal options to "protect" Jerusalem and its Muslim holy sites. Speaking to foreign ambassadors on the shores of the Dead Sea, Abdullah said reaffirming the Palestinian quest for statehood was a top priority for his country.

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