*Workers union council for public jobs declares partial strike (MAAN)
*55 killed in violence in Syria in the past 24 hours (Al Quds)
* Obama makes surprise visit to Afghanistan on first anniversary of Bin Laden’s death (Al Quds)
*Israeli internal politics divided over unilateral military strike against Iran (Al Quds)
*Military prosecutor closes file on the deaths of 21 members of the Sasmouni family in Gaza (Al Quds)
*Saadat declares his support for president Abbas’ initiative to take prisoner file to UN (Al Quds)
*Three killed, including one child, in a car accident west of Khan Younis (Al Quds)
*Fayyad reiterates PA commitment to world labor movement issues (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Israel criticizes British Co-Op boycott of settlement products (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Netanyahu announces date for elections on Sunday (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Gaza: one injured east of Khan Younis; two Israeli armored vehicles damaged in gunfire (Al Ayyam)
*Chanel 10: Attempt to attack Israeli targets in Ankara foiled (Al Ayyam)
*Livni: Israel lives over a volcano and its existence as a Jewish and democratic state is facing the danger of death (Al Ayyam)
*Jerusalem: dangerous splits found in the area of Ein Al Hilwa and its mosque (Al Ayyam)
*Prison services crack down on prisoners in Meggido for showing solidarity with their fellow prisoners on hunger strike (Al Ayyam)

Al-Quds: Bethlehem: workers trying to jump over the Bethlehem checkpoint to go to work on May 1
Al-Ayyam: 1) Female demonstrator raises flag over Israeli military vehicle during clashes in front of Ofer Prison; 2) demonstrators get attacked by Israeli forces in front of Ofer; 3)Livni talking to reporters at the Knesset
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida:  1) Four frames: a girl raises the Palestinian flag over Israeli military vehicle in front of Ofer before getting beaten by soldiers and then arrested; 2) The President placing cornerstone of new Palestinian embassy building in Tunis; 3) Scene from the laborer demonstration in Nablus

The West Bank: 60-year old Jenin governor Qaddourah Fares died early Wednesday due to a severe heart attack. His funeral will be held today after the noon prayer in Jenin.
In Nablus district, Israeli occupation forces arrested 15 Palestinians in raids during the past 24 hours on Burin village, north of Nablus city.

Jerusalem: Joint teams consisting of Israeli police personnel and workers in Jerusalem Municipality handed yesterday several home-demolish warrants to residents of al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan. According to these warrants that were issued by Israeli courts, the relevant residents should evacuate their homes within 30 days.
Also in Silwan, the continuous Israeli digging and leveling operations have caused dangerous cracks in the walls of “al-A`yn” mosque, according to Wad Hilweh Information Centre. More cracks have been noticed in several adjacent homes to the location of the Israeli excavations.  

**”Fatah” prisoner from an Israeli jail: we expect responses by the prison service on our demands within the ten coming days**  
A “Fatah” prisoner inside the Israeli jails.  
… “Fatah” movement exerted enormous efforts to announce collectively on a measure through which we can achieve our rights inside the jails. We engaged in dialogue with “Hamas” last October and at the beginning of this year but they (Hamas prisoners) totally refused to take the issue of hunger strike into consideration. Shortly afterwards, we were surprised by Hamas`s decision to participate in the hunger strike. On our part, we view this step as an uneasy one as it requires many preparations. The hunger strike is not a goal by itself; our goal is to accomplish our demands and restore our previous achievements that have been denied from us under Shalit law.
The correspondences between Fatah`s prisoners and the Israeli internal security ministry and the prison service have resulted in the formation of a special committee in charge of studying our demands. Therefore, we are currently waiting for a response from this committee. This is the reasonable thing to do. It would be unreasonable to present our demands to a committee that promised to study them and announce on a hunger strike before getting its response.

Q: Did this committee meet with the prison service?
This committee visited the jails, listened to all prisoners` demands and prepared recommendations that have been referred to the Israeli internal security minister and the prison service. In the meantime, we are waiting for responses from the committee. Fatah`s prisoners will study and evaluate the responses and will act accordingly.
Q: How is the medical condition of the hunger striking prisoners, especially those who have been on hunger strike since a long period?
The medical condition of administrative detainees who have been on hunger strike since over 65 days is too grave and they have been transferred to hospitals. We wish them swift recovery and that they could accomplish the goals of their strike.
As for hunger strikers including Hamas prisoners and prisoners from other factions since April 17, there are few cases that suffer from medical problems. We wish them safety and possible achievement of their demands as this could be beneficial to the entire prisoners.  
Q: When do you expect the responses from the committee?
The responses of the committee are expected to be delivered to us within days. We expect a response within ten days from now.  

**The Prisoner Club`s attorney Bolous warns of an intentional Israeli policy of seeking the death of hunger striking prisoners**
Jawad Bolous: Head of the Legal Department in the Palestinian Prisoner Club.
Q: Would you brief us about the latest developments concerning the prisoners` hunger strike and the general condition of the hunger strikers?
There are two sides to the strike. First one is related to the comprehensive one that was started on April 17 by hundreds of prisoners and has gradually broadened. Prisoners from all jails are daily joining this strike while they are concurrently waiting for a response from the prison service on the prisoners` demands.
As for prisoners who have been on hunger strike since before April and whose number stands at seven, most of them are present now in Ramleh prison, except for Bilal Dhiab, who was transferred yesterday in a very crucial medical condition to “Asaf Harofeh” prison. Thaer Halahleh is also in a dangerous medical condition…I am talking based on my personal observation and the information that appears in medical reports that were prepared by “Physicians for Human Rights”. These reports did not mention anything new from what I have already been informed with by the doctor in Ramleh prison who voiced before me his concern about the life of those seven hungers striking prisoners, namely Thaer Halahleh, Bilal Dhiab, Ja`far Izz a-Dein, Muhammad Taj, Mahmoud Sursuq, Hasan Safadi and Omar Abu Shallal.      
The Prisoner Club wondered yesterday about the reason behind the decision of the Israeli prison service not to evacuate those hunger strikers to a civil hospital like it did in the case of Khader Adnan and Hana` Shalabi. The Ramleh prison hospital is a medical center that is unqualified to treat the special medical condition of those strikers. The Prisoner Club maintains that Israel is trying this time to use the hunger strikers as materials for tests in a laboratory. It has been showing total carelessness towards a possible death of one of the hunger strikers. I would even go farther with this conclusion by saying that Israel is actually seeking the occurrence of this scenario. After analyzing Khader Adnan`s case, Israel has reached a conclusion that it should abandon way it treated Adnan`s case. Therefore, Israel might be endorsing a new approach which says let us try and see how would the death of one of the hunger strikers benefit or affect the Israeli interests.
Israel has been uninterested in discussing the cases (of the hunger strikers). Tomorrow, a court session will be held on petitions that were filed on behalf of Thaer and Bilal. In previous cases, the Israeli general prosecution used to contact the defense to exchange views. Until this moment, we have not received one single contact from it on the current cases of Thaer and Bilal. This Israeli medical and legal approach is in my view point a new policy through which Israel is seeking specific aims.
Q: Is hunger striker Bilal Dhiab in a coma according to press reports?
According to sources I personally and another attorney contacted, Bilal Dhiab is in conscience. Yet, his medical condition is extremely grave as he suffers from frequent fainting

**Fatah`s Shtayyeh: we do not expect anything new in Netanyahu`s response to Abbas`s letter**
Muhammad Shtayyeh: Member of Fatah Central Committee.
I expect the Israeli practices to escalate as Israel will enter a stage of election campaign during which political propaganda is a crucial element. Also, Israel has been taking advantage of that the entire world is preoccupied with other affairs. The underway escalation of settlement actions is part of a continuous policy this government has been endorsing since the first day it came to office.
On our part, in addition to the memo that our delegate at the UN sent to the relevant UN officials, we are going to contact all members of the Quartet Committee to brief them on these developments.
Q: What do you expect in Netanyahu`s response that will be delivered by Yitzhak Molcho?
We expect the following: the Israeli PM will not propose anything new and his response to the president`s letter will include no surprise. Based on his speech at the “Bar Ilan” university and another speech at the US Congress, he would say no negotiations over Jerusalem and that he would retain the Jordan Valley under Israeli security control and that borders should be demarcated according to the settlements. He would also talks about starting negotiations without preconditions and will pose the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state as a precondition to any future negotiations.

**Fatah`s al-Ahmad: no meetings between Abbas and Meshaal or between Fatah and Hamas delegations soon**
Azzam al-Ahmad: Member of Fatah Central Committee.
Q:   What is the reason behind the last minute cancelation of the president`s visit in Libya which was scheduled for yesterday?
While we were at the Tunisian airport to kickoff to Tripoli, regretful events took place in Tripoli where the headquarter of the president of the Transitional Council Mr. Abdel Jalil was besieged and armed persons deployed around it and at the routes leading to it. This was the same place where president Abbas should have had been hosted in Tripoli. Following contacts with the Libyan authorities, we agreed on delaying the visit.
Q: Will you head to Cairo today to prepare for a meeting between president Abbas and Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal?
This not true. The visit is part of continuous contacts between the Egyptian leadership, which has been keen to maintain contact with Palestinian parties relevant to the Palestinian national reconciliation, and to discuss its bilateral ties with the Palestinian leadership as part of the constant bilateral coordination.
There are no arrangements in the meantime to hold a bilateral meeting either between president Abbas and Meshaal or between Fatah and Hamas delegations.  Still, during my stay in Cairo, I would meet with some Hamas officials.  

After the ‘peace process’
By: Gwynne Dyer* (http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article623046.ece)

The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993, were supposed to lead, through a “peace process,” to the final solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Two sovereign states living side by side in peace.
It would have been a sulky, grumpy peace, and the Palestinians would only have got a tiny, overcrowded, impoverished and completely demilitarized country, but at least they would have had a state at last.
The “peace process,” alas, actually died some time ago. It has been almost a decade since insiders really believed that it was going to end up in the “two-state solution” that was envisaged at Oslo. Now that the corpse has finally stopped twitching, it’s time to consider what other roads to a permanent peace settlement remain open. If any.
Yossi Beilin, then Israel’s deputy foreign minister, initiated the secret negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords 20 years ago, but now he has lost almost all hope. Last month he wrote an open letter to Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, the interim body that was supposed to morph into the government of the Palestinian state once all the details had been settled. He urged Abbas to dissolve the PA.
“No one thought the PA would be there for 20 years,” he wrote. “It should have ended. So I find myself in the bizarre situation in which I am actually asking to put an end to it. But the bottom line is that, paradoxically, all those who cursed Oslo are now cherishing it.”
What Beilin means is that the Oslo agreement, which was originally “a tremendous victory for the peace camps on both sides,” has actually become a means by which those who oppose the creation of a Palestinian state can spin out the negotiations endlessly. It is now only “a device that has allowed the parties to block a two-state solution.” And who is the main culprit on the Israeli side, in his view? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yuval Diskin, the recently retired head of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, is even blunter in condemning Netanyahu. “Forget all the stories they’re selling you in the media about how we want to talk but (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) doesn’t. We’re not talking with the Palestinians because this government has no interest in talking to the Palestinians.”
The reason, Diskin says, is because Netanyahu fears that “even the smallest step forward on this issue (of a Palestinian state)” would cause the coalition he leads to collapse. Removing at least most of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank is a precondition for a Palestinian state, but several of the parties in Netanyahu’s coalition would immediately pull out if he agreed to do that.
That is the main reason why the two-state solution envisaged in the Oslo Accords is dead.  Unfortunately, there aren’t any good alternatives.
Ahmed Qurei, who led the Palestinian delegation that negotiated the Oslo Accords, recently wrote: “We must seriously think about closing the book on the two-state solution and turning over a new leaf.” But the only alternative is the one-state solution, and that poses equally big problems for both sides.
The single state would contain all the Jews and Palestinians who now live in the lands between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea. All this land has been under Israeli control since the 1967 war, when Israel conquered the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but almost half of the residents are Palestinians — and they have a higher birth rate than Israeli Jews.
So a single state for Israelis and Palestinians would involve either permanent Israeli military rule over a large and rapidly growing Palestinian minority, or a binational state where everybody, Jewish or Palestinian, has equal rights, including the vote. But since there are going to be more Palestinians than Jews on this land within ten years, the single state with universal suffrage would no longer be a Jewish state.
There are only three options: the two-state solution, permanent Israeli military rule over a Palestinian majority, or a single state that, although democratic, is no longer exclusively Jewish in character. Of the three, the least objectionable to all the people involved would be the two-state solution. Which is already dead in terms of Israeli domestic politics.

*Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.

Talk of Palestinian reconciliation turns boring
by Hasan Abu Nimah (http://jordantimes.com/talk-of-palestinian-reconciliation-turns-boring)

There is renewed talk about intra-Palestinian reconciliation, but it is hard to take it seriously anymore.
In the past six years, efforts to end the Palestinian schism were relentless. Meetings were constantly convened, understandings reached and several agreements were actually signed, but all outcomes were regularly ignored.
The deep causes that separated the two main Palestinian factions, the Fateh-controlled PLO under Mahmoud Abbas, on one side, and Hamas under its political bureau chief Khaled Mishaal and the Gaza-based leadership, on the other, have been too basic to be overcome by superficial compromise.
Hamas’ declared course of action is totally opposed to that of Abbas, who also runs the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank. It is unlikely that either side would turn 180 degrees to concur with the other for the sake of reunion.
Hamas refused to meet the three infamous Quartet (UN, EU, US and Russia) conditions for being accepted as other than a “terrorist organisation”, following the movement’s electoral victory in 2006. Hamas was required to recognise the right of Israel to exist, accept all the agreements reached between Israel and the PLO and renounce armed struggle. But that is not the only obstacle.
The Islamist movement is also opposed to two main pillars of Abbas’ “peace strategy”: continued negotiations with the occupier despite repeated failures of this strategy, and close security cooperation with Israel, which primarily targets Hamas men and infrastructure in the Abbas-controlled areas of the West Bank.
On his part, Abbas’ futile tactics left him totally dependent, politically and financially, on Israel and its supporters, the US and the rest of the so-called international community, for his organisation’s mere existence. He is so tightly cornered that his margin of manoeuvrability is almost nil.
Agreements signed between Fateh and Hamas before were not only regularly vetoed by Israel and the US, they were also the cause of financial measures that made their implementation by Abbas detrimental. That, however, was not the only reason such agreements have failed. There were other causes related to conflicting interests and policies.
Therefore, and if the rift was clearly irreconcilable, why did the two factions engage?
Two major considerations played their part. One is the concern of each side about Palestinian public opinion that has been demanding that the rift end.
Many Palestinians, and indeed others in the region, blamed the rift for continued deterioration of the Palestinian position and the misery befalling the inhabitants of tightly blockaded Gaza and occupied West Bank.
The other is that the pretense of seeking reconciliation has been a handy escape from the crises each side has been confronting. Heading towards a reconciliation meeting helped distract and serve as a temporary relief.
In other words, each side is bluffing, and that explains the failure of each and every effort to accomplish real Palestinian unity, from the Mecca agreement of 2007 to the Doha reconciliation declaration, hailed as a major breakthrough last February.
But does any possible reconciliation, if the current attempt in Cairo is to be an exception, make any real difference with respect to the deteriorating Palestinian position, with Abbas panting for more negotiations while Israel continues to ethnically cleanse and colonise the land, and with Hamas steadily losing its compass?
The harsh reality is that under the current circumstances of both Hamas and Fateh, any possible reconciliation would be a deceiving gloss hiding underneath layers of faltering tactics, misguided policies and short-term calculations.
With the political crisis in Syria, Hamas has been forced to seek an alternative base to Damascus. It is widely believed that Gaza-based Hamas leaders were not happy with Mishaal’s February Doha deal with Abbas, but Mishaal may have needed to curry favour with his current hosts.
Under the pressure of circumstances, in both Gaza and Damascus, Hamas has been confronting fresh difficulties. The political bureau, as a result, had to abandon base and move elsewhere. That did not happen without a price.
What is needed, therefore, is not a fake reconciliation between two bankrupt political institutions. Neither Hamas, nor Fateh’s PLO should have a monopoly on Palestinian politics, particularly after having brought the situation to the present lows.
Urgently needed is a drastic revision of the entire Palestinian strategy to which all Palestinians under occupation or in the diaspora should be enabled to participate.
The current Palestinian leadership, which only managed to reap failures, should step aside and leave the floor for others to take over. How many chances should the PA, for example, have before it declares bankruptcy?
The PA should not be seen as an end by itself. It was created for a purpose: to lead to statehood. Everyone can see that it is further from that goal than ever before.
The PA has not only been a cover for the occupation to dig deep, colonise the land and make irreversible permanent arrangements on it for total annexation, it actually assists in this process. The PA is a convenient channel for the “international community” to pump aid, but this aid is no more than a disguised subsidy for the Israeli occupation.
Of course the current leadership is comfortable with its position and privileges, and perhaps sees no alternative. That is tragic and should not last. If this is all the PA can achieve, it is high time for it to go. As for Hamas, it too has failed to offer Palestinians any sort of alternative vision that offers hope.

Plight of Palestinian prisoners
By: Osama Al Sharif (http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article623045.ece)

In what is probably the biggest act of defiance by Palestinians since the second Intifada 12 years ago, more than 2,000 prisoners in Israeli jails are now on an open-ended hunger strike to protest against unfair prison conditions.
Some of the prisoners have been on hunger strike for months and earlier this week the Israeli authorities transferred Ahmad Sa’adat, the general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), from his solitary confinement in Ramon prison to Ramle prison hospital. Sa’adat has been on hunger strike since April 17.
He joins at least seven Palestinian prisoners who have been transferred to hospital prisons because of their deteriorating health conditions. They include Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab, who have been on hunger strike for more than 60 days. On April 17 it was announced that at least 1,200 Palestinian detainees have joined the hunger strike which has put Israeli prison authorities under public pressure.
The protesters, some of whom have been tried and sentenced while others have been under administrative detention for months and even years, are demanding an immediate end to radical measures such as the use of solitary confinement, the difficulty of securing family visits and the strip searches inflicted on visitors. Sa’adat has been in solitary confinement for more than three years.
The “battle of hungry stomachs” has gathered unexpected momentum. Palestinian prisoners have limited access to the International Red Cross and are frequently denied regular visitation rights. In addition there are hundreds of Palestinians who are held under the notorious “administrative detention” law which allows the occupation authority to imprison suspects indefinitely without charging them or allowing their lawyers to examine evidence against them. Appeals against administrative detention are usually dismissed by Israel’s military courts. Only on few occasions did the courts work out a deal whereby Palestinian detainees on administrative detention where conditionally released. The latest was Khader Adnan who, after 66 days of refusing food, was finally released after agreeing to a deal. Before him the case of Hana Shalabi, who was under administrative detention, attracted attention when she went on hunger strike for 43 days before she was offered a deal to go into exile in Gaza for three years.
The case of over 4,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has now caught the eye of international public opinion. There are a number of issues involved. For starters these prisoners are not asking for freedom but for their human rights under international law. They want an end to punitive measures that include solitary confinement, barring of visits from relatives and humiliating conditions in prisons. They want to bring attention to Israel’s arbitrary use of administrative detention policies, a legacy of Ottoman and British mandate times. But most importantly they want to bring attention to Israel’s consistent breach of international treaties including the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions on prisoners of war and protection of civilians under occupation.
Israel has been consistently rebuked, but never punished, for its human rights violations and breaches of international conventions. Few days ago the UN Human Rights Commissioner listed Israel among the countries that are restricting the activities of human rights groups. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Israel has been sanctioned by human rights organizations for repeated violations. It has been accused by independent commissions of committing war crimes in Gaza and elsewhere.
The plight of Palestinian prisoners has never received the attention it deserves. Now more than 2,000 detainees are sending a strong message to the entire world. There are numerous cases that call for attention by human rights groups. At least 300 Palestinian prisoners are being held under the administrative detention law. Some of them have been in prison for more than two years without charge and with no access to legal aid.
In addition Palestinian prisoners are protesting against the inhumane policy of solitary confinement. According to Shawan Jabarin of the human rights organization Al Haq the prisoners “want to be treated with respect and dignity; they want an end to middle-of-the-night checks, strip searches, humiliation and general ill-treatment. They are asking for humane treatment.” Their case has been consistently ignored, but the general hunger strike is changing things.
Today Hamas and Fateh in addition to the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League have been forced to take action. The head of Hamas Political Bureau Khaled Meshaal has announced that he and President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to take the prisoners’ case to the UN General Assembly. Israel cannot ignore the implications of such a move.
But so far Israel has responded to the general hunger strike with defiance. The prisons’ authority has retaliated by imposing more punitive measures against striking detainees. The mindset in Israel will not bow to local or international pressure. But the challenge of Palestinian prisoners is rock solid.
There is an immediate need by the international community and Arab states to support the humanitarian case of Palestinian prisoners. We are yet to hear a statement by an Arab leader supporting their honorable struggle. Their suffering today is a harsh political statement that goes beyond their immediate demands. It is important that Arabs and others mobilize to come to their support.

*Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.

Can the Arabs succeed in internalizing the prisoners` cause?
“Al-Quds” Editorial
Secretary of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi spoke two days ago about an approach to internationalize the Palestinian prisoners` cause, stressing that their situation inside the Israeli jails amounts to a crime against humanity that no one should stand idly towards it. Although this approach has come late, it is better late than never.

The plight of the Palestinian prisoners is not a new issue as relevant press reports have been always available to the Arab brethrens and the international community for many years. These reports compared between the pressure, particularly the western pressure, to improve treatment of Gilaad Shalit while he was in captivity in the Gaza strip, and the calls on releasing him, and the world silence, even the by Arabs, towards the suffering of thousands of Palestinian and Arab prisoners in the Israeli jails despite of an intensive coverage in the Palestinian media and reports by human rights organizations. This suffering has never been unknown to the Arab brethrens and the Palestinian people`s friends all over the world.

Therefore, the suggestion of internationalizing the prisoners` cause is not a new matter, and yet, the new element is that it has been proposed publically via international press by the chairman of the most important regional Arab organization. This fact by itself is a kind of pressure on the Israeli government that has been indifferent to the Palestinian popular protest on this regard. It has rather escalated its pressure and sanctions against the hunger striking prisoners, and transferred part of them to other jails with total disregard of their demands to improve the conditions of their detention, to treat them as prisoners of war in compliance with Geneva Fourth Convention and to put an end to the penalty of administrative detention which violates the international law and the basic principles of rights and justice.

The required internationalizing should not be limited to displaying the prisoners` cause at international bodies, including the UN General Assembly and the UNSC, but it should be brought to specialized international courts including the International Court of Justice and the International criminal Court in Hague, and to exert the utmost Palestinian, Arab and international efforts to expose the arbitrary and inhumane Israeli practices against prisoners, in addition to highlighting the legal ramifications of the penalty of administrative detention, which has never been applied even during the medieval  age, when the principle of “an accused is innocent until proven guilty” was in use.

Israel should be blamed for the consequences of its lack of response to the hunger striking prisoners` demands, and for the loss of the life any of them due to the strike, that is based on legal principles that the entire world recognizes.

As we have repeatedly said, the prisoners` cause should be resolved completely. The fulfillment of this requirement by Israel could be an indicator to its seriousness towards the peace process, and contemporary precedents make their release a possible rational and humane development, and rather a requisite on the Palestinian, Arab and international levels.