May 12th

A Talk With President Peres
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Lally Weymouth - (Interview) May 12, 2008 - 5:26pm

Israeli President Shimon Peres is the last remaining founding father of the Israeli state. Last week he spoke with Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth. Excerpts: Q. Is there a realistic chance of peace with the Palestinians?

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Rice: Israel, Palestinians Need To Show Progress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Anne Gearan - May 12, 2008 - 5:24pm

The Bush administration has told Israeli and Palestinian leaders they will need to show progress in their secret talks soon, or risk a potentially fatal erosion in public support for a process now in its sixth month without any obvious successes. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice passed that message during meetings with both sides a little more than a week ago, Arab, U.S. and other Western diplomats said. Rice was reacting mainly to the increasingly pessimistic Palestinian assessments of the talks, but she warned that confidence was fragile among Israelis, too.

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May 11th

The Bush Administration pushes Israelis and Palestinians toward compromise (1). In the Washington Post, Lally Weymouth interviews Israeli President Shimon Peres (2) and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayaad (3). ATFP Board Member Daoud Kuttab writes about the practical reality of the Right of Return (4). Negotiations continue on a Gaza cease-fire (7) even as Israel weathers scandal allegations (6) and political unrest (12). In Haaretz, Akiva Eldar argues that U.S. president Bush should avoid visiting Israel (13).

May 8th

Mideast Change Is Coming, And May Not Be Pretty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) May 8, 2008 - 5:39pm

  The convergence of six trends in the Middle East - the changing realities of food, energy, water, population, urbanization and security-dominated politics - is likely to create conditions that will be politically challenging, if not destabilizing, in many countries in the years ahead. The confluence of these trends is very similar to what happened in the region in the mid to late 1970s, when the current Islamist wave of social identity and confrontational politics was initiated.

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Politics Aside, A Human Rights Crime Is Happening In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Jimmy Carter - (Opinion) May 8, 2008 - 5:38pm

The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where 1.5 million human beings are being imprisoned with almost no access to the outside world by sea, air, or land. An entire population is being brutally punished.

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For Some Palestinians, One State With Israel Is Better Than None
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux And Ashraf Khali - (Opinion) May 8, 2008 - 5:37pm

Frustrated by years of on-and-off peace talks with Israel, Palestinians are losing hope for an independent homeland, and some are proposing a radically different cause: a shared state with equal rights for Palestinians and Jews.

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Bush Plans No Peace Talks On Mideast Trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
May 8, 2008 - 5:36pm

The White House says now isn't the time for a peace conference between U.S. President George Bush and leaders of Israel and the Palestinians. Bush will be in Israel next week to help the Jewish state mark the 60th anniversary of its founding. He also plans to visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia. National security adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters that next week "did not seem the time for a big high-level, three-way event " with the president, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

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Israel At 60
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Prospectsforpeace.com
by Daniel Levy - (Blog) May 8, 2008 - 5:35pm

I don’t often, or ever really, write about my own relationship to Israel or how I ended up there, but I’ll make an exception for the 60th anniversary. It happened for me at the time of the ‘good’ Iraq war, you remember – the one whose ambitions were limited to ensuring continued access to Kuwaiti oil – not the contemporary Iraq tri-fecta effort – own the oil, change the regime, and transform the region.

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Israel's Half A Step Forward
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by George S. Hishmeh - May 8, 2008 - 5:34pm

The May cover of The Atlantic magazine, a respected monthly, was daring. The headline was unbelievable for an American publication: "Is Israel Finished?" The Star of David was larger than the characters on the cover which was adorned by the four colors of the Palestinian flag –– red, white, black and green.

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Middle East Peace Process Needs To Move Faster, Blair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna)
May 8, 2008 - 5:33pm

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday the Middle East peace process needs to move faster if there is to be any chance of an agreement this year. In an exclusive interview with the satellite TV station 'Sky News' in the West Bank town of Jenin, Blair also said Israel must do more to lift restrictions on the Palestinians to improve their economy.

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