For Israelis, Palestinians, the past matters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Miami Herald
by Uri Dromi - (Opinion) March 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Last week, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed a law allowing the state of Israel to cut its funding for institutions that celebrate the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe). Nakba, for the Palestinians, marks the 1948 disaster, when hundreds of thousands of them fled Palestine and became refugees. So in May, when Israeli Jews celebrate their Independence Day, Israeli Palestinians, on the same day, mourn their great loss. In my opinion, this legislation is a mistake. But before you become red in the face and call me a leftist and an Arab-lover, keep reading.

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Palestinians commemorate Land Day
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Five hundred students were chased and beaten by government security forces during a Land Day protest in Gaza City on Wednesday, an organizer affiliated with the March 15 coalition told Ma'an. Officers were said to have dispersed the gathered young people, who were calling for unity and a return to the Palestinian national project in Tayaran (Aviation) Street in the center of the city. Activist Ihsan Abu Sharkh said the forces chased and beat demonstrators, spraying what appeared to be pepper spray at their eyes, and injuring at least one young man.

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Gaza court sentences man to death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

A military court in the central Gaza Strip sentenced a man to death by hanging on Wednesday, after a judge found him guilty of treason contributing to the death of a Palestinian. A second man was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Both sentences were accepted unanimously by the military panel, but are appealable. Under Palestinian law, the death penalty must be accepted by the president. On April 15, 2010, however, the government in Gaza executed two men that had been found guilty of collaboration with Israel.

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Fayyad: Peaceful resistance advancing Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ben Hartman - March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said that Palestinian non-violent popular resistance of the West Bank barrier has been successful in convincing the world to reconsider the Palestinian cause and advanced the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, in a radio address commemorating "Land Day" on Wednesday. "Land remains the core of the Palestinian cause, and the reason for our existence and future," Fayyad said. "We [have been] here since the very beginning and we are certainly staying until the very end."

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The single demand that can unite the Palestinian people
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Karma Nabulsi - (Opinion) March 29, 2011 - 12:00am

After another week of breathtaking demonstrations from Jordan to Yemen heralding dramatic revolutionary change, in occupied Palestine things appear much the same. The repetitions of bombing, air attacks on civilians, muted international protests, and dubious gestures towards a bankrupted peace process: all lend an air of futility and hopelessness to the trajectory of Palestinian freedom.

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Arab democratic change can only help Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) March 28, 2011 - 12:00am

An interview with Samir Abdullah bitterlemons: How do you see changes in the Arab world, particularly in Egypt, affecting the Palestinian-Israeli peace process? Abdullah: I strongly believe that what is good for the Arab people is good for the Palestinian people. So, if these changes lead to real democracies and an end to an era of bad governance and corruption, this definitely will reflect positively on the Palestinian people and on their drive for statehood and independence. This is in the medium and long run.

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Hopes and Struggles in a Difficult Land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by A.O. Scott - (Film Review) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

“Miral,” Julian Schnabel’s fourth feature film, based on an autobiographical novel by Rula Jebreal (who wrote the screenplay), recounts the linked and partial life stories of four Palestinian women, beginning in the last days of the British mandate and ending in the 1990s, when it looked as if peace between Israelis and Palestinians might finally be on the horizon. That the film, an international co-production involving France, India, Israel and Italy, has been greeted with a flurry of controversy may show just how far that horizon has receded.

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No Spring in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Just when you thought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was in the deep freezer, things are getting hot again. Hamas and Israel are back at each others' throats; and for the first time in four years, there's been a terror attack in Jerusalem, killing one Israeli. The bombing capped a week of Israeli-Palestinian confrontation, which resulted in a number of civilian deaths in Gaza. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Israelis and Palestinians watching the historic changes in the Arab World just can't stand not to be the center of attention.

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Poll: Mideast change positive for Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

The results of a public opinion poll from mid-March showed broad support for protests across the Middle East, and a decline in popularity for both the West Bank and Gaza governments, responding to documentary series run by Al-Jazeera and regional upheaval. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research released the poll findings on Wednesday, which showed 67 percent of Gaza residents, compared to 32 percent of West Bankers, believe protests should be held to change their respective governments.

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The Palestinian narrative has won
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Oudeh Basharat - (Opinion) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

When the teacher asked us first-graders in Kfar Yafia what we do on Independence Day - it's "day" in the uninspired Jewish term, "holiday" in the imaginative Arab language - I answered excitedly: We go to Ma'alul. Ma'alul is my parents' village, whose residents were uprooted in 1948. Indeed, it was a holiday, when the military administration, in its generosity, loosened its grip a little and turned a blind eye to the crowds "celebrating" Independence Day on the ruins of the villages from which they had been uprooted.

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