Q & A with Hamas's Mahmoud al-Zahar
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Saleh Al-Naami - (Interview) March 1, 2010 - 1:00am

Q) Is the recent story published about Musab Hassan Yousef true? A) Israel is trying to distort Hamas's image and weaken and reduce its popularity by promoting the idea that there are many examples like Musab Hassan Yousef. We do not rule out that there could be some rot [in the organization]. The case of Hassan Yousf's son putting aside his religion does not discredit his father who has sacrificed a lot for his religion and country. Q) How close are you to reaching an agreement on a prisoner exchange deal with Israel? A) I have nothing to say in this regard.

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Son of Hamas founder says he served Israel as an informant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

The son of one of Hamas's founders says in a new book that he served as a top informant for Israel for more than a decade, providing top-secret intelligence that helped prevent dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis.

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PLO: If Netanyahu wants our holy sites, he can't have peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

The Executive Committee of the PLO will not support talks with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu government in light of its decision to declare sites in Palestinian areas "Israeli heritage sites," the body announced after a meeting Wednesday. "We will reject any kind of negotiations, even indirect talks," Secretary General of the PLO body Yasser Abed Rabbo said after the meeting in Ramallah.

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March to mark Goldstein massacre
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Greer Fay Cashman, Yaakov La, Tovah Lazaroff - February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

Amid heightened tensions in Hebron, Palestinians plan to march in the city on Thursday, to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the Baruch Goldstein massacre. On February 25, 1994, the Israeli American physician killed 29 Muslims who were praying at the mosque that is part of the Cave of the Patriarchs complex. He wounded another 150 before being beaten to death. The march comes after the cabinet on Sunday added the Cave of the Patriarchs to the list of Jewish heritage sites marked for renovation and preservation.

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Palestine's strongest weapon is peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

To live under occupation is to face many indignities and dilemmas. How to deal with the occupier? By violence or by peaceful means? History has examples of both. But parallels are never exact. The dilemma facing Palestinians is whether to go on working with the international consensus that supports our independence, or to wage war against the overwhelmingly superior forces of the occupier, Israel.

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Deibes: PA will include Area C in plans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority plans to include Area C in it strategic planning in an effort to lay the groundwork for a future state, Tourism Minister Khouloud Deibes said on Thursday. Deibes made this remark following a meeting in Jericho with a visiting delegation from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also said her ministry is committed to attracting private sector investment to tourism-related projects in the West bank, particularly north of the Dead Sea, and also attract more tourists to the area.

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Palestinians guilty again?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Abir Kopty - (Opinion) February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

For many years Israel and members of the International community have claimed that Palestinians “do not take responsibility for themselves. All they do is whine, accuse Israel of everything and make suicide bombings.” That's what we have heard. Now, when those false claims have expired, Israel’s arsenal of claims is replaced quickly.

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ICRC condemns Israeli occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Israeli restrictions make normal life "close to impossible" for many West Bank Palestinians, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said. Some Palestinians are often unable to reach a hospital or visit relatives, while 50% live in poverty, it said. They are also frequently harassed by Jewish settlers, the organisation said. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said the ICRC had ignored statements by the Palestinian Authority that West Bank residents lived a "normal life".

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Fatehgate - between fact and fiction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Corruption has always been the Achilles heel of the Palestinian leadership. At the height of PLO’s popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, the relationship between revolution and money was the movement’s major weakness. Well-respected Palestinian artist Kamal Boulatta best reflected this dichotomy in his painting mixing the words thawra (revolution) and tharwa (riches).

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Don't deny peaceful protests in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
by Bill Fletcher Jr. - (Opinion) February 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Every year, beginning with the January birthday celebrations for the Rev. Martin Luther King and moving through Black History Month in February, Americans and others revisit the history, role and significance of the black freedom movement in the United States. But there is a frequent tendency to misrepresent the lessons of that movement and apply them to other social movements overseas in a way that misses the mark. This has been happening increasingly with the historical lessons that are being misapplied to the Palestinian freedom movement.

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