April 3rd, 2009

Working out a response
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - April 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Attempted and actual terror attacks in the last month seem random, with no obvious pattern. There was an abortive bulldozer rampage in Jerusalem (the third in a year), two policemen were murdered in the Jordan Valley, a booby-trapped car was left at a Haifa mall, and the most horrific of all came yesterday with the ax-murder of a child in the Bat Ayin settlement.

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A Ripe Opportunity for Obama to Intervene in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - April 3, 2009 - 12:00am

The Arab Summit in Doha obliterated its chances of putting forth serious stances before the G-20 Summit - which brings together the world's twenty largest economies - and did not formulate any sensible strategies that could be taken into consideration. Indeed, the summit of "reconciliations" took pride in defying the International Criminal Court (ICC) and demanding the annulment of the warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, allying itself with one accused of committing war crimes in Darfur and dealing with international justice as if it was the new enemy.

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US Affairs: Unsettling buzz
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Jerusalem Post - April 3, 2009 - 12:00am



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April 2nd

In his first official speech as Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman declares that Israel is not bound to the understandings reached at the 2007 Annapolis Conference (1). A Palestinian man wielding an ax kills an Israeli teenager in the West Bank (2). A series of articles discuss how the new Netanyahu-led Israeli government may handle the peace process (4) (5) (6). The new Israeli government is also warned that a refusal to continue with serious peace negotiations could result in the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority (8). Hamas pledges to continue weapons smuggling into Gaza (11).

Palestinian Authority warns on dissolution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck, Roula Khalaf - April 1, 2009 - 12:00am

The new Israeli government was warned on Wednesday that a refusal to continue serious peace negotiations intended to establish a Palestinian state could force the Palestinian Authority to dissolve itself. The warning, by a senior PA official, came only a day after Israel’s new rightwing government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, took office. It also came as Israel’s new foreign minister said the government did not feel obligated by the commitments made during the US-sponsored Annapolis peace initiative.

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In Israel, Netanyahu and super-sized Cabinet sworn in
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux - April 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu, taking office as Israeli prime minister amid heckling by leftist and Arab lawmakers, offered Tuesday to seek a "permanent arrangement" for limited Palestinian self-rule. "We do not wish to rule another people," the conservative leader declared in a speech to the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Without endorsing the goal of sovereignty for the Palestinians, he said he favored an accord giving them "all the powers necessary to rule themselves, except those that would threaten Israel's existence and security."

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Mr. Netanyahu, Show Us Your Courage and Declare Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
(Editorial) April 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Peace is often harder to declare than war. It takes an instant to declare war, but generations to make peace. In the case of Israel and the Arabs it's been three generations. More than enough time. It also takes a brave and strong individual to declare peace. Israel has had many brave leaders, but only two – so far – brave enough to venture on the road to peace: Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon.

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World wants Palestinian state, Peres tells Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
April 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli President Shimon Peres told new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that the world backed the Palestinian quest for a state, a goal the incoming right-wing leader has not endorsed. "The government you lead must make a supreme effort to move the peace process forward on all fronts," Peres said at the state ceremony at which former prime minister Ehud Olmert handed over formally to Netanyahu, who was sworn in on Tuesday.

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In Defense of Genocide: An Arab Summut Embraces the Butcher of Darfur
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) April 1, 2009 - 12:00am

FOR DECADES, summit meetings of the Arab League have resounded with rhetoric about the alleged "double standards" of the West in enforcing U.N. resolutions or respecting international law. No communique of the group -- including the one issued from its summit this week in Doha, Qatar -- has been complete without a demand that conflicts be resolved "within the framework of international legitimacy."

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Hamas: We won't stop arms smuggling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - April 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Since Operation Cast Lead concluded some 22 tons of explosives and 45 tons of raw materials used to manufacture weapons have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin reported this week. On Thursday Hamas pledged that the smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula will continue. Abu Ubeida, Hamas' military wing's spokesman, said that his group will refuse to sign an agreement with Egypt that calls for the cessation of weapon smuggling, "or any other agreement that might undermine the resistance in Palestine."

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