Israel unveils seized arms cache from cargo ship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Josh Lederman - March 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Rows of boxes, crates and containers filled with weapons stretched out on a dock Wednesday alongside a ship commandeered by Israel's navy, a display of what Israel said was a shipment of arms, some sophisticated, to Palestinian militants in Gaza. Israel intercepted the ship Tuesday in international waters in the Mediterranean, saying it was carrying weapons sent by Iran via Syria. Israel says the advanced anti-ship missiles found on board could alter the region's balance of power by impeding its ability to enforce a naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

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The API and the regional security deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Amor Boubakri - (Blog) March 16, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab Peace Initiative promises to "provide security for all the states of the region". These provisions are at the core of the offer made by Arab states in their initiative to Israel and represent a solemn commitment to withdraw the threat of war and the use of arms in the resolution of problems related to territorial claims in the region.

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Middle East security from a Palestinian perspective
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Mkhaimar Abu Sada - (Blog) March 15, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 stipulates that the Arab countries "consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region". This, in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied in June 1967, a "just solution" to the Palestinian refugee problem based on UN Resolution 194, and the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

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A fatal Israeli-Palestinian flaw
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
(Editorial) March 14, 2011 - 12:00am

One of the most depressing characteristics of the dysfunctional Palestinian-Israeli relationship is the self-destructive tit-for-tat mentality that often seems designed to keep the conflict alive rather than to end it.

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Hooded settlers throw stones in Palestinian village
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yair Altman - March 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Some 200 settlers marched on Monday from the West Bank settlement of Itamar to the nearby Palestinian village of Awarta as an act of protest in the aftermath of Friday night's brutal murder of five members of the Fogel family. Earlier, the Palestinians reported that two officers of the Palestinian security establishment were arrested in connection with the massacre. Police said 14 of the settlers, who, according to the Palestinians, were masked, infiltrated the village and threw stones at homes. Border Guard and IDF forces entered the village and dispersed the rioting settlers.

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The IDF's masquerade in Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Alon Idan - (Editorial) March 10, 2011 - 1:00am

A walk through Hebron sends you into deep despair. Near the Cave of the Patriarchs, at the end of the plaza surrounded by a low fence, you see destruction and ruin, and especially the inconceivable segregation of the populations. Four children, maybe eight or nine years old, curse you in Arabic as if by conditioned reflex. You smile at them, try to remove the wall between you, and all of a sudden they change their stance. Now they come closer to the fence and ask you for money. A shekel, sir, a shekel.

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Fayyad: No solution, no state without Jordan Valley
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 9, 2011 - 1:00am

"There is no independent Palestinian state without the Jordan Valley," re-appointed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday, after comments by his Israeli counterpart that the area would remain under occupation in any peace deal. Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had toured the Jordan Valley, telling reporters that "the IDF [Israeli army] must remain deployed on the border as part of any agreement. This is Israel's security border."

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IDF is preparing for mass civil uprising in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - March 9, 2011 - 1:00am

The Central Command and the Judea and Samaria Division of the Israel Defense Forces have been closely monitoring the recent events in Arab states and updating their operational plans for dealing with a potential popular, nonviolent uprising. Nearly a year ago the Judea and Samaria Division drew up a comprehensive program to combat large demonstrations in the West Bank, which is currently being adjusted in light of the popular revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

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Palestinian official says Israeli government responsible for settlers assaults
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 8, 2011 - 1:00am

A senior Palestinian official on Monday held the Israeli government fully responsible for the ongoing attacks of the Jewish settlers against the Palestinians in the West Bank. Tayseer Khaled, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told Xinhua that the PLO condemns the recent settlers' attacks on Monday during which eight Palestinians were wounded. "What happened on Monday in the village of Qasrra near Nablus is not far away from the atmosphere that the Israeli government is encouraging and its silence towards the acts of the settlers," said Khaled.

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Netanyahu: Israel must hold Jordan River line
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 8, 2011 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday the upheaval in the Arab world underscored the need to keep Israeli forces along the Jordan River, the likely eastern border of a future Palestinian state. "Our security border is here, on the Jordan (River)," Netanyahu, reaffirming a longstanding policy, told reporters during a visit to the Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

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