February 3rd

Hamas gives U.N. response to Gaza war crimes report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

The Islamist group Hamas on Wednesday formally rejected allegations it had committed war crimes during last year's fighting in Gaza, charges made in a United Nations report. Hamas officials said the group set out in a 52-page response handed to a U.N. official in Gaza that the killing of three Israeli civilians in rocket attacks during Israel's Dec. 27, 2008-Jan. 18, 2009 offensive was an accident and military installations had been targeted.

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Israel must "roll back" and end occupation: Fayyad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Tom Perry - February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Addressing an audience alongside Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Salam Fayyad said rolling back should start by ending army incursions in the West Bank, where the Palestinians aim to establish their state, along with Gaza. "Unfortunately those incursions continue," Fayyad told the Herzliya Conference, which annually attracts prominent figures in the Israeli political and diplomatic establishment.

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Israel mulls freeing Hamas 'underwear bomber'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Erin Cunningham - February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

In a bedroom overlooking Jabaliya refugee camp's narrow, potholed streets, an array of new cosmetics and a hairbrush are lined up neatly in anticipation of a daughter's early release from prison. Next to a portrait of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a framed photo of Wafa al-Biss looks out into the room she has not seen since being arrested at the Israeli border with 20 pounds of explosives sewn into her underwear in 2005. She was 21 years old. In the photo, Wafa is dressed in bluejeans, heavy makeup, and a lace head scarf. She is unsmiling, almost defiant.

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Hamas threatens to take fight against Israel beyond Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Erin Cunningham - February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

In the wake of a Hamas claim on Friday that Israeli agents assassinated one of its operatives in Dubai last week, the Islamist movement is vowing to take revenge against the Jewish state for the militant’s death – even if it means going abroad. Hamas officials from Damascus, Syria, and the Gaza Strip are threatening to match what they say is Israel's expansion of the conflict to foreign countries.

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Palestinian premier speaks at Israeli conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

Before Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stepped on stage here Tuesday before a gathering of Israeli intellectuals and policymakers, he had already been likened to Israel's founder, David Ben-Gurion, vilified as the leader of a movement bent on undermining the peace process and dismissed as a technocrat without popular support. But his presence here -- at a packed conference in the heart of Israel, in a town named after the founder of modern Zionism -- perhaps said as much as any comment about the role he has played as the Palestinians' chief go-between with Israel and the West.

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Paving the Way for Palestinian Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
(Interview) February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Ziad Asali, president & founder, American Task Force on Palestine. Interview with Middle East Bulletin. Can you tell us a little bit about the newly released report, “Palestine: Moving Forward, Priority Interventions for 2010”? What are the core principles behind it? How to does it relate to the original August cabinet document?

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February 2nd

Paving the Way for Palestinian Statehood
Interview with Ziad Asali - Middle East Progress - February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Ziad Asali, president & founder, American Task Force on Palestine. Interview with Middle East Bulletin. http://middleeastprogress.org/2010/02/paving-the-way-for-palestinian-sta... Can you tell us a little bit about the newly released report, “Palestine: Moving Forward, Priority Interventions for 2010”? What are the core principles behind it? How to does it relate to the original August cabinet document?

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Obama's Middle East Strategy Stalls
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In Voice of America - November 11, 2009 - 1:00am

From the beginning of his administration, U.S. President Barack Obama said resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be a top foreign policy priority. After nearly 10 months of diplomacy, however, the peace process appears to be stalled and no negotiations are on the horizon. Some Middle East analysts say the failure to make progress is due, at least in part, to missteps made by the Obama administration. Last January, on his second full day in office, President Obama named a special envoy to the Middle East as part of an effort to rejuvenate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

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Israel says no charges will be filed in the case of an American badly injured by occupation forces in the West Bank. Controversy continues over Israel's alleged use of white phosphorus in the Gaza war. The term of the Palestinian parliament expires. Hamas says prisoner negotiations with Israel have ended, and insists that it's not afraid of elections. Three explosive devices wash up on a beach in Israel. Iran blames Israel for the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai, but Hamas points to Arab killers. Jordan is criticized for stripping citizenship from Palestinians. Israel risks Muslim anger over holy site construction. The limited settlement moratorium is reportedly starting to have an impact. King Abdallah of Jordan urges more US peace efforts. Pres. Abbas is seeking a way to return to peace talks, and The National says people should heed his warnings. The UN presents evidence contradicting Israel's claims about Gaza war crimes. Palestinian politicians in Israel say they face persecution. Tariq Alhomayed asks whether Hamas is threatening Israel or the Arabs when it pledges revenge for the Dubai murder. Hussein Ibish analyzes the new PA budget for state and institution building.

A real plan to build Palestine
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Guardian (Opinion) - February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Two weeks ago the Palestinian Authority issued a detailed budget for the state and institution-building programme it adopted last August. The programme calls for Palestinians to unilaterally build the administrative, economic and institutional framework of an independent state in spite of the Israeli occupation and as a peaceful, constructive means of countering it.

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