April 2nd

Fatah: We want a peaceful intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am The new “popular intifada” that Fatah is planning in the West Bank won’t be an armed one, Nabil Shaath, a senior Fatah official, said on Thursday. Shaath’s clarification came a day after he and some of his colleagues in Fatah called on Palestinians to escalate the “popular resistance” in protest against the settlements, the West Bank security barrier and the decision to build new homes in east Jerusalem. » Read more

PA security forces conduct drill in Jenin ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - April 1, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian security forces on Thursday conducted a series of drills in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, including a special display for school children. The exercises were meant to boost the security forces' image in the eyes of the West Bank's younger population. Additional drills were held in other parts of the West Bank. In Bethlehem, Italian experts supervised over an exercise that simulated the rescuing of people injured in a car accident. » Read more

Ex-US diplomats meet with Hamas officials ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am Former US government officials, some of whom are in contact with the current administration, have met in the past months with Hamas leaders, one of the officials who participated in the talks confirmed in a conversation with Ynet on Friday. » Read more

Netanyahu the politician shames Netanyahu the statesman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) April 1, 2010 - 12:00am For the past 20 years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a victim of injustice. When he returned from the United States at the end of the 1980s, the leftist elite treated him with boundless hostility. When he headed the opposition during the Oslo years, he was perceived as an agitator and an instigator. » Read more

Likud MK: Not even 'Hussein Obama' will remove us from Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Charles Levinson, Natasha Mozgovaya - April 1, 2010 - 12:00am Thousands of Israelis gathered Thursday at the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron to celebrate the addition of the location to Israel's list of national heritage sites, a move initiated by the Land of Israel caucus in the Knesset. "The masses that have come here, including the 40 members of the Land of Israel caucus, are a guarantee and proof that no one will move us from the Cave of the Patriarchs, not even Hussein Obama," MK Ayoob Kara (Likud) told the crowd. » Read more

Poll suggests West Bank Jewish settlers more hawkish ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by David Harris - April 1, 2010 - 12:00am The mood of Jewish settlers in the West Bank is becoming increasingly uncompromising, according to a new poll published by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The survey looked at the views of Israelis as the Americans try to reboot the peace process with the Palestinians. It compared opinions today with those of Israelis some five years ago immediately prior to the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Israeli court frees senior Fatah official on bail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 2, 2010 - 12:00am Israel on Thursday released a senior Fatah official and 11 more Palestinians on bail five days after arresting them for participating in a demonstration in the West Bank, a lawyer said. Tens of officials from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' s party and supporters waited Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah central committee, after he arrived in the city of Ramallah and chanted slogans supporting the popular struggle against the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a Xinhua photographer said. » Read more

Israeli unveils tank-defense system of the future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am On a dusty, wind-swept field overlooking the Mediterranean, a small team of researchers is putting the final touches on what Israel says is a major game changer in tank defense: a miniature anti-missile system that detects incoming projectiles and shoots them down before they reach the armored vehicles. » Read more

Christians converge on Jerusalem for Good Friday ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Amy Teibel - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am The cobblestone alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City became moving forests of wooden crosses as Christian pilgrims and clergymen commemorated the day of Jesus' crucifixion, Good Friday. Black-robed nuns filed past metal barriers erected by police as dozens of tourists in matching red baseball hats held up digital cameras. Some pilgrims carried elaborately carved crucifixes, while others had crude crosses made of two planks held together with tape. » Read more

Israeli planes and helicopters mount Gaza attacks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - April 2, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli planes and helicopters mounted at least seven missile attacks on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday, destroying what a military spokesman described as Palestinian munitions sites. Four air strikes blew up two caravans near the town of Khan Younis, witnesses and Hamas officials said. There were no casualties in this attack. A fifth missile hit a cheese factory in Gaza City, setting it on fire, the witnesses and Hamas officials said. Hospital officials said two children were slightly wounded by flying debris. » Read more