Missing a Historic Opportunity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Khaleej Times (Editorial) April 10, 2009 - 12:00am That the change of guard in Israel and the rise of radical Zionists like Avigdor Lieberman to power is bad news for peace process cannot be overemphasised. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, himself renowned for absurdly unreasonable views, couldn’t have made a more disastrous choice when he picked up Lieberman as his foreign minister. » Read more

Christians mark Good Friday in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent April 10, 2009 - 12:00am Hundreds of Christian clergymen, worshippers and pilgrims are marking Good Friday at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Brown-robed Roman Catholic friars filed into the ancient church after its doors were unlocked this morning. Pilgrims knelt to kiss a stone believed to mark the spot where Jesus' body was placed after he was crucified. Processions following Jesus' footsteps through the alleys of Jerusalem's Old City are planned for later in the day. » Read more

Deputy FM: Obama's Ankara speech did not favor Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 10, 2009 - 12:00am Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon (Yisrael Beiteinu) said Friday that U.S. President Barack Obama's speech in Turkey earlier this week did not include any support for the Annapolis peace process, Army Radio reported. Ayalon denounced calls which interpreted Obama's reference to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation launched in Annapolis in 2007 as a warning against the policies of Israel's government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's statement that the new government was not bound by Annapolis understandings. » Read more

Soccer, a Link to Normalcy For West Bank Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Howard Schneider - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am Like any soccer match among 6-year-olds, the gang behind the village school brought as much structure to the game as a swarm of bees. But Omar Abu Hamad, coach of the champion Wadi al-Nees Blue Eagles of the Palestinian Football Association, was already scouting his next generation of players -- including the speedy sons of two of his current stars. If all goes well, he said, this village of 800 in the occupied West Bank will continue to produce a punch-above-its-weight squad for Palestinian league play, and contribute to a Palestinian national team worthy of the world stage. » Read more

Blair: Netanyahu will back establishment of Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am International Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said he estimates Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will promote the establishment of a Palestinian state.   » Read more

All he did was kill an Arab ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nehemia Shtrasler - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am Julian Soufir wants to be let out. He doesn't even understand why he's being kept at the Abarbanel Mental Hospital. He says he's recovered and feels fine. His doctors say he has made progress and should be released in a few months. But he already wants to be put in less restrictive conditions and immediately afterward be granted parole. After all, Passover is the holiday of freedom and all he did was kill an Arab. » Read more

Obama to keep the ball rolling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am Barrack Hussein Obama hit the jackpot during his visit to Turkey when he was introduced with stress on his rarely used middle name to the Turkish parliament and, in response, the visiting American president assured the legislators that the United States is not at war with Islam. Likewise, Turkey’s recently acquired role, as a much-needed bridge for some feuding Middle Eastern nations, won high praise from Obama, a gesture that contrasted sharply with the failed US policies during the Bush administration. » Read more

Colonial values rule again in Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am For years, pro-Israeli zealots and other fanatics in the United States who run out of arguments quickly revert to their fallback position that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East - and thus should be supported against Arab dictators. There is some truth to this argument, but not compelling integrity. Israel is indeed a domestic democracy for its Jewish citizens, and most Arab countries are not convincingly democratic. » Read more

Obama: Endorse the Arab Peace Initiative Now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) April 7, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama returns from his first overseas trip even more popular (i.e., powerful) than when he left. It is not only that his predecessor set the bar so low. Barack Obama (and First Lady Michelle Obama) were the most impressive figures to represent the United States abroad in at least a good half century. » Read more

Wall: A Monologue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books (Editorial) April 10, 2009 - 12:00am All right. Let's be serious, let's think about this. Please, please: consider the state of affairs, consider the desperation, consider the depth of the despair. A country has reached a point at which 84 percent of its people are in favor of building a wall along its borders. » Read more