April 22, 2011 | The American Task Force on Palestine

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April 22, 2011

News:

Competing Tel Aviv protests show Israelis divided over Palestinian statehood. George Moffett looks at tensions in Jerusalem. Yossi Beilin says the Geneva Accord was a breakthrough model for peace. Sandy Tolan says a change of heart on both sides is necessary. Aaron David Miller says speeches alone cannot change the strategic equation. French and other European leaders reportedly say they are considering recognizing Palestine. The Egyptian government announces plans to ease restrictions on Gaza. Pres. Abbas says UN rejection of Palestinian statehood would be dangerous, and that France backs his unity proposal to Hamas. The UN urges bold steps for peace. Palestinian leaders are deciding where to house the archives of the late Pres. Arafat. Israeli forces destroy warehouses in a Gaza industrial zone. Sefi Rachlevsky accuses PM Netanyahu of turning Israel into “another South frica.” Ha’aretz reviews a new CD by a Palestinian citizen of Israel. Pres. Peres says Israel needs a peace plan. Palestinian officials reassert the importance of the right of return for refugees. The US says the UN should stop actions based on the Goldstone Report, and Richard Falk looks at its future. Several are wounded in mortar fire in Gaza. Israel’s National Infrastructure Minister says Israel should annex what it wants in the West Bank if Palestine is recognized by the UN. The PA complains Israel is slowing mail deliveries to the West Bank. A new housing plan aims to keep Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem. Abbas urges EU to play a more prominent role in Mideast peae

Tel Aviv Protests Show Divide Over Palestinian State
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Dozens of prominent Israeli artists and intellectuals declared their support for a Palestinian state on the streets of Tel Aviv on Thursday and quickly found themselves confronted by rightist opponents calling them “traitors” and, according to one report, “Jewish Nazis.”

A holy city's peaceful purpose
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by George Moffett - (Opinion) April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

To the Gospel writer John, it was "the great" and "holy" city. To the writer of Hebrews, it was "the city of the living God." To the poet Dante, it was "the city where God dwells and reigns."

The Geneva Accord: a breakthrough model
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Yossi Beilin - April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Just over a decade ago, Israelis and Palestinians met at Camp David. The weeks leading to the summit were full of expectation. There was a sense that an agreement was within reach. It was the last summer of the Clinton administration, and everyone thought that the president of the United States would not convene a summit that would lead to anything short of a historic triumph. So determined, it seemed, was everyone to succeed, that success almost seemed predetermined. And indeed, some even believed that an agreement had already been secretly reached – that it was a done deal.

For Arab and Jew, a new beginning
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Sandy Tolan - (Opinion) April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

With each child shot down with a stone in his hand, or on her way home from the bakery; with each cafe turned to carnage when a young man explodes himself upon the innocent; with each shot and countershot, crude rocket launch, or barrage of missiles sent in retribution – with each terrible burst of anger and pain, something beautiful is lost. Life, of course; that's what's been sacrificed, more than 100,000 times by some estimates, since the tragedy unfolded six decades ago.

When in Doubt, Give a Middle East Speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

The looming U.S.-Israeli tensions over who says what first about Israeli-Palestinian peace obscures the broader question on which any successful American initiative depends: Are Israelis and Palestinians ready for a conflict-ending agreement? And if not, is there anything Washington can do about it?

Europe pressures US over Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

France said Thursday that European nations are considering recognizing a Palestinian state, heightening pressure on the United States and Israel to relaunch the Middle East peace process. European ambassadors at the UN Security Council joined the Palestinian envoy in calling for "bold" US leadership to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Recognition of the state of Palestine is one of the options which France is considering, with its European partners" in a bid to relaunch the peace process," French ambassador Gerard Araud told a Security Council debate on the Middle East.

Egyptian government to ease siege on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The Egyptian government will apply new procedures at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border to ease travel for residents of the besieged coastal enclave, officials said Thursday. During a meeting in Cairo, Baha Ad-Dusuqi, head of Palestinian affairs in the Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed Gaza government spokesman Taher An-Nunu that new measures would be in place at the terminal soon. An-Nunu appealed to the Egyptian government to open the Rafah crossing swiftly.

Abbas: UN rejection of statehood could be dangerous
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas warned Thursday that there could be serious ramifications if the UN rejected recognition of a Palestinian state in September. The president told France 24 that rejecting Palestinian statehood could be a dangerous move, and that he did not want a third Palestinian uprising to erupt, in an interview broadcast Thursday. Abbas' comments were made during a visit to Paris, where the president sought the advice of his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy on the Palestinian Authority's bid to seek recognition of its statehood.

Abbas: UN rejection of statehood could be dangerous
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday his reconciliation plan with Hamas has won support from French President Nicolas Sarkozy during their meeting at the Elysee Palace. Abbas said he told Sarkozy he would go to the Gaza Strip to meet Hamas leaders in a bid to establish a coalition government and choose a proper date for elections. The plans were backed by the French leader, he said. In March, Abbas had said he was willing to accept Hamas leader Ismail Haneya's invitation to visit Gaza.

Palestinian leadership refuses to move Arafat's archive to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

A Palestinian official in Fatah movement said Thursday that the Palestinian leadership has not yet allocated the place to keep the archive of late President Yasser Arafat when they receive it from Tunisia. Secretary of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah Ameen Maqboul said that the Palestinian leadership has not yet asked for an Israeli permission to receive the archive. The PNA didn't decide till now the new place to save the archive, whether in the West Bank or Jordan, but they will decide that later, Maqboul added.

Israeli army destroys installations in Gaza's industrial zone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

The Israeli army destroyed several warehouses and installations during an operation in eastern Gaza City Thursday, witnesses and sources said. The military operation took place in an industrial zone that has not been functioning since Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007 which mainly blocked export. The zone is located near Karni, the largest commercial crossing which has been permanently closed by Israel earlier this year and replaced by another crossing in the southeast end of the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu is turning Israel into another South Africa
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Let us imagine Meretz founder Shulamit Aloni as prime minister of Israel. An impish fantasy for some of us. In that case, would it be reasonable to imagine Shas launching a campaign under the slogan "Only the daring will win," calling upon Aloni to gather her courage and transform Israel into a theocracy under rabbinical law? Not really.

A universal voice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ben Shalev - April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Sometimes you have to begin with the bottom line. In this case, it's that "Baghani" - Amal Murkus' new CD - is wonderful. It is the clearest, most beautiful and most profound Israeli album that I have heard lately. It's almost unfair to say that, because there are other albums that feature exceedingly lovely melodies, and albums that have spectacular singing, and albums with wonderful playing. Rare are the cases in which a single album has all of this - although it does happen sometimes.

Peres: Israel needs to formulate its own Mideast peace plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel needs to draft its own Mideast peace initiative if it wants to avoid international pressure over a reported U.S peace plan, President Shimon Peres said on Friday, following a report claiming Washington was working on a plan to restart stalled peace talks. Peres' comments came in the wake of a New York Times report claiming that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama was drafting a new peace plan which included a Palestinian state within 1967 borders and which rejected Palestinian refugees' right of return.

Palestinians: Right of return non-negotiable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian leaders stressed Thursday that they will not waive the right of return in peace negotiations with Israel following reports suggesting the White House is working on an outline for a Middle East peace plan. According to the New York Times, the key principles on which the plan will be based are: A Palestinian state without the right of return, Jerusalem as the capital of both states, and an emphasis on Israel's security needs.

US: Shelve Goldstone Report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

America against Goldstone: US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, urged the world body Thursday to end its preoccupation with a report accusing Israel of committing war crimes during the Gaza War. "The United States urges the United Nations to end, once and for all, its actions in relation to the Goldstone Report," she said.

3 UNRWA workers injured from Gaza projectile fire
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Three UNWRA workers were injured Friday morning after a projectile fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel landed near the Karni border crossing and hit a UN building. Palestinians reported three injured from alleged IDF tank fire in the Sajaiye neighborhood east of Gaza City, according to a report by the Ma'an news agency. The IDF denied the report, saying that it was not operating in the area and that the three UN workers were injured due to an erroneously fired mortar or rocket.

Landau: Israel should annex W. Bank if PA get statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Mordechai Twerksy - April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Dr. Uzi Landau, Israel's Minister of National Infrastructure, warns that in the event of a unilateral United Nations declaration of a Palestinian state, he will call upon Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and large, Jewish populated blocs in the West Bank:

Palestinian Authority threatens to block international mail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Miller - April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority will stop sending and receiving international mail beginning next month, a Palestinian minister has warned, asserting that Israel has failed to implement a 2008 agreement that would let the PA have direct postal relations with the rest of the world.

Housing project aims to keep Christians in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Majeda El Batch - April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

If you build it, they will come -- or perhaps just stay. That's the hope of the Christian leadership in Jerusalem, which is building homes in a bid to stem an exodus of Christians. While the Holy City draws hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims, particularly over Easter when they come to retrace the steps Jesus took to his crucifixion, much of the city's small Christian population would rather leave.

What Future for the Goldstone Report? Beyond the Name
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Richard Falk - (Opinion) April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Ever since it first struck the raw nerve of Israeli political consciousness, I thought it misleading to associate the Goldstone Report so exclusively with its chair, Judge Richard Goldstone. After all, despite his deserved prominence as an international jurist, he was the least qualified substantively of the four members of the mission.

Abbas to EU: lead Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Euronews
(Interview) April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has made clear that he intends to take the question of statehood to the United Nations this September, unless there is progress on the issue before then. Abbas spoke with euronews in Tunis, before arriving in Europe. Mohammed Shaikhibrahim, euronews: “President Abbas, the US has failed to bring about an end to Israel’s settlement-building policy in the West Bank. The Americans have brandished their veto when questions over censure of Israel came up in the UN Security Council. Do you still count on the US to advance the peace process?”

UN urges bold steps to relaunch Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Patrick Worsnip - April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

The United Nations called on Thursday for "bold and decisive steps" to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as the region awaits a possible new initiative by U.S. President Barack Obama. U.N. political chief Lynn Pascoe and ambassadors of key Security Council countries said it was important to break the deadlock soon as a proclaimed September deadline for reaching an agreement draws closer.

Abbas says France backs his reconciliation plan with Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday his reconciliation plan with Hamas has won support from French President Nicolas Sarkozy during their meeting at the Elysee Palace. Abbas said he told Sarkozy he would go to the Gaza Strip to meet Hamas leaders in a bid to establish a coalition government and choose a proper date for elections. The plans were backed by the French leader, he said. In March, Abbas had said he was willing to accept Hamas leader Ismail Haneya's invitation to visit Gaza.

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