April 9th

US Treasury: 'PA making bold bid to curb Hamas funds' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger - April 9, 2010 - 12:00am WASHINGTON – The Palestinian Authority has made significant moves to cut off the flow of funding to Hamas, according to a top US Treasury official. David Cohen, assistant treasury secretary for terrorist financing, praised the PA for taking “important steps to limit Hamas’s influence” by supervising the Palestinian banking system and charitable contributions in the West Bank and Gaza. “The Palestinian Authority has been quite courageous in its efforts to regulate the financial system,” Cohen told the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Wednesday afternoon. » Read more

Netanyahu to skip Obama summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Josh Gerstein, Laura Rozen - April 9, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has abruptly canceled his plans to attend President Barack Obama’s nuclear security summit next week, creating an embarrassing distraction on the eve of a high-profile meeting the White House has sought to carefully choreograph. An Israeli official confirmed Netanyahu’s decision not to attend, which was revealed by Israeli media outlets Thursday afternoon Washington time. » Read more

Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Ali El-saleh - April 9, 2010 - 12:00am Fayyad stressed in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinian State exists and that the Israeli occupation is bound to end. Fayyad still believed that the establishment of a State is possible within two years, in the second half of 2011 to be specific, as stated in the State blueprint he announced last August. » Read more

April 8th

Textbooks, Grasshoppers, and the Question of Incitement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) April 5, 2010 - 12:00am There is a great opportunity in the next few months to reach a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This may seem a surprising view just now, but there is a competent and responsible Palestinian government in place which is serious about establishing a sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel. And there is strong public support for this objective. The evidence is all around you if you come to see the reality. » Read more

Terms of Endearment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Weekly Standard by Elliott Abrams - (Blog) April 8, 2010 - 12:00am “Obama to Impose Terms on Israel” is the headline you didn’t read on David Ignatius’s column in the Washington Post today. The story ran under the title “Obama’s Mideast Plan,” which Ignatius describes as “proposing an American peace plan to resolve the Palestinian conflict.” » Read more

Benjamin Netanyahu's plan for Jerusalem is ill conceived ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Shlomo Ben-Ami - (Opinion) April 8, 2010 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Jerusalem is ill conceived. This was amply demonstrated by the announcement of the construction of 1,600 new apartments in the occupied eastern segment of the city during what was supposed to be a charm visit by US Vice President Joe Biden, Israel’s best friend in President Barack Obama’s administration. And yet, while Netanyahu might not be a great peacemaker, the Obama administration, by portraying the announcement as a deliberate attempt to frustrate the upcoming indirect talks with the Palestinians, exaggerated the incident for its own purposes. » Read more

Genie out of the bottle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) April 8, 2010 - 12:00am The taboo was finally broken and the genie is out of the bottle, despite some attempts to force it back. America's military leaders have had enough and decided to speak out about the liability that a hardline Israel causes to America's national interest. Popular American General David Petraeus finally said the words that many have been saying behind closed doors for decades. The statement of the star-studded general puts American blind support for Israel in direct opposition to the country's most sacred institution, the military. » Read more

Al Arifi and the Visit to Jerusalem! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) April 7, 2010 - 12:00am It’s not the controversy surrounding the announcement made by the Saudi preacher Dr. Mohammed al Arifi to visit Jerusalem to film an episode of his weekly program there that bothers me. Rather, what worries me is the following question to al Arifi, his supporters and others; what about the Arab journalists who want to cover the Sheikh’s visit and the moment he enters Israel? Will they be held accountable for normalizing [ties] with the enemy or not? Will the [news] agencies and the press of slogans launch attacks against the journalists? » Read more

Statehood bid forces Israel to pay attention ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) April 7, 2010 - 12:00am There are several sure-fire ways for Palestinians to get Israel’s attention to their grievances. One is to carry out military attacks, including suicide bombings. Another is to threaten to abolish the Palestinian Authority, saying in effect to Israel: “You want to collect our garbage and clean our streets? Go ahead.” It’s a third way, however, that has succeeded in really getting under Israel’s skin recently. By again floating the idea of unilaterally declaring an independent state, Palestinian officials have sent their Israeli counterparts into convulsions. » Read more

The real moral of the Anat Kam story ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Daniella Peled - (Opinion) April 8, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli reporter Anat Kam – whose long period of house arrest has been subject to a stringent gagging order that has been lifted only today – was not arrested for doing her job as a journalist. She was arrested for stealing and passing on classified military documents. Not that that makes her case any less unjust. » Read more