A New Palestinian Movement: Young, Networked, Nonviolent ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time by Joe Klein - March 31, 2011 - 12:00am Fadi Quran is the face of the new Middle East. He is 23, a graduate of Stanford University, with a double major in physics and international relations. He is a Palestinian who has returned home to start an alternative-energy company and see what he can do to help create a Palestinian state. He identifies with neither of the two preeminent Palestinian political factions, Hamas and Fatah. His allegiance is to the Facebook multitudes who orchestrated the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and who are organizing nonviolent protests throughout the region. » Read more

Fed-up Palestinians turn from US to find other providers of answers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi, Hugh Naylor - March 31, 2011 - 12:00am With the American administration consumed by popular uprisings sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, US efforts to push forward a Palestinian-Israeli peace process, already stalled, have receded further into the background. Palestinians, despondent with Washington's efforts, are in turn trying to energise their pursuit of alternatives to their overreliance on US meditation. In the process, the Palestinians risk angering not only Israel, but also the US, which remains an important donor to the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Netanyahu digs his grave ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) March 31, 2011 - 12:00am The Arab tsunami that has come in the wake of the Arab spring that saw the downfall of two autocratic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt is still blowing hard in other Arab countries, especially in Libya, where the days of its hallucinating ruler Muammar Gaddafi are believed to be numbered. What has been equally agonising has been the failure, if not refusal, of western governments to help correct this tragic Arab course. But then it can be argued that most western nations have benefited from this lackadaisical situation in various Arab states. » Read more

Next, an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) March 29, 2011 - 12:00am Last night, rejecting criticism of his actions in Libya, President Obama outlined a standard for civilized multilateralism: “Sometimes, the course of history poses challenges that threaten our common humanity and common security,” he said. “Real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well; to work with allies and partners ... to see that the principles of justice and human dignity are upheld by all.” If you should act, act where you can, and act together. » Read more

Militants Put Gazans in Danger, Group Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am A Palestinian human rights group in Gaza took the unusual step this week of condemning the building and storage of anti-Israel rockets in densely populated areas, a practice that has led to injuries and deaths of civilians. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that it had investigated recent rocket explosions and found that locally produced projectiles had fallen on homes in Gaza or exploded in factories where they were made or stored. Shrapnel severely wounded several people, including a 22-year-old woman and her 7-month-old baby. » Read more

Militants Put Gazans in Danger, Group Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am A Palestinian human rights group in Gaza took the unusual step this week of condemning the building and storage of anti-Israel rockets in densely populated areas, a practice that has led to injuries and deaths of civilians. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that it had investigated recent rocket explosions and found that locally produced projectiles had fallen on homes in Gaza or exploded in factories where they were made or stored. Shrapnel severely wounded several people, including a 22-year-old woman and her 7-month-old baby. » Read more