May 29th

Palestinians Pin Hopes Of Economic Recovery On High-tech Companies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
May 29, 2008 - 9:38pm

Hunched over laptops in red cubicles, Palestinian software engineers are developing an award-winning new version of a program that makes desktop computer accessible from anywhere. But beyond such technological breakthroughs, the young graduates of West Bank universities are blazing a trail, in this case with Israeli colleagues, for the fledgling Palestinian high-tech industry which many hope will bypass the old obstacles of the Mideast conflict and one day drive the sluggish Palestinian economy.

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Tutu: Gaza Blockade Abomination
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
May 29, 2008 - 9:37pm

Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu has called Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip an "abomination". He strongly condemned what he called international "silence and complicity" on the blockade, which he compared to the actions of Burma's leaders. Speaking at the end of a two day mission to the area, the former archbishop said the humanitarian situation there could not be justified. Earlier, 60 Palestinians were detained in an Israeli raid on northern Gaza.

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Israel's Defense Minister Says Olmert Must Step Down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Bourdreaux - May 29, 2008 - 9:36pm

Israel's defense minister said Wednesday that he would use his political clout to bring down the coalition government if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does not step aside to face possible bribery charges. The ultimatum by Ehud Barak, a former prime minister who heads the coalition's second-biggest party, raised pressure on the Israeli leader to resign or at least temporarily step aside before a criminal investigation runs its course.

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Fighting For Arab Moderation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Scott MacLeod - (Blog) May 29, 2008 - 9:35pm

Marwan Muasher, a former Jordanian deputy prime minister and foreign minister, has just published The Arab Center: The Promise of Moderation (Yale University Press). It's one of the most important books on the Middle East, and is required reading for everyone interested in finding solutions to the many problems the region faces today.  

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The Fatah Revolutionary Council And Fayyad’s Government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-ayyam
by Hani Habib - (Opinion) May 29, 2008 - 9:33pm

It was possible for the 25th session of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, which concluded recently, to have been the most important and significant of all its past meetings, since it was held under difficult and complex circumstances that are affecting all aspects of the Palestinian movement. These difficult circumstances include the political separation between Ramallah and Gaza, the failure of the Palestinian-Israel negotiating process, and the continuation of Israeli aggression.

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May 28th

An ATFP translation from Al-ayyam daily looks at the tension between Fatah and the Fayyad government (1). The pressure continues to build on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (3). Desmond Tutu condemns Israel’s Gaza blockade (4). Salaam Fayyad addresses the graduation ceremony for the most recent class of the Palestinian National Security Forces (6). The Israel Policy Forum hails the recent Palestine Investment Conference (7).

One Country Or Two?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-ayyam
by Qays Abd Al-kareem (abu Leila) - (Opinion) May 28, 2008 - 6:26pm

Talking about a onestate solution, as opposed to a two-state solution, would be escaping forward and avoiding all the hard obstacles that are facing the Palestinian struggle for liberation, instead of actually allowing us to deal with and resolve these obstacles. The reality is that a one state solution, if it is wanted to be truly democratic and ensure racial equality between both people, cannot be achieved without having to go through a two-state solution first.

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Amnesty: Israel Harms Palestinian Civilians, Exploits Foreigners
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
May 28, 2008 - 6:19pm

An Amnesty International report released on Wednesday finds that Israel attacks innocent Palestinian civilians, exploits foreigners and subverts the general right to freedom of employment. In its annual annual report on the state of the world's human rights, Amnesty writes that six decades after world leaders unanimously signed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the record is dismal and urgent action is needed to prevent global chaos.

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Lebanon Falls... And The West Bank Rises
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ephraim Sneh - (Opinion) May 28, 2008 - 6:18pm

Amid the excitement of the latest events - including the announcement of negotiations with Syria and the developments in the latest Olmert corruption scandal - not enough attention was paid to the most significant event of last week: the fall of Lebanon in oil-rich Qatar.

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Gaza: 2 Hamas Gunmen Killed In Idf Strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Hanan Greenberg - May 28, 2008 - 6:14pm

Two Hamas gunmen were killed Wednesday morning as IDF troops clashed with armed Palestinian groups in southern Gaza. Over a dozen mortar shells were fired at Israeli ground forces operating in the region near the Sufa border crossing in the early morning hours as well as sporadic small arms attacks. Troops were able to get a fix on the point of origin of the mortar barrages and the IAF launched a counterstrike against the cell, killing two gunmen

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