Michael Oren, Ambassador, or, this is how the occupation ends ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) May 11, 2009 - 12:00am I was reading an Etgar Keret book of gently hallucinatory short stories when I got the news. It fit right in. The Foreign Minister, who was now Avigdor Lieberman - himself nothing if not an Etgar Keret invention - had approved the choice of Michael Oren as Israel's next ambassador to Washington. » Read more

New West Bank roads jeopardizing chances for peace accord ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - May 14, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian interest in the intentions of the new Israeli government tends to focus on one small area in the West Bank, Ma'aleh Adumim and its environs, particularly the area known as E1 linking the settlement to East Jerusalem. Earlier this month Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad participated in mass Friday prayers against land expropriation in the area, and the Palestinian media was full of reports of Israeli settlement plans in Ma'aleh Adumim and E1. » Read more

Ex-diplomats, U.S. Jews urge Obama to push two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - May 14, 2009 - 12:00am A number of leftist Jewish groups and former diplomats have urged United States President Barack Obama to push for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming visit to Washington. Four former U.S. ambassadors and officials of a left-leaning Jewish organization sent a letter to Obama on Wednesday asserting that there was a broad consensus within the American Jewish community and among policymakers in support of an active U.S. role in assisting the sides to reach such a solution. » Read more

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu visits Jordan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 14, 2009 - 12:00am The previously unannounced trip is the Israeli leader's second this week. He went to Egypt on Monday, his first time on foreign soil since taking office. Mr Netanyahu is due in Washington for what are being seen as crucial talks with President Barack Obama on 18 May. The Jordanian ruler pressed the Israeli premier to endorse a Palestinian state which so far he has decline to do. A two-state solution based on independent is a goal strongly backed by the US and by Jordan and Egypt, Israel's only allies among Arab states. » Read more

Pope preaches against prejudice in Nazareth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 14, 2009 - 12:00am Tens of thousands of Christians, among them many Arabs, attended the service in the north Israeli town of Nazareth, where Jesus is said to have grown up. Benedict later met Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, a day after vocally backing the idea a Palestinian homeland. Mr Netanyahu does not support the idea of an independent Palestinian state. The German-born Pope's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories has sparked criticism from Jewish groups who say he did not condemn Nazi crimes strongly enough. » Read more

Ethnically cleansing the land where Christianity was born ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - May 14, 2009 - 12:00am During his high profile visit to the Holy Land, Pope Benedict XVI preached reconciliation between Christians/Muslims and Jews. But he failed to bridge the gulf between the Vatican and Jews because he did not speak of past issues dividing Catholics and Jews. These include long-standing persecution of Jews by the church, culminating in the murder of six million by the Nazis during World War II, and the refusal of Pope Pius XII to intervene in the Nazi extermination of the Jews. » Read more

Spiritual journey cannot help but have political overtones ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - May 13, 2009 - 12:00am Pope Benedict XVI upset the schedule on his first day in Israel by leaving an interfaith meeting in Jerusalem early on Monday night after a leading Muslim cleric called on him to condemn the “slaughter” of women and children in the recent assault on Gaza. The pontiff walked out, a spokesman noted, because Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi’s speech was a “direct negation” of dialogue and damaged the Pope’s efforts at “promoting peace”. » Read more

Hamas's Double Statements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Ali Ibrahim - (Analysis) May 13, 2009 - 12:00am It has become almost a habit: When some politicians in the region give interviews to the Western media they say things thinking that they would not be reported elsewhere, as if the Western media in question were on another planet, and that they would not be quoted by the news agencies and the information media of the region. Then, when the interviewees feel that what they have said is different from what they say to their own public - usually a fiery, ardent discourse - they resort to clarifications, corrections and denials. » Read more

Netanyahu may be in for a surprise ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) May 14, 2009 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu, the right-wing Israeli prime minister, is going to Washington on Monday for talks with President Barack Obama. But he may be in for a surprise. His host is not like any other seen in the White House in the last 50 years. In fact there hasn't been a US president like him since Dwight Eisenhower ordered Israel and its two European allies - Britain and France - to pull out of the Suez Canal, which they had invaded in 1956 after Egypt's popular president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the important waterway. » Read more

It's not up to Israelis to determine the status of Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) May 14, 2009 - 12:00am As the summit between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches, most of the discussion has focused on whether or not the newly elected Israeli leader will finally say that he backs a two-state solution. This is the wrong approach. Israelis should not determine the status of the Palestinian entity, nor should Palestinians have a say in what Israelis call their own state. » Read more