Finding excuse for colony expansion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Opinion) March 15, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is back to his old tricks with the recent announcement that 500 new homes for colonists will be built in the West Bank. The decision follows an attack which killed an Israeli couple and three of their children in a colony — Israeli authorities are still searching for the attacker. » Read more

Netanyahu fails to appease Jewish settlers outraged by brutal attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - March 14, 2011 - 12:00am The stabbing deaths of an Israeli couple and three of their children Friday night in the Jewish settlement of Itamar has stoked concern about a deterioration of a broad calm prevailing in the West Bank, as well as new blow to negotiations. Palestinian militants are suspected to be behind the attack, which took place in the northern West Bank near Nablus. » Read more

Dwarfs in charge of Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Editorial) March 13, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM IS abuzz with brilliant new ideas. The brightest minds of our political establishment are grappling with the problems created by the ongoing Arab revolution that is reshaping the landscape around us. Here is the latest crop of mind-bogglingly innovative ideas: » Read more

A fatal Israeli-Palestinian flaw ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Editorial) March 14, 2011 - 12:00am One of the most depressing characteristics of the dysfunctional Palestinian-Israeli relationship is the self-destructive tit-for-tat mentality that often seems designed to keep the conflict alive rather than to end it. » Read more

Screening of 'Miral' at the United Nations draws protests from Jewish groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Melissa Maerz, Nicole Sperling - March 15, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli-Palestinian politics often prove polarizing at the United Nations, but rarely does the furor involve Hollywood celebrities and power brokers, a red carpet and a film screening at the world body's own headquarters in New York. » Read more

Israel comes to standstill to remember soldier captured by Palestinian militants 5 years ago ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press March 15, 2011 - 12:00am Traffic has come to a standstill on major roads across Israel as activists hold a nationwide five-minute protest to draw attention to the plight of a captured Israeli soldier still held by Palestinian militants. Sgt. Gilad Schalit was captured nearly five years ago in a cross-border raid by Gaza militants, and successive Israeli governments have been unable to bring him home. Gaza's Hamas rulers want the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including many convicted of murdering Israelis, in exchange for Schalit. » Read more

Israel says its navy intercepts Egypt-bound ship carrying arms off Mediterranean coast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Aron Heller - March 15, 2011 - 12:00am The Israeli navy intercepted an Egyptian-bound ship carrying a large delivery of weapons off the country's Mediterranean coast on Tuesday, saying the arms had been sent by Syria to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. The military said the cargo vessel "Victoria" initially departed from the Lattakia port in Syria before proceeding to the Mercin port in Turkey. From there it departed for the port of Alexandria in Egypt. Israel says that Turkey had no involvement in the arms shipment. » Read more

Briefing on Protest for Palestinian Unity Becomes a Rally Itself ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram - March 14, 2011 - 12:00am Hundreds of demonstrators calling for Palestinian unity took to the streets here on Monday, a day earlier than scheduled, in an effort to prevent what they said were attempts by political factions to hijack their movement for their own agendas. What began as a news conference by protest organizers on Monday afternoon in the Square of the Unknown Soldier unexpectedly developed into a gathering of almost 1,000 people. » Read more