April 14th

JVP, Harsh Critic Of Israel, Seeks a Seat at the Communal Table ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Gal Beckerman - April 13, 2011 - 12:00am On a recent Wednesday night in New York City, Rebecca Vilkomerson, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization that critics label anti-Israel, made the case for her group’s main protest tactic: a targeted campaign of boycott, divestment and sanction — or BDS, as it has become known — against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. » Read more

EU grants Palestinian produce duty-free access ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 13, 2011 - 12:00am The European Union announced Wednesday it would grant duty-free access to produce from the West Bank and the Gaza strip in a bid to support Palestinian state building. The deal was announced during a visit by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who was in Brussels for a meeting with international donors. "Facilitating Palestinian trade is a crucial element of the state building process which the EU is supporting both politically and financially," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement. » Read more

U.S. Report Details Rights Abuses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - April 13, 2011 - 12:00am An annual report by the U.S. Department of State on human rights in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza paints a stark picture of human rights conditions among minority populations in Israel, and Palestinian populations in the West Bank and Gaza. “Principal human rights problems were institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against Arab citizens, Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip… non-Orthodox Jews, and other religious groups,” begins the segment dealing with Israel and the Golan Heights. » Read more

Gaza war report co-authors reject Goldstone's retraction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 14, 2011 - 12:00am The three co-authors of the damning United Nations report on the 2008-2009 Gaza war rejected on Thursday an op-ed by the fourth member and chairman Richard Goldstone in which he retracted key conclusions of the report – in particular saying that Israel had not intentionally targeted civilians during the war. » Read more

Palestinian FM does not expect resuming peace talks soon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Fares Akram, Chen Xu - April 13, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki on Wednesday said Israel's positions make the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians more difficult. In an interview with Xinhua, Al-Maliki said the Palestinians will seek recognition of their state from the United Nations as a response to the failure of the latest round of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations. » Read more

Pushed by Goldstone, Israeli army embraces new ‘smart’ warfare ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - April 11, 2011 - 12:00am Despite Israel’s rejection of the Goldstone report on the Gaza war a year-and-a-half ago, the international criticism it engendered has led the Israel Defense Forces to make a number of significant changes in policy and doctrine. And they'll stay even though Richard Goldstone has recanted one of the most significant findings of his committee's report -- that Israel intentionally targeted civilians and may have perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. » Read more

Netanyahu's pulling-out plan preemptive act to avoid diplomatic tsunami ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Saud Abu Ramadan - April 14, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinians were not surprised at the Israeli media reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering measures to defy a "diplomatic tsunami," if the UN recognizes a Palestinian state on the territories Israel occupied in 1967. Since the suspension of the direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in last October, one month after it was launched in Washington, due to Israel's refusal to halt settlement construction, the Palestinians threatened to use diplomatic options, including grabbing international recognition of a Palestinian state. » Read more

Israel on the back foot ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) April 14, 2011 - 12:00am There has been lots of good news in the Arab world this week, thanks to the successful uprisings against autocratic regimes ushered in by the glorious Arab Spring and the international community’s encouraging response. An overwhelming majority or two-thirds (65 per cent) of Americans — more Democrats than Republicans — believe that “greater democracy in the Middle East would be positive for the US”. And in the long run, more than three-quarters (76 per cent) of Americans say democratisation would be mostly positive for the US. » Read more

New U.S. peace push must come soon - Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ali Sawafta - April 13, 2011 - 12:00am The United States must move fast on its planned drive to revive Middle East talks before Palestinians seek recognition as a state, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday. "It's time for the American administration to move before September," the spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said. » Read more

America,s Arab comeback - except for Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) April 14, 2011 - 12:00am The past few months have seen no anti-American demonstrations and no burning of US flags across the Arab world. Arabs seem increasingly willing to accept - and even applaud - the Obama administration’s policy towards the region. Of course, Arabs are still unhappy with the continued US bias in favour of Israel. Its inability to end the 44-year military occupation of Palestinian lands has not gone unnoticed. But many Arabs nowadays prefer to give the US a break. » Read more