Israel Attacks and Obama Backs Down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Bilal Hassen - April 19, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli announcement about deporting the Palestinian "infiltrators" from Gaza to the Gaza Strip or to Jordan is the beginning of a new stage in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali El-saleh - (Interview) April 19, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority [PA] through more than one of its officials has called on Israel to rescind its decision to deport what it described as "infiltrators" into the Palestinian territories. Azzam al-Ahmad, member of Fatah Central Committee and leader of its parliamentary bloc, interprets the Israeli decision as a return to the military orders and military rule that existed before the Oslo Accord in 1993. According to Al-Ahmad, this means "relinquishing the Oslo accord and wriggling out of it, which in its turn means that the occupation still exists."

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Obfuscating through violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
April 19, 2010 - 12:00am

It seems that the era of relative peace between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel is over. Ever since Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, secured an amnesty for senior members of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh, on condition that they lay down their weapons and join the official security forces, calm has prevailed in the West Bank.

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Israel seals West Bank as security precaution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
April 18, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel has barred the entry of nearly all Palestinians from the West Bank as a security measure because of observances for Memorial Day and Independence Day. The closure is to be lifted at midnight Tuesday. Israel is always on a heightened state of precaution during national observances. Memorial Day begins on Sunday night and is followed by Independence Day, which begins Monday night and lasts through Tuesday.

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Israeli actions are turning Jerusalem into a settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zeev Sternhell - (Opinion) April 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Thanks to an attempted settler takeover of the Sheikh Jarrah quarter, that quiet neighborhood of East Jerusalem has turned into a kind of microcosm of the illnesses that are poisoning relations between Jews and Arabs. The worst of these is the refusal to recognize the finality of the situation that was created at the end of the War of Independence. It is possible to understand the settler right, whose existential aim is the continued conquest of the land. But how is it possible that state institutions will lend a hand to an act that destroys the very land under our feet?

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Pillar of Israeli government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

There is a reason for the fact that in modern times laws are written by representatives of the people to whom these laws are applied. Governments and parliaments come and go, but laws often outlive them.

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Israel defies international law, again
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli amendments to standing military orders that took effect last Tuesday were fresh punitive measures in a long line of destructive and illegal acts designed to deny Palestinians their basic human rights. The orders, signed by Major General Gadi Shamni, former commander of Israel's armed forces in the West Bank, broaden the interpretation of "infiltrator" to mean anyone who does not have a valid Israeli residence permit, and expand the powers of Israeli forces to deal with anyone they decide is a "security threat".

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Palestinians see return of Israeli military rule in eviction order
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

A senior Palestinian official on Thursday said the recent Israeli decision to evict people from the West Bank aimed to exert Israeli military rule on the Palestinian- controlled territory again. "The real context of the decision is the return of the Israeli military rule, which has ended according to Oslo peace accords between Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993, " said Tayeb Abdul Rahim, secretary general of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

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Fayyad: New IDF orders threaten to empty West Bank of Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership on Monday protested against Israeli military orders that could see tens of thousands of Palestinians deported from the West Bank. On Sunday Haaretz revealed that a new military order aimed at preventing infiltration will come into force this week, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years.

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Israel’s plan is a shot across the bow
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Outrage is the only appropriate reaction. The revelation that thousands of Palestinians could face forced eviction, separation from their families, and imprisonment – and be expected to foot the bill for it all – beggars belief. If approved, two military orders would broaden who is termed a so-called infiltrator into the Palestinian territories. This cannot be allowed to happen, nor can the international community, and particularly the Arab world, remain silent on the issue.

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