April 25th

Tensions mount in West Bank after Nablus shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Tensions in the West Bank mounted Sunday after a shooting incident in the city of Nablus killed one Israeli and wounded four others. A Palestinian policeman opened fire when a group of Israelis entered Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish holy site in the West Bank city of Nablus, early Sunday without "proper permits," according to an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) statement. » Read more

Arab changes to hopefully push forward stalled Mideast peace before September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 24, 2011 - 12:00am Talks on new American and Israeli plans and initiatives to push forward the peace process have increased in the past few weeks, while the Palestinians are working in full swing for the establishment of an independent state in September. The Middle East peace process has been stalled, since the Palestinians had suspended the direct peace talks with Israel in October, one month after it was launched in Washington. The talks with Israel were suspended after Israel refused to freeze settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. » Read more

How the Likud Came to Be ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily by Elliot Jager - April 22, 2011 - 12:00am The party faithful who gathered in Tel Aviv on April 14 for a pre-Passover toast heard Benjamin Netanyahu announce that he would amplify Israel's security-and-peace principles at a joint session of the U.S. Congress next month. Surveying the crowd from the podium, the prime minister no doubt took comfort from a recent survey showing that 76 percent of Likud members opposed annexing all of Judea and Samaria. Yet he would also have known that 10,000 party recruits had been newly signed up by uncompromising settler leaders. » Read more

Bibi and Obama: hand over peace process to the UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Tony Karon - April 25, 2011 - 12:00am President Barack Obama and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we are told, are in a "bizarre diplomatic race" to be the first to outline a new initiative for Middle East peace. That's according to the New York Times, which last week reported that Mr Netanyahu is planning to preempt Mr Obama when he addresses US Congress next month, at the invitation of the president's Republican adversaries. » Read more

President Obama and the Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - (Editorial) April 24, 2011 - 12:00am President Obama began his presidency vowing to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian peace. He backed off in the face of both sides’ obstinacy and after a series of diplomatic missteps. Since then, the stalemate, and the mistrust, have only deepened, and it is clear that nothing good will happen until the United States fully engages. » Read more

Intolerant streak continues to afflict Palestinian society ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Fawaz Turki - (Opinion) April 23, 2011 - 12:00am Let's not allow the brazen murder of Juliano Mer Khamis, 52, and Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, two engaged idealists who were gunned down respectively in the West Bank and Gaza within two weeks of each other earlier this month, to pass largely unnoticed, relegated to a mere footnote in the narrative of the Palestinian struggle. » Read more

Fayyad: We’ll soon celebrate Easter in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 25, 2011 - 12:00am The prime minister in Ramallah gave holiday greetings at an event with Christian clergymen and other officials Saturday, the day before Easter. "This holiday brings with it joy and the promise of a better future," Salam Fayyad said. "It is a religious and national holiday for Muslim and Christian Palestinians," he said. "We will celebrate this holiday at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in East Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Palestinian state, at a time when our aspirations for freedom and independence are realized." » Read more

Fayyad: National unity urgent for statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 25, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Saturday that a national unity government must be formed urgently as the last stages of the national project are completed. Fayyad's comments were made during a tour of villages near Ramallah, where the premier helped farmers to plant tree saplings. The prime minister's two-year state-building initiative is scheduled to be completed in September, when the PA is expected to seek international recognition of its statehood at the UN. » Read more

Palestinian membership in the UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Musa Keilani - (Opinion) April 24, 2011 - 12:00am The debate over the Palestinians’ quest for international recognition of their statehood got into high gear last week. The administration of US President Barack Obama offered the golden advice, saying it did not think that it was a “good idea” for the Palestinians to unilaterally seek recognition for independent statehood from the United Nations before reaching a peace agreement with Israel. » Read more

Egypt closes Rafah crossing for holiday ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 25, 2011 - 12:00am Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing on Monday as the country marked Sinai Liberation Day and Sham Al-Nessim, officials announced. Crossing director Ayyoub Abu Sha’ar told Ma'an that the terminal would be closed for one day as citizens marked the national holiday denoting the beginning of spring. The holiday always falls the day after the Eastern Orthodox Christian Easter. On Tuesday, the crossing will resume its five-day-a-week schedule, Abu Sha'ar said.