May 13th

'Fayyad is a partner for peace' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by David Horovitz - May 13, 2010 - 12:00am Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor who has become one of Israel’s most committed and articulate advocates, on Wednesday emphatically hailed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as a potential partner for peace, calling him “the best that Israel has, and probably the best that Israel has ever had.” Speaking to The Jerusalem Post immediately after a 90-minute meeting with Fayyad in Ramallah, their first meeting, Dershowitz said Fayyad “genuinely would like to bring peace and a two-state solution, based on his conception of what a two-state solution would look like.” » Read more

GAO faults Israel for limits on Palestinian security ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) May 13, 2010 - 12:00am The U.S. congressional auditor says Israeli restrictions and Palestinian limitations are hampering the effectiveness of an American-led mission to train Palestinian security forces. The General Accounting Office published a report on the $392 million that the U.S. State Department has spent to train and equip Palestinian Authority security forces. » Read more

Jerusalem residents attack writer Elie Wiesel over appeal to Barack Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Chris McGreal - May 12, 2010 - 12:00am An extraordinary row has broken out between Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel peace prize winner, and a group of Jewish residents of Jerusalem over who speaks for the future of the disputed city. » Read more

High School Students Object to AP Test’s Use of a Quote by Edward Said ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Debra Nussbaum Cohen - May 12, 2010 - 12:00am Nearly 2 million high school students worldwide are taking Advanced Placement tests this May, hoping to impress college admissions counselors with high scores and, perhaps, earn a few college credits. But one test question citing the late Palestinian-American scholar and activist Edward Said on the theme of exile is prompting protests from some Jewish students. » Read more

Negotiations for the Negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) May 12, 2010 - 12:00am Indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with American mediation, are beginning with each side in the equation distant from the other when it comes to the actual goal they seek. It is ironic that none of these sides believes that these negotiations can lead to a state of peace in the Middle East, for which they all publicly claim to strive. » Read more

Incitement Day in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) May 13, 2010 - 12:00am For a long time now, Jerusalem Day has served as an excuse for the far right to excoriate Arab residents of the city's eastern part and violently demonstrate their presence in their neighborhoods. But this year, the baton of incitement has passed from the delusional fringes to the very heart of the political arena - the government. » Read more

‘Neglect and poverty’ – life as a Palestinian in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - May 13, 2010 - 12:00am Deep inside the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, Adla Jabber shares three rooms with 12 relatives. The 59-year-old widow needs a car, she jokes, to get to her kitchen, a sparse stonewalled room that doubles as a bathroom. It is outside, 20 metres down a narrow alley. The stove, a rusty two-ring gas heater, hides under a stone arch in the alley, barely sheltered from the elements. » Read more

Israel has broken another promise ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) May 13, 2010 - 12:00am As Palestinians and Israelis take their first steps in resuming much-delayed peace negotiations, there is strong evidence emerging that the hawkish government of Benjamin Netanyahu is about to break its promise to hold off on its illegal expansionist plans in the Occupied Territories. » Read more

Hypocrisy Now!: The Pro-Israel Crowd's Sins of Omission ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Sasha Polakow-Suransky - (Opinion) May 12, 2010 - 12:00am I have always admired Jeffrey Goldberg and Jonathan Chait for their generally thoughtful commentary on the Middle East and their refusal to follow in the footsteps of more knee-jerk pro-Israel commentators. Until now. On Friday and over the weekend, Goldberg and Chait responded to a Yediot Ahronoth story claiming to have unearthed evidence of Richard Goldstone's past as an apartheid-era judge, digesting it almost completely uncritically. » Read more

U.S. pledges 500-million-dollar aid to PNA for the year 2010 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 13, 2010 - 12:00am The Ministry of Planning of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) announced on Wednesday that the United States will provide the PNA 500 million U.S. dollars as a support for the year 2010. In a statement published by the state-run news agency Wafa, the ministry said it had concluded bilateral talks over executing developing programs in the Palestinian territories with Daniel Rubinstein, representative of the U.S. government, and Howard Somka, chief of USAID. » Read more