April 30th

Price tag: Who's to blame for settler violence? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Anat Shalev - April 30, 2010 - 12:00am Torching fields, vehicles and houses, uprooting olive trees, vandalizing kindergartens – these are part of a long list of almost routine violent acts of settlers against Palestinians, dubbed "price tag." The latest incident occurred Thursday in the village of Hawara, when residents from the settlement of Yitzhar hurled stones, torched fields and caused havoc in a kindergarten and in private homes. » Read more

Interview: U.S. pledges to stop Israeli provocations: Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Zhao Yue - (Interview) April 29, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas revealed that he has got a U.S. pledge to stop "any provocative activities" by Israel as part of Washington's efforts to resume Middle East peace talks. In an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Amman on Wednesday, Abbas, 74, said Washington made the pledge during a recent visit of U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell to the region. Once "the credibility of the U.S. pledges are demonstrated," the negotiations, stalled since December 2008, "would restart immediately," he said. » Read more

Israeli officials: Obama to call world summit if Mideast peace talks fail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - April 30, 2010 - 12:00am U.S. President Barack Obama has told several European leaders that if Israeli-Palestinian talks remain stalemated into September or October, he will convene an international summit on achieving Mideast peace, senior Israeli officials told Haaretz on Thursday. » Read more

Israel's choice: Make peace or disappear ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tzvia Greenfield - (Opinion) April 30, 2010 - 12:00am The student senate at Berkeley University in California recently passed a resolution calling for divestment from Israel. Prof. Judith Butler, the feminist theoretician, expounded to the enthusiastic audience on her new "Jewish" vision, which calls for renouncing the State of Israel. In this way, the intellectual elites once again expressed their strong belief in the theological principle whose basis is opposition to Western culture. » Read more

Clinton seeks concrete action on peace from Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Arshad Mohammed - April 30, 2010 - 12:00am Arab states should offer more moral and financial support to Palestinians, reach out to Israelis and stop arming militants to foster Middle East peace, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday. In her third speech on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in two months, Clinton stressed U.S. support for Israel after a period of acute U.S.-Israeli tension while laying out actions she expects of Israel, the Palestinians and Arab countries. » Read more

Former settler cosmetic company departs West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 29, 2010 - 12:00am The Gush Shalom Settlement Boycott Team decided to remove the name of the cosmetics company Intercosma from its list of settlement products, following confirmation that the company finally left the Atarot Industrial Zone on the West Bank. » Read more

Fayyad calls for lifting Gaza siege ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 30, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister of the caretaker government Salam Fayyad called Thursday for lifting the siege on Gaza. Following talks with South African foreign affairs chief Ibrahim Ismail Ibrahim in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Fayyad affirmed the necessity of lifting the siege to enable the Palestinian Authority to begin rebuilding Gaza by implementing developmental and vital projects similar to those being accomplished in the West Bank. » Read more

Fayyad's Road to Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) April 29, 2010 - 12:00am I spoke to the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, for 90 minutes, and the word he uttered most often, by far, was “security.” As in, “The absence of security has been our undoing.” When Palestinian leaders are talking about their self-inflicted undoing, as well as the undoing inflicted on them by Israel, things may be starting to move. » Read more

US gives Abbas private assurances over Israeli settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory McCarthy - April 30, 2010 - 12:00am The US has given private assurances to encourage the Palestinians to join indirect Middle East peace talks, including an offer to consider allowing UN security council condemnation of any significant new Israeli settlement activity, the Guardian has learned. » Read more

The 2010 TIME 100: Salam Fayyad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time April 30, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's uniqueness strikes you as soon as you meet him — a passionate advocate of the Palestinian cause with a clear vision of the unequivocal, nonviolent path to statehood and peace with Israel. In his three years in office, he has greatly strengthened the capacity of Palestinian government ministries and the security services despite both physical and political constraints. » Read more