Israeli settlement activities impede peace efforts: Jordanian FM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 6, 2011 - 12:00am Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Wednesday condemned Israel's settlement activities for impeding the peace efforts, state-run Petra news agency reported. At a meeting with David Hale, deputy envoy of the United States for Middle East peace, the Jordanian official condemned Israel's unilateral, illegal and provocative measures in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in East Jerusalem. Judeh said the Israeli settlement activities obstruct the peace efforts, calling for freezing these activities immediately. » Read more

Building a Stage for Mideast Peace Before the Final Curtain ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - April 6, 2011 - 12:00am Juliano Mer Khamis lived a paradox. The internationally renowned actor, director and political activist, who was killed here this week, was both an Israeli and a Palestinian, born to a Jewish mother and an Arab Christian father in the Israeli Arab town of Nazareth. Mr. Mer Khamis embodied the Israeli-Arab conflict and embraced its complexities in a way that few could. He was regarded as an Arab by many Israelis, and by some in this West Bank city, his adopted home, first and foremost as a Jew. » Read more

Hamas militants nabbed for planning to abduct Israeli soldier ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 6, 2011 - 12:00am Israel revealed Wednesday evening that its security apparatuses had nabbed three militants of the Islamic Hamas movement who planned to kidnap a Israeli soldier. The Israeli Radio reported that the internal security apparatus, better known as the Shabak, arrested a group of three Hamas members in January in cooperation with the Israeli army. The group planned to kidnap an Israeli soldier as a hostage and then reach a deal to exchange Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails, according to the radio. » Read more

World Bank praises Palestinian state building drive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Crispian Balmer - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am The World Bank gave a strong endorsement on Thursday to Palestinian efforts to set up an independent state, saying core Palestinian institutions compared favourably with those in established nations. The World Bank report followed a similar vote of confidence this week from the International Monetary Fund, with both Washington-based bodies praising the Palestinian Authority for creating the structures needed to maintain a sovereign state. » Read more

Sudan Says Israel Launched a Missile Strike on a Car, Killing 2 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Josh Kron - April 6, 2011 - 12:00am The government of Sudan accused Israel on Wednesday of carrying out a fatal airstrike on a car traveling from the Red Sea city of Port Sudan. Sudan is considered a transit point in the weapons route to Hamas, the Palestinian faction that runs Gaza. Israel has not yet responded to the accusation. Sudanese officials said a missile struck the car around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, obliterating the vehicle and killing two people who were inside. » Read more

Palestinians charged in Jerusalem pipe bomb attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Maayan Lubell - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am An Israeli court on Thursday charged five Palestinians with planting a pipe bomb next to a Jerusalem monastery and planning other attacks around the city, a police spokesman said. The bomb, put last month in a rubbish bag outside the monastery, severed the hand of a municipal worker who picked up the bag. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the five men, residents of Jerusalem, were tied to the Islamist group Hamas and had admitted after their arrest that they planned to carry out more attacks against Israelis in Jerusalem. » Read more

Homes, roads taken down near Tubas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Witnesses said six bulldozers and hundreds of soldiers were deployed throughout the Jordan Valley village of Aqrava on Thursday morning, when two homes and road entrances were taken down by Israeli forces. Sami Sadeq, head of the village council, said two streets leading out of the village were torn up, effectively rendering them useless for travel, forcing residents to take long detours and exit via the main entrance of the village. » Read more

Abbas in Cairo, unity efforts begin ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Active contacts between Palestine and the new Egyptian were resumed in Cairo Thursday, following the arrival of President Mahmoud Abas to the Egyptian capital. Abbas will meet with Egyptian General Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, and head of the interim military council ruling the nation following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. Palestinian Ambassador in Cairo Barakat Al-Farra said Abbas will meet with General Tantawi to discuss Palestinian reconciliation, as well as other developments in the Palestinian arena. » Read more

100 women detained in Awarta ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli troops stormed the village of Awarta on Thursday morning, arresting more than 100 women in what local officials said was part of the ongoing investigation into the murder of five settlers in March. Hundreds of troops entered Awarta - the village adjacent to Itamar, and illegal settlement where the murders took place - shortly after midnight and imposed a curfew after which they began rounding up the women, local council head Tayis Awwad said. » Read more

Israel and Palestinians have conflicting visions for village's future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am It's easy to conjure the village that once was, hidden deep in a picturesque valley at the western gateway to Jerusalem, almost buried by blooming almond trees, tangled grapevines and a carpet of yellow wildflowers. The roofs and window shutters are long gone from the old stone houses, but decorative brickwork around the doorways and broken staircases bears witness to a bygone prosperity. The freshwater spring was paved over years ago, but the water still gurgles down the main road, just as it did more than 60 years ago. » Read more