March 9th

Families fight 'racist' Israeli citizenship law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Heather Sharp - March 9, 2010 - 1:00am "To leave my children, I would die. I couldn't do it," says Lana Khatib. Five years ago, Israel's controversial citizenship law marred her first year of marriage and still looms large over everything from supermarket shopping to her fears the family might face the prospect of separation. Adnan, who is three, and one-year-old Yosra squabble over their toys. Born and raised in Israel, they are too young to understand that their parents both consider themselves Palestinian, but their father Taiseer is an Israeli citizen while their mother is from the occupied West Bank. » Read more

J’lem deputy mayor weighs opening Sheikh Jarrah office ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Abe Selig - March 8, 2010 - 1:00am Deputy Jerusalem Mayor David Hadari (Habayit Hayehudi) is weighing the possibility of opening up an office in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in an effort to “assist neighborhood residents,” he told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. Hadari said he would tour the area on Tuesday to explore logistical and financial aspects of setting up an office in one of the homes where Jewish families currently live. “I’m going to Sheikh Jarrah first of all, to strengthen the Jewish residents there,” Hadari told the Post. “I want to see if there is any way I can help them. » Read more

Fayyad’s White Intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Alex Fishman - (Opinion) March 9, 2010 - 1:00am At this time, senior Palestinian figures no longer want the VIP cards issued by Israel to about 300 elected officials and heads of Palestinian security arms. These cards enable them, among other perks, to stay in their air-conditioned Mercedes and quickly pass through IDF roadblocks in the West Bank, while their people watch on angrily and enviously. » Read more

Israel to resume issue of visas for foreign NGO workers in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - March 9, 2010 - 1:00am Bowing to international pressure, the Interior Ministry has announced it will resume granting work permits to foreigners working in most international non governmental organizations in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. As Haaretz reported about six weeks ago, the Interior Ministry stopped issuing work permits to non governmental organization workers as of September 2009 and told them they would have to make do with tourist visas, which do not permit employment. » Read more

Israel using strong arm tactics against young Palestinian stone-throwers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson - March 9, 2010 - 1:00am Several children in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan were arrested and taken from their homes in handcuffs in the middle of the night over the past few months, as part of a police crackdown on suspected stone-throwers, several teenage residents told B'Tselem and Haaretz. Haaretz and B'Tselem, the Israel Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, collected testimonies from several teens that suggest the police are treating them violently and violating their rights. » Read more

Palestinian opposition groups: proximity talks are to fail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - March 8, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinian opposition factions on Monday rejected the resumption of the U.S.-sponsored indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), saying the talks will be a great failure and will never succeed. The left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP) accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of "exclusivity in the decision-making, mainly those related to major Palestinian issues," adding talks can never be renewed while Israel continues its settlement activities and rejects the peace principles. » Read more

Israel to allow international officials to enter Gaza for the first time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 8, 2010 - 1:00am Israel will allow UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a senior European Union (EU) official to enter Gaza, said a statement of Israeli Foreign Ministry, in an attempt to ease the international pressure on the Jewish State for besieging Gaza. It is the first time Israel has permitted international officials to cross Israeli border to enter Gaza since the operation Cast Lead in December 2008, according to local daily Ha' aretz. » Read more

PA condemns authorization of Bethlehem settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 9, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinian government in Ramallah condemned Israel's authorization on Monday of dozens of new housing units for a settlement near Bethlehem just hours before US envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region. The Israeli government will allow the building of 112 new homes in the illegal West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit settlement, in spite of a declared halt to settlement expansion in November, Israeli media reported on Monday. » Read more

In Hebron, renovation of holy site sets off strife ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - March 8, 2010 - 1:00am The Tomb of the Patriarchs -- a site revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians as the burial place of their common forefather, Abraham -- needed bathrooms and a new roof over an outdoor prayer area. To the spokesman for Hebron's Jewish settler community, that should not have been grounds for international scandal. "In any normal country, people would take a site like that and turn it into a nationally recognized monument," David Wilder said. » Read more

Biden visits Middle East; Israel and Palestinians agree to indirect talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - March 9, 2010 - 1:00am Vice President Biden arrived in Israel on Monday to boost U.S. efforts to mediate talks between Israelis and Palestinians amid criticism that the Obama administration has set back the peace process. » Read more