April 8th

Golan, not Jerusalem, is key to Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Analysis) April 8, 2010 - 12:00am The solution to the Jerusalem problem is widely known: The Jewish neighborhoods stay in Israel, the Arab ones are given to Palestine and the Holy Basin becomes part of a special regime. The solution to the refugee problem is also commonly known: Palestinians' right of return will apply to the territory of the Palestinian state, while such claims will not apply to the territory of the Jewish state. Just as well known is the solution to the settlement problem: Territory swaps and annexing large settlement blocs to Israel, and the eviction of isolated settlements. » Read more

What would happen if Israel stopped fighting the world? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) April 8, 2010 - 12:00am So where did you spend Passover? Tens of thousands of Israelis were in Sinai. They ignored the Counter-Terrorism Bureau's warning, yet returned home safe and sound. Other Israelis - wait until you hear this - visited Cairo. I repeat: Cairo! They too returned tired but happy. They too did not heed the warnings. Haaretz's foreign news editor, for example, went to Egypt with his wife and four small children for the holiday. He identified himself as an Israeli everywhere he went, and believe it or not, was made to feel welcome. » Read more

Berkeley's Israel boycott: The occupation's new friend ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) April 8, 2010 - 12:00am If I were a person who wanted to see the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land continue for as long as possible, I would be beside myself with relish at the thought of the current Boycott,Divestment,Sanctions (BDS) campaign at the school I love, the University of California, Berkeley. A word of background. At the time when I was an undergraduate at Berkeley, to talk with Palestinian peace activists and to back a two-state solution was to risk arrest in Israel. » Read more

Israel main threat to Mid-East peace: Turkish PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 7, 2010 - 12:00am Israel was the main threat to peace in the Middle East, the visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said here on Wednesday before meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "Israel represents now the main threat to regional peace," Erdogan said before his around an-hour meeting with Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace, local media reported. "If a country makes use of disproportionate force in Palestine and use phosphorous bombs in Gaza ... We demand that how can it do that," the Turkish Prime Minister was quoted by local media. » Read more

Israel lifts gag order on ex-soldier spy case ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Aron Heller - April 8, 2010 - 12:00am Israel lifted months of censorship on a military espionage case Thursday, confirming the house arrest of a former female soldier charged with leaking more than 2,000 military documents to a newspaper. Anat Kamm, 23, has been under house arrest since December, but the case was kept under wraps by a court-imposed gag order. The restrictions were eased Thursday after details of the case were reported by foreign media, including The Associated Press. » Read more

Witnesses: Soldiers look on as setters beat 2 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 8, 2010 - 12:00am Two 19-year-old men were transferred to a Hebron hospital for treatment Wednesday after being harshly beaten by Israeli settlers near the Ibrahimi Mosque, locals said. Witnesses identified the two as Muhammad Abdul Raouf Al-Muhtaseb and Rushdi Al-Muhtaseb, both 19, and said soldiers looked on as settlers attacked the men and did nothing to interfere. On 31 March a similar incident was reported, with A’teiyah Yousef Maswada, 31, transferred to hospital following an attack by some 10 settlers outside of the mosque. » Read more

U.S. has considered offering Mideast peace proposal, officials say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Paul Richter - April 8, 2010 - 12:00am President Obama and other U.S. officials have explored whether the administration should offer its own Middle East peace proposal to break the logjam between Palestinians and Israelis, officials said Wednesday. At a time of growing frustration in the White House over the lack of a peace agreement, Obama and aides recently discussed whether the administration may need to turn to such an approach, officials said. » Read more

Discussions, but no decisions, on an Obama plan for Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - April 8, 2010 - 12:00am Senior Obama administration officials have discussed whether President Obama should propose his own solution to the intractable conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, including in a recent meeting between the president and seven former and current national security advisers, U.S. officials said Wednesday. » Read more

I.M.F. Says West Bank Economic Growth Is Imperiled by Israel and Arab States ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - April 7, 2010 - 12:00am The International Monetary Fund is preparing a report on the Palestinian economy that praises the actions of the West Bank government and the large donations of Western countries, especially European ones, but argues that healthy recent growth rates are imperiled by the parties that claim to have the most at stake — Israel and the Arab states. » Read more

The Nation: A Visit With Salam Fayyad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation by Letty Cottin Pogrebin - April 8, 2010 - 12:00am Before I arrived in Israel a few weeks ago, I'd read that Israeli President Shimon Peres had likened Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, to David Ben-Gurion, Israel's George Washington. So I was intrigued when, on my first night in Jerusalem, the conversation at my Israeli friends' Sabbath table was about the impressive speech Fayyad had delivered to the princes of Israel's security establishment at the recent Herzliya conference. » Read more