March 28th

Total change ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons (Interview) March 26, 2012 - 12:00am An interview with Samir Abdullah bitterlemons: What would trigger the collapse of the Palestinian Authority? Abdullah: The Palestinian Authority takes its legitimacy from two sources. The first is how far it can advance the political project and the search for independence. The second is to what extent it can provide good-quality services, manage a good economy, provide jobs for the unemployed, provide social security to the elderly and the handicapped, and provide a good climate for investment and so on. » Read more

2 Israeli Leaders Make Iran Issue of Their Own ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - March 27, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have turned into the odd couple of Israeli politics in whose hands sits the prospect of an attack on Iran. From opposite political traditions with distinct experiences and worldviews, the two have forged a tight bond, often excluding the rest of the Israeli leadership. » Read more

World Must Act Urgently to Avert “Crisis” in Palestine, Experts Warn ATFP World Press Roundup Article from American Task Force on Palestine March 27, 2012 - 12:00am Washington, DC, March 27 -- The international community must act urgently support the Palestinian Authority and its institutions or face a looming “crisis” a panel of experts today warned at a Washington event today co-hosted by American Task Force for Palestine and The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. » Read more

Israel’s Top Court vs. Outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) March 27, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s Supreme Court made an important contribution to justice and kept alive hope for a two-state solution with the Palestinians, when it ruled this week that Migron, an illegal outpost built by Israeli settlers, must be dismantled by Aug. 1. Now it is up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to comply promptly, while making clear to the settlers that violent resistance will not be tolerated. » Read more

March 27th

Olmert to J Street: Abbas a partner for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - March 27, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON - "Don’t tell me there is no partner. There is a partner. (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) wants peace with Israel," former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during a J Street gala dinner on Monday. The former Israeli premier said Abbas was against terror during the Yasser Arafat era and was in favor of peace negotiations during Ariel Sharon's tenure as prime minister, as well as during his own. » Read more

PNA to ratify budget with shortfall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 27, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will ratify its 2012 fiscal year budget at 3 billion U.S. dollars, with a shortfall of 1.3 billion dollars, a Palestinian official said Tuesday. Ghassan Al-Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank, blamed "unprecedented lack" of foreign aid for the deficit, warning that the shortfall threatens the PNA's ability to carry out its services, especially in the education and health sectors. » Read more

Gazans blame Hamas for energy crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - March 26, 2012 - 12:00am Social justice? The recent energy crisis in Gaza has enraged many of the Strip's residents, who are now launching a new campaign on Facebook, calling to hold a general strike on Thursday. The campaign organizers are calling on all drivers, business owners, schools and universities to strike as an act of protest in the face of a growing rift between Gaza and the West Bank, and the deepening electricity and fuel crisis. » Read more

Migron deal makes a joke of Israel's judicial system ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nehemia Shtrasler - (Opinion) March 27, 2012 - 12:00am Here's one thing everyone in Israel agrees about: Benny Begin is a very honest guy. His unusual integrity is manifest in the agreement he forged recently with residents of the illegal Migron outpost, allowing them to stay there for three more years and then move to a new outpost to be built on state land. This is an agreement toward which the Supreme Court displayed disdain; the government winked as it signed the document with the settlers, and the agreement even received the blessing of the Knesset's most extreme right-wing member, Minister Daniel Hershkowitz of Habayit Hayehudi. » Read more

J Street is like the 'Bizarro World' of AIPAC ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chemi Shalev - (Opinion) March 27, 2012 - 12:00am The rhetorical question posed in the Book of Amos “would the two go together unless they have agreed” was answered in Washington on Monday night when former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared as the keynote speaker at the gala dinner of the leftist Jewish lobby J Street. Olmert and J Street, after all, have at least two important common denominators: both strongly support a two-state solution and both desperately seek public legitimacy. » Read more

Hamas holds dozens of drivers in Gaza power crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - March 26, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Police in Hamas-ruled Gaza have detained dozens of taxi drivers for allegedly spreading "rumors" about the territory's worst power crisis in years, officials said Monday, The detentions, which began over the weekend, signaled that the Islamic militant Hamas is increasingly concerned about the political fallout from crippling shortages of fuel and electricity. Authorities did not explain what got the drivers in trouble, beyond saying the "rumors" had to do with the energy crisis. » Read more