May 20th

Palestinian official: Israeli settlers' attempts to stop boycott campaign doomed to failure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 19, 2010 - 12:00am Statements by Jewish settlers that describe a new Palestinian campaign to boycott the Israeli settlements' products as economic terror are meaningless and are doomed, a Palestinian official said on Wednesday. Omar Abu Subaih, organizer of a home-to-home campaign to warn people against purchasing products of the Jewish settlement built in the occupied Palestinian territories, told Xinhua that the " settlers' attempts to stop the campaign will fail," affirming that the "settlements and their products are the real terror." » Read more

Hamas detains senior Fatah leader in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 20, 2010 - 12:00am The security forces of the deposed Hamas government in the Gaza Strip arrested on Wednesday a senior member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, Fatah sources said. The sources told Xinhua that Hamas security forces arrested Osama al-Farra, a member of Fatah's revolutionary council and former governor of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, at his home in Gaza. » Read more

Palestinians complain of Israeli actions to US ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Mohammed Daraghmeh - May 19, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian leaders on Wednesday complained to a U.S. envoy about what they said were Israeli provocations, as the second round of indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks got under way. White House emissary George Mitchell met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and is to hold talks later in the week with Israeli leaders. The negotiations were launched earlier this month, and Mitchell will be shuttling between the sides for up to four months to try to narrow their vast differences on the terms for Palestinian statehood. » Read more

US donates $1.4 million to UNRWA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 20, 2010 - 12:00am US Embassy officials in Damascus, the Syrian government, and UNRWA inaugurated a newly constructed community centre that will benefit some 144,000 Palestinian refugees living in the Syrian capital's Yarmouk refugee camp on Wednesday. A statement issued by the US State Department said America contributed 1.4 million US dollars for the community centre's construction. » Read more

Exclusive interview with Gaza's Salafi leader ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Ibraheem Qanan - May 20, 2010 - 12:00am "Salafism is not only in Gaza, it is all over Palestine and needs no license to practice in the heart of Tel Aviv or in Washington," Jaish Al-Islam (Army of Islam) leader Omer Al-Ansari told Ma'an during an exclusive interview on Wednesday. » Read more

Middle East Plan B ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe by Sasha Polakow-Suransky - May 16, 2010 - 12:00am “I think this is a very big deal,” President Clinton declared to a group of American Jews and Arabs after the legions of photographers left the White House grounds on Sept. 13, 1993. However, Clinton warned, it would take commitment and hard work to guarantee that the historic Israeli-Palestinian Accord signed that day would “truly be a turning point.” » Read more

To promote Arab-Israeli peace, Arabs and Israelis argue against it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Nicholas Blanford - May 19, 2010 - 12:00am Most grassroots peace efforts in the Middle East try to build on areas of mutual agreement, but one group of Israelis and Arabs has taken a different tack – looking for arguments against peace between Israel and Syria. » Read more

Obama reassured Jewish members on 'Obama plan' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Ben Smith - May 19, 2010 - 12:00am President Obama and Jewish members of Congress emerged from an hour-and-a-half meeting yesterday presenting a united front on the touchy subject of Middle East peace, but the meeting itself featured some sharp exchanges as Obama sought to quell concerns that he would impose a peace plan on Israel without the country's consent, two attendees said. » Read more

The path to a true peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill by Lanny Davis - May 19, 2010 - 12:00am Recently, I had lunch with an Israeli friend who, despite being a strong supporter of a two-state solution (as this writer is), was skeptical that the U.S.’s basic approach to the peace process — emphasizing negotiating the details of a peace agreement — would be enough to bring true peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. » Read more

The US may have no Plan B, but the Palestinians do ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Hussein Ibish - May 20, 2010 - 12:00am The Obama administration was successful in arranging for the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations through “proximity talks,” which began recently. However, expectations in all quarters are understandably low for any near-term breakthrough. Consequently, Palestinians have been systematically developing a new set of peaceful strategies to achieve independence and advance a resolution to the conflict. » Read more