February 16th

Confronting Settlement Expansion in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Report by Joel Beinin - February 14, 2010 - 1:00am The neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, a 20-minute walk up the hill from the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem, has become the focal point of the struggle over the expanding project of Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. » Read more

Telling Film Floats Between Art and the Actual ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - February 15, 2010 - 1:00am 'Ajami' starts as a case of mistaken identity in a semi-tribal, semi-criminal feud: a kid fixing a car in the streets of Ajami, a nondescript Arab neighbourhood of the Mediterranean city of Jaffa, is killed in a drive-by shooting. Soon, a backdrop of acute poverty, crime and social decay evolves into a powerful tale of suffering, vengeance, and survival. 'Ajami' is a somehow a worst-case scenario of lives cast in tragic circumstances, a mirror image of the many conflicts that subdue the lives of Jews and Arabs within Israel/Palestine. » Read more

Challenge to Israel’s legitimacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Linda Heard - (Opinion) February 15, 2010 - 1:00am The fact that Israel refuses to play according to international rules is eroding its legitimacy as a state with unofficial membership in the worldwide club of democratic nations. Israel has been somewhat of a “wild child” since its founding in terms of its flouting of international laws and norms but its doting allies have always afforded it unprecedented leeway in light of its tenuous position within a hostile neighborhood as well as a collective sense of holocaust guilt. » Read more

It is not just corruption ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) February 16, 2010 - 1:00am Few, if any, were shocked by the news that senior Palestinian officials close to President Mahmoud Abbas were involved in various kinds of corruption. One report after another has revealed corruption in the Palestinian Authority (PA) unparallel anywhere else in the Middle East. Indeed, one of the reasons behind the electoral fall of the Fateh movement was the widely held perception of a highly corrupt PA under Fateh rule. As such, it is not that the phenomenon is unknown. It is about the timing for revealing the issue and the identity of the one exposing the corruption. » Read more

The silence of Israel's liberals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) February 16, 2010 - 1:00am It is not a pleasant experience to look at Israel's image in the world nowadays, to put it mildly. To the extent the country makes the headlines, it is in the context of the Goldstone report on Operation Cast Lead, the latest outlandish statement of foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman or Israel's continuing occupation of large parts of the West Bank. Israel's negative image is reflected in events such as ambassador Michael Oren being heckled on University of California Irvine campus and deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon apparently being threatened during an appearance at Oxford University. » Read more

PA officer suspected of plotting to kill Fatah officials ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - February 16, 2010 - 1:00am Days after reports of the corruption affair in the Palestinians Authority and the suspension of President Mahmoud Abbas' chief of staff over a steamy sex tape, another scandal unravels: Ynet has learned that Mujahed Nimer, a top official in the Palestinian security apparatus, was arrested in recent days, on suspicion of heading a group of Fatah operatives who planned to assassinate officials in the PA and the movement. » Read more

PA says won't reveal identity of Dubai assassin suspects ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - February 16, 2010 - 1:00am The arrest of two Palestinians suspected of being involved in the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Dubai, as well as the publication of video clips depicting the assassins, has reignited the finger pointing between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas claimed Tuesday that the two arrested men, who served in the Palestinian security forces, are proof that the Palestinian Authority played a role in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 20. The PA denied the allegations. "If they want, Hamas can reveal the identity of the suspects," challenged the PA. » Read more

Abbas: No U.S. clarification over peace talks' resumption until now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 15, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday said the United States has not yet presented the demanded clarification related to the resumption of the indirect peace talks with Israel. The Palestinian state-run news agency Wafa quoted Abbas as saying at the weekly meeting of the Palestinian cabinet in Ramallah on Monday that the Palestinian side has not yet received any clarifications from the United States over the resumption of the peace negotiations with Israel. » Read more

Mideast peacemaking efforts at "very critical stage": Jordanian king ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 15, 2010 - 1:00am Jordanian King Abdullah II Monday urged coordinated and intensified international action to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as peacemaking efforts are going through a "very critical stage", the state-run Petra news agency reported. The king made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation from J Street, which is an American-Jewish entity that supports the two-state solution and is against Israeli settlement activities. At the meeting, the king said resolving the conflicts should be in line with the two-state solution and within comprehensive peace in the region. » Read more

Israeli FM: Palestinian government smearing us ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Amy Teibel - February 15, 2010 - 1:00am Israel's foreign minister on Monday accused the Western-backed Palestinian government of spearheading an international smear campaign against Israel and predicted that even if negotiations between the two sides resume, they would fail. Avigdor Lieberman's tough comments could mean new trouble for U.S.-led efforts to restart peace talks, which broke down more than a year ago. U.S. envoy George Mitchell has spent months trying to bring the sides back to the negotiating table, but so far has been unable to break the deadlock. » Read more