April 15th

'Israel unlikely to assist UN war crimes probe' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press April 15, 2009 - 12:00am Israel is "very unlikely" to cooperate with a UN agency's probe into whether Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the recent Gaza war, a government official said Wednesday. Hamas, meanwhile, said it is ready to work with the investigators, to be led by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge who served as chief UN prosecutor of war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. International and local human rights groups have said there is strong suspicion both sides violated the rules of war in three weeks of fighting early this year that followed years of cross-border conflict. » Read more

A message Obama can’t ignore ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Osama Al-Sharif - April 15, 2009 - 12:00am President Barack Obama will receive a message from the Arab world next week when he meets King Abdallah of Jordan in Washington. It will be an important message that the American president and his administration should appreciate because of its timing and content. » Read more

Palestinian waging long battle to live in his home ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am When Fayez Rajabi built a home for his family in the West Bank town of Hebron, he never imagined he would have to fight for more than two years to move into it. Last December, the 45-year-old car parts dealer thought he might have cleared a major hurdle after the Israeli army evacuated some 250 settlers who had occupied the four-storey building for over a year and a half. » Read more

April 14th

Syria seen keen on new peace talks with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Khaled Yacoub Oweis - (Analysis) April 14, 2009 - 12:00am Encouraged by President Barack Obama's overtures toward Washington's adversaries, Syria is pushing to restart peace talks with Israel, diplomats and political analysts say. Damascus has intensified its quest to relaunch the Turkish-mediated talks, diplomats in the Syrian capital said, despite the formation last month of a right-leaning Israeli government that has shown little interest in a U.S.-backed two state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. » Read more

The other face of fascism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram by Muqtedar Khan - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am A foreign minister is to the rest of the world the face of the nation he or she represents. They epitomise the values and politics of the nation and personify its culture, identity and values. Israel has a new face now and that face is the ugly visage of fascism. Currently it travels under the name Avigdor Lieberman. » Read more

'Sounds worrying' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram by Dina Ezzat - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am Karen Abu Zayd is commissioner general of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Her job is to make sure that relief and human development are accessible to Palestinians under occupation, in Gaza, the West Bank and refugee camps scattered in countries neighbouring the occupied Palestinian territories. This mission is met through providing education, healthcare, social services and emergency aid to over 4.6 million refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic. » Read more

Candidly Speaking: Netanyahu & the two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Isi Leibler - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am When our government enters into formal discussions with Washington, it will be obliged to make decisions that may set the tone for its long-term relationship with the new administration. President Barack Obama has yet to fully show his hand, but his policy of engaging with jihadists is likely to encourage efforts to pressure Israel into additional unilateral concessions to the Arabs that will need to be vigorously resisted. » Read more

Mitchell visit to see if Netanyahu really against 2-states ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am Prominent voices from within Benjamin Netanyahu's government have already made it clear they oppose the two-state solution and the understandings agreed upon at the Annapolis Peace Summit. Ascertaining whether this is indeed the genuine position of the new Israeli government is the top priority for US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, during his visit this "It's one thing to hear statements in the press, it's another to hear it in a one-on-one meeting," a source in Washington told Ynet on Monday evening. » Read more

Hizbullah planned 3 simultaneous attacks in Sinai ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roee Nahmias - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am Hizbullah planned three simultaneous terror attacks against Israeli and Egyptian targets in three different tourist spots in Sinai, head of a Hizbullah cell in Egypt Sami Shihab told police in his investigation. Parts of Shihab's investigation were published in Egyptian daily al-Ahram on Tuesday, and according to the report, the organization planned to publish an announcement after the attacks claiming responsibility for them. » Read more

Egypt's rage at Hezbollah isn't on Israel's behalf ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) April 14, 2009 - 12:00am It is sometimes hard to believe the remarks coming out of Cairo over the past 48 hours are actually directed at Hezbollah. The Egyptian press has tagged its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, with denigrating epithets like the "monkey sheikh," and remarks from security officials in Cairo to the Israeli press sound reminiscent of how generals speak in times of war. » Read more