Fayyad joins protest to mark Land Day ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 30, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Salam Fayyad joined over 200 Israeli, Palestinian and internationals marking Land Day on Tuesday in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, in the West Bank governorate of Salfit. The march began at around 10am and lasted until 12:30pm, Israeli peace activist Jonathan Pollack said, beginning near the Ein Entweteg Spring in the village. » Read more

Fatah calls for escalation of non-violent resistance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 31, 2010 - 12:00am Fatah's Central Committee stressed the necessity for an escalation of non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, officials said following a meeting on Tuesday. United Palestinians should continue to protest the crimes committed against them by Israel, the Central Committee said, and recruit the help of international solidarity activists, officials said, noting their willingness to put forward a concerted effort toward Palestinian unity. » Read more

Hamas: Fatah must apologize to Palestine for failed efforts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 31, 2010 - 12:00am Fatah’s call for an escalation of peaceful resistance is an admission of the failure of the government to reach a peace deal for Palestinians, Hamas officials declared on Tuesday following a cabinet meeting in Gaza. Fatah and the Palestinian Authority must now "apologize to the Palestinians for forcing them into a failed process that lasted 20 years," a statement from the Gaza government said, citing the continued occupation of the West Bank, the siege on Gaza, and the unfaltering settlement construction in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. » Read more

A script that may never be finished ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Raja Abdulrahim - March 30, 2010 - 12:00am When Saleem Azzouqa first wrote a pivotal scene in his semi-autobiographical play, "Salam Shalom," two gay lovers were depicted arguing over a fictional suicide bombing. But this was no ordinary couple. One of the men was an Israeli Jew, the other a Palestinian Muslim, and the site of the imaginary bombing was Tel Aviv. Soon, the playwright realized he need not invent dramatic twists for this story. The nightly news would provide all the material he needed. » Read more

March 30th

Israel gags news of soldier turned journalist under arrest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - March 29, 2010 - 12:00am Israel has held a journalist under secret house arrest since last December based on allegations that during her military service she leaked classified documents suggesting that the Israeli army violated laws dealing with targeted killings. Anat Kam, 23, was arrested last December and charged under Israel's espionage and treason laws, JTA has learned. Prosecutors are seeking a 14-year sentence, which is considered severe by Israeli standards. » Read more

Ensure Israel arms curbs, say MPs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News March 30, 2010 - 12:00am The UK government must ensure that military equipment sold to Israel is not used in the occupied territories, MPs have said. Ministers must learn "broader lessons" about ensuring the ban on the trade in such products for use in Gaza and the West Bank is enforced, a report adds. The MPs said it was "regrettable" that UK arms sold to Israel were "almost certainly" used in Gaza in 2008. However, they said the UK provided less than 1% of arms exported to Israel. » Read more

No resolution to U.S.-Israel tensions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - March 29, 2010 - 12:00am For Benjamin Netanyahu, the formula for resolving U.S.-Israeli tensions came in the form of a flow chart. The Israeli prime minister took the chart with him when he met with Obama administration officials and visited the White House last week, two weeks after Israel angered the U.S. administration by announcing plans for 1,600 new housing units in a Jewish neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem during a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden. But the flow chart presentation didn't quite do the trick, and Netanyahu's relationship with President Obama remains on the rocks. » Read more

'Obama must do more to mend ties' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - March 29, 2010 - 12:00am A top Jewish leader on Monday urged the Obama administration to do more to push back against negative aspersions about the Jewish community and the state of the US-Israel relationship in the wake of recent tensions between the two countries. “The outward appearances have been perceived and described in much of the media in very negative terms and I would hope that’s something theadministration would address,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. » Read more

'Israel to allow clothes, shoes into blockaded Gaza' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters March 29, 2010 - 12:00am Israel will allow a shipment of clothes and shoes to be delivered to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for the first time in its almost three-year-old tight blockade of the enclave, Palestinian officials said on Monday. They said the first 10 truckloads would be arriving via the Israeli-controlled Gaza border point on Thursday. Israel is under international pressure to relax its blockade, which the United Nations says punishes Gaza's 1.5 million people over their leaders - the Islamist group Hamas, who are pledged to Israel's destruction. » Read more

Arab countries miss opportunity to cash in on strained Israeli-US relations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - March 29, 2010 - 12:00am The 22nd Arab League summit that ended on Sunday was, as is common by now, long on rhetorical support for the Palestinians but short on practical measures to implement such support. Arab leaders did agree to draw up a strategy, in the words of Amr Moussa, the league’s secretary general, to stand up to Israel. In this context, however, it was surprising that the apparently strained US-Israeli relations were not more of a topic. » Read more