Palestinian official: Israel to encircle Jerusalem's Old City with settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 1, 2010 - 12:00am

A Palestinian official on Thursday warned that Israel is planning to encircle the Old City in disputed East Jerusalem with Jewish settlements. Such a move would increase tensions since the majority of residents there are Arabs and the walled compound in the Old City includes the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. The official, Hatem Abdul-Kader, told Voice of Palestine radio that this plan was "oppressive" as some 310 Palestinian houses in nearby Arab neighborhoods would be demolished. The new project will take the shape of a crescent and would embrace the Old City, Abdul-Kader said.

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When friends are mad at you
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ephraim Sneh - (Opinion) April 1, 2010 - 12:00am

The current crisis between Israel and the United States is fundamental and serious. Even if a nominal solution is found, it will be temporary, until the next one, which won't be far off. These crises are harmful to our national interests, and a true, enduring solution must be implemented. To achieve this, there are 10 assumptions that must be taken into account: 1. Israel cannot keep up a confrontation with its friends for long while its legitimacy is being eroded. This will soon begin to adversely affect the economy, based as it is on exports.

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Leverage the crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Steven M. Goldberg - (Opinion) April 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Rahm Emanuel famously proclaimed, "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." Ironically, although the president's chief of staff has proven to be a false friend of Israel, the leadership of the Jewish state would do well to heed his advice.

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Settler activists claim area near Rawabi
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - April 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Some 60 right-wing activists took a stand at dawn Wednesday to stake a claim to a partially developed area close to the new Palestinian city of Rawabi, which is now under construction in the Binyamin Region. According to one of the group leaders, Elad Meir, they went to an area close to Rawabi, which has structures that were partially built years ago and then abandoned. The Palestinian Authority had hoped to use the structures to house policemen. These buildings are well-suited to help settlers begin a new community, which they will call Bear Zeit, Meir said.

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U.S. seeks 4-month East Jerusalem building freeze in return for direct talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - March 31, 2010 - 12:00am

One of the U.S. administration's requests to Israel regarding the peace process with the Palestinians is a four-month construction freeze in all parts of East Jerusalem. In exchange, the United States would pressure Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to hold direct talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead of the indirect talks to which the Palestinians have agreed.

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Needed: An Israeli peace plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) March 31, 2010 - 12:00am

While in Washington the U.S. administration is trying to reduce tensions with Israel, in Jerusalem they go out of their way to depict in war paint the demands President Barack Obama put to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Political sources in Jerusalem told Haaretz's Ari Shavit this week that hiding behind the American demands is an intention to impose a permanent settlement on the two sides in less than two years. This is being presented as a troubling change in U.S.

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Israel recognizes Obama means business
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Asia Times
by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - March 31, 2010 - 12:00am

Against all expectations, it's becoming the forerunner of a peace plan. Indeed, it might in the end even surprise the world as Israelis and Palestinians are forced into peace. Even if, for now, it's shaping up as anything but peaceful. It's a battle royal. "It" is the ongoing and unprecedented crisis in relations between the United States and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that the divide between his government and the administration of President Barack Obama is still bridgeable.

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Israel silent on Obama's four-month building freeze in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - March 31, 2010 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama asked Israel to agree to put a four-month freeze on plans to pursue controversial construction projects in East Jerusalem, in return for enabling direct Israel-Palestinian peace talks to start, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Wednesday. The paper quoted an unnamed official in Jerusalem. Officials at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv were unavailable for comment.

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ATFP Senior Fellow Urges Audience to Support Palestinian State Building
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - March 30, 2010 - 12:00am

ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish joined Ori Nir of Americans for Peace Now in a panel discussion hosted by the South Mountain Peace Action of Maplewood and South Orange, NJ, on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. Ibish focused on the current confrontation between the Obama administration and the Israeli government over settlements and other issues.


Palestinian PM ploughs ahead with future state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Waked - March 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad got behind a horse-drawn plough in the West Bank on Tuesday and drilled a furrow in protest against Israeli control of Palestinian land. Wearing a T-shirt and a hat, the former World Bank economist put his foot to the rusty plough as Jewish settlers watched from a hilltop outpost nearby. Arab protestors attend special ceremony in Sakhnin, cry out: 'Barak, how many children have you killed today?' MKs present complain of Israel's 'racist policies', say they won't stop fighting for 'stolen land'

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