April 5th

PNA in daily contact with Washington over peace talks: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 5, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the United States hold daily contact on discussions over resuming the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a top Palestinian negotiator said on Sunday. Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio that the communication focused on freezing Israel's recent approved projects of building Jewish settlement in disputed East Jerusalem and stopping raids on PNA-controlled areas in the West Bank. » Read more

Palestinian official says Egypt tries to contain Gaza tension ATFP World Press Roundup Article from April 4, 2010 - 12:00am A Palestinian official said on Sunday that Egypt was contacting Israel and Palestinian groups to prevent further military escalation in the Gaza Strip. Voicing concern over possible Israeli military operation, Yasser Al-Wadia, head of Palestinian independents' group, said an Egyptian official had told him that Cairo was holding "intensive contacts with the highest Palestinian and Israeli levels" to prevent large-scale military hostilities. » Read more

Gaza tension still concerned after Hamas' call for calm ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by David Harris - April 5, 2010 - 12:00am Israel Air Force aircraft on Sunday opened fire at two Palestinians, who Israelis claimed seemed to be laying explosives near the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. The incident came one day after four Palestinian organizations met in Gaza. There remains a degree of uncertainty as to what really happened during the meeting, while media reports suggest the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas called for calm on the part of the armed factions in the Palestinian coastal enclave. » Read more

Tourism up 50% in the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 5, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Tourism and Antiquities police said tourism in the occupied Palestinian territories increased during March, with a considerable rise in guests registered in local hotels. A police report said 464,000 tourists traveled to the West Bank, 137,000 of whom were international passport holders, while 83,000 were Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, living inside the Green Line. » Read more

Islamic Jihad: No promise made to halt projectile fire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 5, 2010 - 12:00am Islamic Jihad has not taken a decision to halt projectile fire toward Israeli targets, sources in the movement announced following a news report claiming the contrary on Sunday. Islamic Jihad is "committed to defending our people and committed to resistance in all possible ways," a statement from the movement said. » Read more

Erekat: Mitchell avoiding region over Israel tensions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 4, 2010 - 12:00am The lack of clarity surrounding US Middle East envoy George Mitchell's next visit to the region could be due to tense relations between Israel and the US over Israel's refusal to halt settlement activities, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat told Ma'an radio on Sunday. With regard to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's remarks, a day earlier in the West Bank city of Beit Sahour, that a Palestinian state would be established by 2011, Erekat highlighted that the state was declared in 1988 in Algiers and that it had now been recognized by more than 100 countries. » Read more

At odds in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Buffalo News (Editorial) April 5, 2010 - 12:00am The problem that has developed between Israel and the United States is an offshoot of the same problem that divides Israel from the Palestinians: the lack of a two-state solution to the Mideast’s ongoing trauma. A two-state solution is the only possible answer to the bloodshed and privation that have punished Israelis and Palestinians for decades. The only alternative is for people on both sides to continue killing one another, which is not a solution but a failure to adopt one. » Read more

U.S., Israel get back into the ring ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) April 4, 2010 - 12:00am Don't let this lull in the continuing brouhaha between Israel and the United States fool you. It will get noisy again. Here's why: The recent confrontation between President Barack Obama, fresh from his masterful victory on health care reform, and a more uncertain Benjamin Netanyahu reflects a far deeper problem in the U.S.-Israeli relationship. » Read more

Palestinian, 14, Emerges Unharmed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram - April 3, 2010 - 12:00am A 14-year-old boy thought to have been killed either by Israeli gunfire or from internal Palestinian violence last week turned up unharmed at his family’s house after trying to sneak into Egypt via smuggler tunnels and being held by Egyptian security officials, his parents said Saturday. » Read more

Palestinian aspirations are clear, but what does Israel want? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - April 5, 2010 - 12:00am Does anybody know what Benjamin Netanyahu wants? Has anybody ever understood what his predecessors wanted? Where are they headed? And where are they leading us? One after another, Israeli politicians have been asked these questions, only to reply with the standard rejoinders: "You don't expect me to answer this question" or "Let's leave this for the negotiations." Vague answers, obfuscations, evasive and noncommittal cliches - promises, promises. There was one clear, unequivocal answer - none. » Read more