April 19th

An open letter to Netanyahu: Act before it's too late ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) April 18, 2010 - 12:00am Dear Mr. Prime Minister, It isn't every day a journalist writes an open letter to the prime minister. But today is no ordinary day. Nor is this an ordinary hour. This is the hour when the clock is about to strike midnight. A rare confluence of circumstances has created a situation in which on Israel's 62nd Independence Day, the state of the Jews is facing a challenge the likes of which it has not known since May 14, 1948. The year between this Independence Day and the next will be a crucial one. » Read more

Abbas calls on prisoners to press for unity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 19, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on prisoners on Sunday to press the factions to reconcile and achieve national unity. Once again, the prisoners should exert pressure on everybody to make national unity, Abbas said when receiving families of prisoners at his office in Ramallah, a day after Palestinians marked the Prisoners' Day. In 2006, the Palestinian prisoners drafted a plan supporting Saud Arabia's efforts in the formation of a unity government. However, the government collapsed in June 2007 after ruling for three months owing to Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza. » Read more

PNA denies report on possible control of East Jerusalem suburb ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 19, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Sunday denied reports that Israel was going to hand areas in East Jerusalem to the PNA. "We don't have any information about these reports and there is nothing on the ground indicating that the PNA" was going to impose its control on Abu Dies town, said Saeb Erekat, the chief peace negotiator. » Read more

Israeli president says not to lose faith in peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 19, 2010 - 12:00am Israel will not lose faith in peace, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday night at a memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers in wars and terrorist attacks. "It is their (the fallen's) courage that give our people the strength to face the challenges ahead -- not to fear the enemy, not to cease building, not to lose faith in the peace to come. And it will come," Peres said at his speech in Jerusalem on the eve of the country's Memorial Day. » Read more

Israel seals West Bank as security precaution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press April 18, 2010 - 12:00am Israel has barred the entry of nearly all Palestinians from the West Bank as a security measure because of observances for Memorial Day and Independence Day. The closure is to be lifted at midnight Tuesday. Israel is always on a heightened state of precaution during national observances. Memorial Day begins on Sunday night and is followed by Independence Day, which begins Monday night and lasts through Tuesday. » Read more

Israel's Barak concerned by rift with U.S. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller - April 19, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak voiced concern on Monday over a deep rift with the United States over settlement policy and said Israel should do more to try to achieve peace with the Palestinians. "The alienation that is developing with the United States is not good for Israel," said Barak, head of the centre-left Labour Party in right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition. » Read more

New Gaza Salafist faction numbers 11,000 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Ibrahim Qannan - April 19, 2010 - 12:00am "We, the Salafists, count more than 11,000 members who carry with them jihadist teachings from both Ayman At-Thawahri and Osama Bin Laden," said Abu Al-Hareth, leader of the Jund Ansar Allah, during an interview in his poorly lit Gaza home. "Of this number, 70 percent are members of the Jaljalat, a group made up of former Al-Qassam Brigades and Hamas affiliates," he explained. » Read more

Scion of Israel political dynasty begs to differ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Batsheva Sobelman - (Interview) April 17, 2010 - 12:00am Avinadav Begin, 36, comes from one of Israel's most famous political families. His grandfather Menachem Begin, as prime minister, signed the historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt; his father, Benny Begin, a minister without portfolio in the current government, opposes a Palestinian state. » Read more

A Mideast opportunity Obama shouldn't ignore ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jackson Diehl - April 19, 2010 - 12:00am "Timing is everything in life," George Mitchell said this year while discussing his daunting job as a Middle East envoy. It's a piece of wisdom that applies perfectly to the Obama administration's troubles in the region -- and one that, curiously enough, Mitchell and his boss have willfully ignored. » Read more

A peaceful strategy for Palestinian independence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) April 19, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinians have recently been developing a peaceful multilevel strategy to achieve their national goals of a negotiated peace agreement with Israel, an end to the occupation, and the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. » Read more