Proximity talks begin. PM Netanyahu appoints an Arabic-language spokesperson. Israel bombs two Gaza tunnels. Palestinian refugees say UN food aid is greatly reduced. Palestinians claim new settlement activity is the first violation of negotiation conditions. Kadima leader Livni hints at a possible coalition with Netanyahu. Israel is unanimously accepted into the OECD. Akiva Eldar says everyone should by Palestinian and not settlement products. Daoud Kuttab says Israeli maps obliterate Palestine. The US says Israel has agreed to delay the Ramat Shlomo project for at least two years. Israelis worry Americans support for their nuclear policy is eroding. Ha'aretz requests official documents on the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre. Asharq Al-Awsat interviews Pres. Abbas. The Jordan Times is skeptical about indirect initiations, but the Arab News says low expectations may be useful. Moshe Yaroni says Israeli democracy is threatened by the Kamm affair and the secret arrest of Palestinian-Israeli activist Ameer Makhoul, which Israeli media is banned from reporting.

Prescription for Survival
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Zeek
by Moshe Yaroni - (Opinion) May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

The time has come to ask the question: what is Israel turning into? For decades, those of us who fervently support Israel but oppose with equal passion certain Israeli policies could make some allowances for Israeli behavior because of its traumatic creation and long string of conflict. But now, the actions of the government are becoming so onerous, and the support for such actions are becoming so widespread among the Israeli populace that any supporter of Israel whose politics are anything other than far right has got to be asking what Israel is becoming.

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Proximity and peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

A POTENTIAL four months of indirect negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis began yesterday, mediated by US Middle East special envoy George Mitchell. Like the tumbler in a complex lock mechanism, success will rely on the progressive definition of a succession of key issues. It is by far from certain that the key to open direct talks between the two sides will work, and even then there is the second bigger lock of substantive face-to-face agreement to be opened.

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A massacre of arabs masked by a state of national amnesia
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

More than one unwitting visitor to Jerusalem has fallen prey to the bizarre delusion that they are the Messiah. Usually, they are whisked off to the serene surroundings of Kfar Shaul psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of the city, where they are gently nursed back to health. It is an interesting irony that the patients at Kfar Shaul recuperate from such variations on amnesia on the very spot that Israel has sought to erase from its collective memory.

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All over again?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Opinion) May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians and Israelis are projected to soon commence proximity talks, expected to touch on certain final status issues of crucial import, such as borders and security. Proximity talks, by one definition, mean “diplomatic discussions between intermediaries, though the involved parties are close by”; in the case of Palestinians and Israelis, the notion seems to have gone awry, as it will involve an impartial representative acting as a mediator between parties who are willing to attend the same conference but unwilling to meet face to face.

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'US support for nuke policy eroding'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Jerusalem is increasingly jittery that cracks are appearing in the nearly half-century-old US policy of upholding Israel’s right to maintain its “nuclear ambiguity,” following reports that Israeli nuclear capabilities are, for the first time, scheduled to be on the agenda of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) board meeting next month.

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Israel's tourism ministry is wiping Palestinians off the map
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Daoud Kuttab - May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

As Israeli-Palestinian negotiations restart, Palestinians are determined to begin by tackling the issue of borders, before working backwards toward deciding how to implement the establishment of a Palestinian state. Once agreement is reached on borders, the thinking goes, it will become clear who has the right to decide whether or not settlement activity can continue.

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US: Israel promised not to build in Ramat Shlomo for 2 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 9, 2010 - 12:00am

The State Department said the first round of indirect peace talks between Israel and Palestinian authorities have been completed. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a statement Sunday that US special envoy George Mitchell has left the Middle East after concluding talks characterized as serious and wide-ranging.

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Palestinians report first Israeli violation of talks to U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Just two days after resuming peace talks with Israel, the Palestinian Authority has reported to the United States what it termed the first violation of negotiation terms, a senior Palestinian official said Monday. Yasser Abed Rabbo said the construction of 14 housing units for Jewish settlers in an East Jerusalem neighbourhood, as reported by the Israeli Peace Now pressure group, violated the terms of new talks.

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Israel gets accepted into OECD after unanimous vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

The 31 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday unanimously voted in favor of accepting Israel as a member of the group, a senior Jerusalem source said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene a special press conference at 4 P.M. to discuss Israel's admittance into the Paris-based international economic group. Israeli officials have said acceptance would be an important stamp of approval for the country's economy, boosting its credit rating and strengthening ties with foreign investors.

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