April 28th

Will Palestine be born this fall?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) April 28, 2011 - 12:00am

The chances for the birth of a Palestinian state this fall appear to be 50-50. The world community, including the US, seems to favour the idea, but there is clearly a lack of political will and muscle that would push Israel to seriously negotiate the emergence of Palestine. At the same time, major countries, especially the US, do not show enthusiasm for a unilateral declaration coupled with a UN birth certificate.

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Will Palestine be born this fall?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) April 28, 2011 - 12:00am

The chances for the birth of a Palestinian state this fall appear to be 50-50. The world community, including the US, seems to favour the idea, but there is clearly a lack of political will and muscle that would push Israel to seriously negotiate the emergence of Palestine. At the same time, major countries, especially the US, do not show enthusiasm for a unilateral declaration coupled with a UN birth certificate.

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April 27th

Following the death of the prisoner, Hamas leaders say they want to crack down on torture. Palestinian security forces fire near Israeli troops in the West Bank. The PA is looking into reports of Palestinians held at Guantánamo Bay. Jordan's king says failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will fuel Middle East violence. Israel denies a report about a new peace initiative. Aluf Benn says PM Netanyahu has fallen into a Palestinian diplomatic trap. The State Department says preserving the peace treaty with Egypt is essential for Israel. Leaked cables suggest Israel urged the US to support Palestinian banks. A new flotilla to Gaza is postponed. An extremist Rabbi urges Israel to encourage Bedouins to leave the country and the occupied territories. Nablus' governor urges calm after shootings near holy site, and settlers vow to return “with vigor.” An armed gang reportedly attacks the Egypt-Israel oil pipeline. Extremist MKs are preparing annexation bills in response to potential EU or UN recognition of Palestine. Israel Finkelstein says Jerusalem excavations are not dangerous but could be handled better. Faisal Al Qasim says the actions of many Arab dictators are worse than Israel's. David Rothkopf says PM Netanyahu has very little time left for effective diplomatic action.

Gaza govt urges ministry against torture
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 27, 2011 - 12:00am

Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday night that he had designated his Minister of the Interior to reinforce rules against torture, following an outcry over the death of a detainee earlier in April. "There is good treatment of inmates in our prisons," Haniyeh said in a statement, adding that following concern from rights organizations, the minister would again instruct all security departments and interrogators about Gaza's prohibitions on the use of torture.

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Hamas urged to 'come clean' on dead detainee
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 27, 2011 - 12:00am

Authorities in the Gaza Strip should order a criminal investigation into the death of a man who died five days after Hamas security officials arrested him, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Relatives of Adel Razeq, a 52-year-old father of nine, say that when security officials arrested him on April 14, they did not present a warrant and took him away under false pretenses. When his brother examined the body, it was badly bruised and appeared to have broken bones, he says.

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Palestinian security fire near Israeli patrol
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 27, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian national security forces fired toward Israeli military vehicles in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian security sources said. There were no reports of injury in the incident, which came as military jeeps pulled up near the Palestinian security building at the northern entrance of Tulkarem, the sources said. The governor of Tulkarem, Dalal Dweikat, denied any fire toward Israeli forces saying only that a Palestinian security officer misfired a single bullet in the same area as an Israeli patrol passed. "Things are calm and there are no developments," he said.

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PNA probes reports on Palestinians held in Guantanamo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 27, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian National Authority is looking into reports that a number of Palestinians are held in the U.S.-run prison in Cuba, Palestinian Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Eissa Qaraqe said Tuesday. The minister told Voice of Palestine Radio that the PNA will contact the International Committee for the Red Cross about the reports that Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are detained in Guantanamo prison.

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Not resolving the Palestinian issue will fuel violence in Middle East: Jordan's king
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 27, 2011 - 12:00am

Jordanian King Abdullah II said Tuesday that not finding a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue will increase violence and exacerbate instability in the Middle East, the state-run Petra news agency reported. Calling for intensified efforts by the United States and the international community to realize tangible progress in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Abdullah II underlined the need to remove obstacles against resuming the peace process.

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Israel denies report on Netanyahu's proposed peace initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 26, 2011 - 12:00am

An alleged meeting between Israel's chief peace negotiator Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, in which details of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's diplomatic initiative were reportedly discussed, had never taken place, Netanyahu's bureau clarified in a statement issued Tuesday. "No secret meeting was held and reports regarding its content are clearly baseless," the statement read.

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Netanyahu fell into the Palestinians' diplomatic trap
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) April 27, 2011 - 12:00am

The third intifada is inevitable. It will erupt if the United Nations recognizes a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders because the decision will not be implemented automatically, and the Palestinians will go to war to demand their sovereign rights and to expel the Israel Defense Forces and the settlers from their territory. It will also erupt if the United Nation is deterred from declaring independence for Palestine or hedges its decision in an attempt to placate Israel.

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