April 2nd

Israeli court frees senior Fatah official on bail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 2, 2010 - 12:00am Israel on Thursday released a senior Fatah official and 11 more Palestinians on bail five days after arresting them for participating in a demonstration in the West Bank, a lawyer said. Tens of officials from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' s party and supporters waited Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah central committee, after he arrived in the city of Ramallah and chanted slogans supporting the popular struggle against the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a Xinhua photographer said. » Read more

Israeli unveils tank-defense system of the future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am On a dusty, wind-swept field overlooking the Mediterranean, a small team of researchers is putting the final touches on what Israel says is a major game changer in tank defense: a miniature anti-missile system that detects incoming projectiles and shoots them down before they reach the armored vehicles. » Read more

Christians converge on Jerusalem for Good Friday ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Amy Teibel - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am The cobblestone alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City became moving forests of wooden crosses as Christian pilgrims and clergymen commemorated the day of Jesus' crucifixion, Good Friday. Black-robed nuns filed past metal barriers erected by police as dozens of tourists in matching red baseball hats held up digital cameras. Some pilgrims carried elaborately carved crucifixes, while others had crude crosses made of two planks held together with tape. » Read more

Israeli planes and helicopters mount Gaza attacks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli planes and helicopters mounted at least seven missile attacks on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday, destroying what a military spokesman described as Palestinian munitions sites. Four air strikes blew up two caravans near the town of Khan Younis, witnesses and Hamas officials said. There were no casualties in this attack. A fifth missile hit a cheese factory in Gaza City, setting it on fire, the witnesses and Hamas officials said. Hospital officials said two children were slightly wounded by flying debris. » Read more

Israeli planes and helicopters mount Gaza attacks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli planes and helicopters mounted at least seven missile attacks on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday, destroying what a military spokesman described as Palestinian munitions sites. Four air strikes blew up two caravans near the town of Khan Younis, witnesses and Hamas officials said. There were no casualties in this attack. A fifth missile hit a cheese factory in Gaza City, setting it on fire, the witnesses and Hamas officials said. Hospital officials said two children were slightly wounded by flying debris. » Read more

Israel warns of new Gaza assault after air strikes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Gavin Rabinowitz - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am Israel on Friday threatened a widescale military operation against the Gaza Strip after a string of air strikes which injured three Palestinian children following rocket attacks from the enclave. Israel's deputy prime minister, Silvan Shalom, warned that the military would soon launch a new offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip unless the rocket fire was halted. "If this rocket fire against Israel does not stop, it seems we will have to raise the level of our activity and step up our actions against Hamas," Shalom told public radio. » Read more

Changing course, Fatah officials call for Palestinian protests against Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - April 1, 2010 - 12:00am Senior officials in Fatah, the mainstream faction of the PLO, have for several years taken a backseat approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- leaving negotiations to a few leaders at the top and demonstrations to the grass-roots activists on the street. » Read more

Israel Mounts Air Attacks in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli warplanes struck at least four times across Gaza on Friday, damaging a number of structures that the Israeli military said were sites for weapons manufacturing or storage. A workshop destroyed early Friday morning in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City. A military spokesman said the strikes were in response to a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza on Thursday that hit the Ashkelon area on Israel’s central coast. The spokesman added that nearly 20 rockets or mortars had come from Gaza during March, and more than 40 since the beginning of the year. » Read more

Israeli behavior unworthy of U.S. friend ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dallas News (Editorial) April 1, 2010 - 12:00am Tensions have eased since the recent clash between the Obama administration and Israel over new expansion plans in East Jerusalem, but the controversy is far from resolved. Unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds a better way to tamp down the expansionist tendencies of his coalition members, a rocky future awaits U.S.-Israeli relations. Final status issues » Read more

Palestinian PM to Haaretz: We will have a state next year ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH - Next year, "the birth of a Palestinian state will be celebrated as a day of joy by the entire community of nations," says Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in an exclusive interview to Haaretz. Relaying Passover greetings to the Jewish community, Fayyad hopes Israelis will also participate in the celebrations for the birth of a new state. » Read more