May 11th

King Abdullah of Jordan's ultimatum: peace now or it’s war next year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Richard Beeston, Michael Binyon - May 11, 2009 - 12:00am

America is putting the final touches to a hugely ambitious peace plan for the Middle East, aimed at ending more than 60 years of conflict between Israel and the Arabs, according to Jordan’s King Abdullah, who is helping to bring the parties together.

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Israel's Netanyahu: Taking a Turn Toward Pragmatism?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Tim McGirk - May 18, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel is a nation of worriers. No matter how pleasant the evening, at a certain point, after the jokes and well into the merlot from the Judaean hills, the worrying starts. No doubt, Israelis have plenty to worry about. They live between wars and must contend with Hamas, Hizballah and--the biggest anxiety of all--Iran, whose President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has said Israel should be "wiped off the map."

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Pope Underlines Support for a Palestinian State
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Rachel Donadio - May 11, 2009 - 12:00am

On the fourth day of his first trip to the Middle East as pope, Benedict XVI arrived Monday in Israel and immediately called for a solution to the conflict that would yield a “homeland of their own” for both Palestinians and Israelis. While he did not use the word “state,” he made clear in a brief speech that he was underscoring the Vatican’s previous support for the creation of a Palestinian state, albeit with a stronger resonance imparted by the setting and timing of his remarks within minutes of arriving in Israel.

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Parks Fortify Israel’s Claim to Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Isabel Kershner - May 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel is quietly carrying out a $100 million, multiyear development plan in some of the most significant religious and national heritage sites just outside the walled Old City here as part of an effort to strengthen the status of Jerusalem as its capital.

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Obama's speech in Egypt to reach out to Muslims
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Christina Bellantoni, Barbara Slavin - May 9, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama next month will travel to Egypt to address the world's Muslims in a major speech, seeking to strengthen U.S. relations with the Islamic world and fight extremism, the White House said Friday. Mr. Obama chose Egypt as the venue for the long-promised speech, to be delivered June 4, because the country "in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. He said a city had not been chosen yet.

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May 8th

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the Mideast for his highly anticipated visit (1) (2) (3). An article in The Guardian looks at the West Bank village of Nu'man, which is surrounded on three sides by the Israeli separation barrier (4). In the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer assesses cease-fire terms recently proposed by Hamas leaders (5). Senior Israeli officials express concern over the shifts in the state of the U.S.-Israel relationship under the new governments in both countries (8). The Israeli organization Peace Now petitions the High Court of Justice for an immediate cessation of settlement construction in the West Bank settlement of Halamish - Neve Tzu (9). Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad calls for an end to land expropriation in the "E1" area near Jerusalem (11).

'Lieberman sees Europeans as cowards'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
May 8, 2009 - 12:00am

A day after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman wrapped up his first diplomatic trip to Europe with a meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin, German lawmakers on Friday said the visit left them somewhat disappointed. "It was a swan song of soft power in every way," Werner Hoyer, a foreign policy expert for the pro-business Free Democrats told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, according to a translation provided by the German English language Web site The Local. "Lieberman sees us Europeans as a pile of cowards."

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Netanyahu can be a peacemaker, says Quartet emissary Blair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Quartet emissary Tony Blair on Thursday offered a strong endorsement of Binyamin Netanyahu's capacity to achieve peace, backing the prime minister's focus on fostering West Bank economic growth and bolstering the Palestinians' security capacity. Netanyahu "most certainly can play the role of peacemaker," Blair told The Jerusalem Post in an interview, adding that there was now "a moment of opportunity" that required both negotiation from the "top down" and improving the economy and security realities from the "bottom up."

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Good cop, bad cop
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - (Analysis) May 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Under the auspices of AIPAC’s annual conference this week, we got the first hints as to what is going through the minds of President Obama and his aides. At a time when Pakistan is burning and the economy is slumping, White House officials went to great lengths in order to free up precious time for three meetings between Peres and the American president, his VP Joe Biden, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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UN says Israel gnawing at Bethlehem sovereignty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Only 13% of the Bethlehem area is under the control of the Palestinian Authority – a new report released by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Thursday said. The report was issued less than a week ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Middle East. The pontiff is scheduled to travel to Bethlehem during his time in the West Bank.

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