Palestinians ask for U.N. human rights investigation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

GENEVA, March 19 (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority has asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to conduct a formal inquiry into the impact of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki said on Monday. The probe should look into "attempts to confiscate land and settler violence along with the impact of settlement expansion on Palestinian life and basic human rights," he said, adding that the proposal for an inquiry was formally tabled on Friday.

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EU pledges 35 million euros for Palestinian infrastructure project
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
by DPA - March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

The European Union on Monday pledged 35 million euros (46.3 million dollars) for two Palestinian infrastructure projects. "We have signed two important agreements for a total amount of 35 million euros... one for a water treatment plant in northern West Bank ... another is for the crossings in Gaza," the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Salam Fayyad said. The money comes from the 300 million euros in Palestinian aid that the EU has earmarked for 2012 - the same figure that had been committed in 2011 - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told reporters.

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In the West Bank, Springs of Contention
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Arieh O'Sullivan - March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Ein Ariq, West Bank -- A convoy of white United Nations jeeps pulls into the olive-tree laden valley below the Jewish community of Eli. They are greeted by Jamal Deragmeh, the mayor of the nearby Palestinian town of Lubban Al-Sharkiya, who points out the cement pool around the spring and complains. “If you weren’t here,” he says to the representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “The [Jewish] settlers would come and put a bullet in my head.”

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Protecting civilians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Navi Pillay - (Opinion) March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

My visit to Israel and Palestine a year ago left me with a profound sense of the difficult human rights situation faced by many Palestinians and Israelis. Still, the openness of representatives on all sides to engage seriously on the human rights challenges I identified was encouraging. Taking this spirit of constructive engagement as our point of departure, I and my staff have been watching closely for progress on the issues I raised with Israeli and Palestinian authorities in Gaza, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Tel Aviv.

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Decisions in the Interregnum in Palestine and Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Ziad Asali - (Blog) March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

The year 2011 will go down in history as the year when the two-state solution went into deep freeze. Yet even during this hibernation there is much that can, and indeed must, be done to prevent an even graver crisis.

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Israeli president sends Iran greeting for Persian new year, urges against threats
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 18, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel’s president has sent Iranians his traditional greeting for the Persian new year, wishing for “peace and coexistence” despite tensions over their country’s nuclear program. Shimon Peres also urged Iranian leaders not to threaten anyone or make their “children flee home” — an apparent reference to the possibility of war. Peres’ greeting for Nowruz was broadcast Monday over Israeli Radio’s Farsi service, which is popular in Iran. He spoke first in Farsi and then in Hebrew,

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Israel: Palestinian economy not stable enough for independent state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - March 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel is expected to present a report Wednesday at a donor meeting on Palestinian aid in Brussels claiming that the Palestinian Authority is not sufficiently stable to meet the standards of a well-functioning state.

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Syrian Security Forces ‘Warn Palestinian Camp’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 16, 2012 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Sources in Damascus say Syrian security forces threatened to raid the Yarmuk refugee camp due to Fatah's alleged support of demonstrations against Syrian leader Bashar Assad. “Yarmuk is not more precious than (Homs neighborhood) Baba Amro, and it will be raided if the demonstrations which Fatah movement organizes” continue, a security agent was quoted as saying. Syrian security forces have detained a number of Fatah members: Ayman Juda Abu Ala, public action official in Yarmuk, Jihad Abu Yousef, Abdul Wahed Kherma, Firas Tahmaz, and Amjad Sadya.

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The Arab Spring: Good or bad for the Palestinian cause?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Dawoud Abu Lebdeh - (Opinion) March 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Many Palestinians are now wondering what effect this past year’s developments in the Arab world will have on their own struggle for independence.

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Israeli-Egyptian relations still stable after rocket bombardments: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 14, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A senior Israeli military official on Tuesday said that last week's targeted assassination of an Islamic militant headed off a cross-border attack with " strategic implications" for already-tense relations with Cairo. "Always -- in our constellation -- the peace between us and Egypt is very important, and the national security of Egypt is very important as well," Maj.-Gen. (res) Amos Gilad, the Defense Ministry's Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs, told reporters in a conference call focusing on the targeted assassination.

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