Diplomacy 102
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) March 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. used rare and decidedly undiplomatic language on Tuesday to upbraid Israel after it announced plans to build 1,600 new housing units in a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem. “I condemn the decision. ...,” he said in a statement. The Obama administration is understandably furious. Mr. Biden was in Israel working to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The word came after he had spent the day vowing the United States’ “absolute, total and unvarnished commitment to Israel’s security.”

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Israel provokes and damages push for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) March 10, 2010 - 1:00am

During the Middle Ages, intellectuals endlessly debated the question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? To this we add a contemporary version: How often will Israel kick Washington in the teeth before it says “Enough!” Our question, of course, is occasioned by the visit of the US vice president, Joe Biden, to Jerusalem and Ramallah this week. Mr Biden was dispatched by the White House to assure Israelis of America’s commitment to their security.

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Peaceful protest in Israel can lead to arrest
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New Haven Register
by Mazin Qumsiyeh - (Opinion) March 9, 2010 - 1:00am

THIS week, when I return to my village in the occupied West Bank, I face possible arrest by Israel for engaging in nonviolent protests against abusive Israeli policies opposed by our own government. This prospect is difficult after 29 years of living in the United States, where such activities are fully protected. It was this openness that attracted me to the U.S. I became a proud citizen and pursued work not only in my profession but also as a human rights advocate.

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PA condemns authorization of Bethlehem settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 9, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian government in Ramallah condemned Israel's authorization on Monday of dozens of new housing units for a settlement near Bethlehem just hours before US envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region. The Israeli government will allow the building of 112 new homes in the illegal West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit settlement, in spite of a declared halt to settlement expansion in November, Israeli media reported on Monday.

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Israel to resume issue of visas for foreign NGO workers in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - March 9, 2010 - 1:00am

Bowing to international pressure, the Interior Ministry has announced it will resume granting work permits to foreigners working in most international non governmental organizations in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. As Haaretz reported about six weeks ago, the Interior Ministry stopped issuing work permits to non governmental organization workers as of September 2009 and told them they would have to make do with tourist visas, which do not permit employment.

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Families fight 'racist' Israeli citizenship law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Heather Sharp - March 9, 2010 - 1:00am

"To leave my children, I would die. I couldn't do it," says Lana Khatib. Five years ago, Israel's controversial citizenship law marred her first year of marriage and still looms large over everything from supermarket shopping to her fears the family might face the prospect of separation. Adnan, who is three, and one-year-old Yosra squabble over their toys. Born and raised in Israel, they are too young to understand that their parents both consider themselves Palestinian, but their father Taiseer is an Israeli citizen while their mother is from the occupied West Bank.

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Israeli Left Emerges From Coma Amid Atrocities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mel Frykberg - March 9, 2010 - 1:00am

On Saturday night over 3,000 Palestinian, Israeli and foreign peace activists, waving Palestinian flags and shouting "Free Sheikh Jarrah", gathered in the East Jerusalem suburb in support of Palestinians threatened with home demolitions and evictions. Progressive members of the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, called for the removal of illegal Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem and for the rights of Palestinian residents to be respected.

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In Hebron, renovation of holy site sets off strife
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Janine Zacharia - March 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The Tomb of the Patriarchs -- a site revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians as the burial place of their common forefather, Abraham -- needed bathrooms and a new roof over an outdoor prayer area. To the spokesman for Hebron's Jewish settler community, that should not have been grounds for international scandal. "In any normal country, people would take a site like that and turn it into a nationally recognized monument," David Wilder said.

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J’lem deputy mayor weighs opening Sheikh Jarrah office
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Abe Selig - March 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Deputy Jerusalem Mayor David Hadari (Habayit Hayehudi) is weighing the possibility of opening up an office in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in an effort to “assist neighborhood residents,” he told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. Hadari said he would tour the area on Tuesday to explore logistical and financial aspects of setting up an office in one of the homes where Jewish families currently live. “I’m going to Sheikh Jarrah first of all, to strengthen the Jewish residents there,” Hadari told the Post. “I want to see if there is any way I can help them.

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If Netanyahu wants peace, he knows what to do
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - March 5, 2010 - 1:00am

British statesman Leopold Amery's plea to prime minister Neville Chamberlain - "For God's sake, go" - has undergone many incarnations, and I'm surprised at my colleague Nahum Barnea, who made do with a simple "Go" in reference to Avigdor Lieberman. The suspicion that Lieberman received documents relating to the investigation against him from our ambassador in Belarus is now being checked by the police. It doesn't smell good - not to mention that the stench of the foreign minister's behavior justifies speeding up the distribution of gas masks.

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