The World Bank says the PA is on track with state building, but hampered by Israeli restrictions. Israel's new military order allowing for the potential eviction of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank draw heavy criticism. Richard Cohen praises a new film about Israel's West Bank separation barrier. Aluminum and wood will be allowed into Gaza for the first time in three years. Reports say the US is refusing entry to Israeli nuclear scientists. Israeli forces kill a Palestinian in Gaza. Bradley Burston says Middle East experts who claim time is on their side are lying. David Makovsky says there are few prospects for improved relations between Pres. Obama and PM Netanyahu, and Simon Tisdall says it could get worse. Israel's mayor in Jerusalem wants to resume Palestinian home demolitions. Israeli officials say they will reject US proposals for timelines and benchmarks in peace talks. Sacked Palestinian official Rafiq Husseini says he was set up. The Independent looks at the plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Sly maneuver
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli Army’s plan to deport tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank is both inhuman and illegal. It is also highly provocative and could reignite the intifada. This, of course, would suit the Netanyahu government very well, since once more, even the indirect peace talks with the Palestinians would be back on hold and Israel could protest yet again that its security was threatened by “terrorist violence.”

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Acting for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) April 13, 2010 - 12:00am

His Majesty King Abdullah has stepped up diplomatic efforts to create momentum for the restart of the peace process. A week ago, he gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal in which he made it clear that Israel is leading the region into a mess. The interview was timed well before the King’s visit the United States to meet with President Barack Obama. Jordan, a country that worked more than any other to realise a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, is thus sending the message to the American administration that enough is enough.

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Israel’s plan is a shot across the bow
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Outrage is the only appropriate reaction. The revelation that thousands of Palestinians could face forced eviction, separation from their families, and imprisonment – and be expected to foot the bill for it all – beggars belief. If approved, two military orders would broaden who is termed a so-called infiltrator into the Palestinian territories. This cannot be allowed to happen, nor can the international community, and particularly the Arab world, remain silent on the issue.

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Little relief for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Mary Dejevsky - (Analysis) April 13, 2010 - 12:00am

The scene could have been almost anywhere where the rich and poor worlds collide. A reasonably maintained building surrounded by depressingly visible disintegration; and inside, a bright room where small children, dressed in their best, are waiting to sing, dance and recite for the benefit of cooing foreign visitors. The difference was that this was in Lebanon; in the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp to be precise, outside the battered northern city of Tripoli. And afterwards each child received an envelope with the cash that would help maintain them and fund schooling for another month.

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Palestinian official in sex tape scandal denies he abused his position
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory McCarthy - April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

A disgraced senior Palestinian official at the centre of a sex tape scandal claims he was entrapped and says he has not abused his position.

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Israel impasse gives US much to ponder
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Simon Tisdall - (Opinion) April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Soothing words from Washington at the weekend, aimed at placating Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai after last week's public falling out, follow a familiar pattern. The White House was livid with Gordon Brown over last year's release to Libya of the Lockerbie bomber. But things were patched up once tempers cooled.

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World Bank report: PA economy needs more private investment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
April 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority economic growth has been largely driven by donor aid, and more private investment is necessary to ensure that the expansion is sustained, the World Bank said in a report Monday. In 2009, the PA received almost $1.4 billion in budget support, following $1.8b. in 2008, allowing for expansionary fiscal policies to support growth, the report said. The share of sectors that are mostly government-funded, such as defense and public administration, rose from less than 21 percent of the economy in 1999 to almost 30% in 2009, it said.

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Report: Israel to reject US timetable for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
April 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Government sources said Israel would reject any move by the administration of US President Barack Obama to set a timetable and benchmarks for peace talks with the Palestinians, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. It further reported that international sources, including Jordan's King Abdullah, said the US must pressure both parties by setting a timetable for the peace process.

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Barkat wants to renew razing orders in east Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - April 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat demanded recently that the city's police force renew the razing of illegal structures in east Jerusalem on which demolition orders have been issued, Ynet learned Tuesday. The municipality has held off on implementing the orders since October due to political instability and pressure on the part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer responded to Barkat's orders by calling the mayor "a strategic threat to the stability in the Middle East".

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