April 29th

Seeking peace, or just pretending? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) April 28, 2010 - 12:00am Finally, there’s a Middle East peace process under way, and both sides appear anxious to make progress. No, not the one between Israel and the Palestinians. I’m talking about making peace between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government. After months of acrimony, accusations and attack ads, both sides, feeling battered and bruised, say they’re ready. » Read more

Arabs unveil new plan to thwart demolitions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ronen Medzini - April 28, 2010 - 12:00am Residents of Silwan's al-Bustan neighborhood in east Jerusalem presented an alternative plan to regulate illegal construction, in an attempt to thwart the razing of their houses. The alternative plan, unveiled during a Wednesday press conference, has already passed all technical requirements and was issued a zoning file at the municipality three weeks ago. » Read more

Minister Yishai officially invited to White House ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - April 29, 2010 - 12:00am Interior Minister Eli Yishai has been officially invited to visit the White House. The decision is apparently the result of the US Administration's desire to forge closer ties with the minister they perceive to be behind the east Jerusalem construction turmoil during Vice President Joe Biden's visit in Israel. During Biden's visit last month, the Interior Ministry approved the construction of 1,800 housing units in east Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. » Read more

PA urges Palestinians to stop using Israeli cell phone firms ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - April 29, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority is urging Palestinians to stop using the Israeli cellular companies Pelephone, Orange, Cellcom and Mirs. But PA Communications Minister Mashhour Abu Daqqa told a press conference in Ramallah yesterday that this is not political boycott. Rather, he said, it is an attempt to regulate the PA's cellular communications market. Abu Daqqa told reporters that the Israeli companies operate in PA-controlled areas without a license, in violation of Palestinian law and the Oslo Accords. Moreover, he said, the companies do not pay any taxes to the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Settlers attack Palestinian village to protest police crackdown ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 29, 2010 - 12:00am Far-rightists from the West Bank settlement of Yizthar on Thursday marched through a neighboring Palestinian village and attacked local homes, to avenge a series of arrests by Israel Police earlier in the day. The group stormed through Hawara to show their anger at the "police crusade against the settlers" after 11 residents of their community were detained, settler spokesman Avraham Binyamin. » Read more

PNA: Israel aids settlers to confiscate Palestinian land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 29, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Wednesday accused the Israeli government of supporting Jewish settlers to confiscate Palestinian-owned land. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release that the Israeli authorities "prevent farmers and shepherds in Tubas district in northern West Bank from reaching their farms." "The Israeli authorities allow hundreds of armed settlers to erect tents in the area where Palestinian shepherds usually feed their sheep," said the ministry. » Read more

Israeli troops kill Gaza border protester - medics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Dan Williams - April 28, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian who approached the Gaza Strip border on Wednesday to demonstrate against a no-go buffer zone imposed there by Israel, witnesses and hospital officials said. They said the 20-year-old was shot as he and scores of other protesters planted Palestinian flags in the ground near the border fence, east of Gaza City. Some threw stones, drawing gunfire from an Israeli patrol on the far side of the fence. » Read more

Gaza police accuse Egypt in deaths of 4 tunnellers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - April 28, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian police accused Egyptian security forces of killing four smugglers from the Gaza Strip and injuring three others on Wednesday by blowing up their cross-border tunnel. Under pressure from Israel and the United States, Egypt has tried to stem the secret passages from its Sinai peninsula, which have allowed Palestinians in Gaza to import weapons and commercial goods in defiance of an Israeli-led blockade. » Read more

Hamas tax laws trigger leftist protests in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 29, 2010 - 12:00am The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) called on Gaza residents and particularly the poor to attend a series of peaceful rallies demanding change to the recent tax laws enforced by the Hamas government. Marking a further rise in tensions over the issue and a clear alignment of leftist parties against what Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) officials called "harsh" means of tax collection and an arbitrary mandate for collection, the protests are expected to take place Friday. » Read more

Borrowing from Gandhi? Palestinian passive resistance gains followers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - April 28, 2010 - 12:00am As has become ritual in this Palestinian village for the last five years, every Friday several hundred demonstrators march toward Israel's security fence - and toward a confrontation with soldiers stationed on the other side. » Read more