March 28th

Palestinians Hold Talks on Reconciliation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - March 26, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority met Saturday with officials of Hamas for the first time in a year in an effort to reconcile the two movements whose bitter rivalry has kept the West Bank and Gaza apart and blocked any real hope of Palestinian statehood. » Read more

The Shama family, stuck between the anvil of Hamas and the hammer of Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - March 27, 2011 - 12:00am It has now become a foregone conclusion for the Shama family. Every time a rocket or mortar is fired into Israel, the land at the back of their house in the Twam area of the Gaza strip will be attacked in retaliation. » Read more

Israel Rolls Out First Mobile Battery of Antirocket System ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - March 27, 2011 - 12:00am The Israeli military deployed the first mobile battery of a new antirocket missile defense system on Sunday on a dusty rise at the outskirts of this southern Israeli city after a week of heightened tensions between Israel and Gaza. Palestinian mourners carried the body of Saber Assalya, an Islamic Jihad militant, during his funeral in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Increased tensions between Israel and Gaza have led to fears of an all-out confrontation. » Read more

What Egypt Can Learn from Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Slate by Michael Weiss - (Opinion) March 25, 2011 - 12:00am A persistent theme of the recent Arab revolutions has been a fear of Islamists coming to power via democratic means. For Middle East analysts based in the West, all eyes are on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and its likely fortunes in the parliamentary elections scheduled for June. Statements made by senior representatives of the Brotherhood about the impossibility of women or Coptic Christians holding the presidency, or how Iran is a model for human rights, should give democracy proponents pause, since they seem to confuse the concept with the mere holding of elections. » Read more

Israel’s obduracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) March 26, 2011 - 12:00am IN the wake of increased violence and heightened tension along the Gaza border, Palestinians continue to sound a willingness to renew efforts toward peace with Israel. Israeli politicians are also calling for action — for stronger military reaction to the latest spike in Mideast attacks and reprisals. » Read more

Who is annexing whom? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) March 27, 2011 - 12:00am Both are clearly directed against Arab citizens, a fifth of the population. The first makes it possible to annul the citizenship of persons found guilty of offenses against the security of the state, though annulling citizenship on such grounds is contrary to international law and conventions. The second allows communities of less than 400 families to appoint "admission committees" which can prevent unsuitable persons from living there. » Read more

Diplomats: New European proposal on Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Edith M. Lederer - March 25, 2011 - 12:00am Britain, France and Germany want the United Nations and the European Union to propose the outlines of a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, U.N. diplomats said. » Read more

Diplomats: New European proposal on Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Edith M. Lederer - March 25, 2011 - 12:00am Britain, France and Germany want the United Nations and the European Union to propose the outlines of a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, U.N. diplomats said. » Read more

March 25th

Escalation in revenge attacks pushes Israel closer to war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - March 25, 2011 - 12:00am A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza struck an area close to Tel Aviv yesterday in a bold attack that could provoke Israel into a decisive strike and bring it one step closer to a new Middle East war. The latest attack, which injured nobody and landed in an unpopulated area 15 miles south of the city, will unsettle Israelis, who are used to seeing low-grade rockets and mortars drop mostly harmlessly in areas close to Gaza, but rarely feel threatened in cities such as Tel Aviv. » Read more

Jerusalem bus bomb will harm the Palestinian cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am The deadly attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday has, inevitably, further ratcheted up the tension that has been brewing in the region for weeks. The strike at the heart of the city's teeming transport hub demands a strong response from the Israeli government, both for the sake of its own people and to warn Palestinian militants that a return to the bloodstained days of a decade ago is in neither side's best interests. » Read more