May 12th

AN ISRAELI VIEW: The best of a bad lot? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Gilead Sher - May 10, 2010 - 12:00am The good news first: after more than a year wasted over trial and error in United States foreign policy, President Barack Obama has set the Israeli-Palestinian process back on track. The bad news is that for the first time in close to two decades, Israelis and Palestinians will be talking indirectly to one another. » Read more

A PALESTINIAN VIEW: The price of indirect talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Mkhaimar Abusada - May 10, 2010 - 12:00am The PLO Executive Committee's decision to approve so-called proximity talks between the Palestinians and Israelis marked a shift in Palestinian politics. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had previously stated that there would be no talks with Israel until it halts all settlement expansion, including in East Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, has not veered from his vow that building in Jerusalem is just like building in Tel Aviv. » Read more

Jerusalem: Still Relevant After 2000 Years ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Ed Koch - (Opinion) May 11, 2010 - 12:00am Here's my advice on how Israel and the Palestinian Authority should proceed with their so-called "proximity" talks mediated by George Mitchell. Instead of putting the hot-button issue of Jerusalem last on the agenda, the issue should be addressed first. If the Jerusalem question is solved, everything else should fall into place more easily. I believe there is a way to keep Jerusalem unified. I am talking not only of the old walled city, which is a very small part of the city of Jerusalem, but the whole city, east, west, north and south. » Read more

Palestinian Terror Wanes, but Fear Remains ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - May 5, 2010 - 12:00am On May 3, just two days before Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations were to resume through American mediation, Israel’s deputy foreign minister appeared alongside the head of a right-wing research organization at a press conference in Jerusalem to release new evidence that the Palestinians are not, in fact, ready for peace. It’s what you might call a confidence-building measure, Middle East style. » Read more

The Palfest book festival puts Palestinian writers on the map ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Akin Ajayi - May 11, 2010 - 12:00am When it comes to literary festivals, the way it usually works is that the organisers find a nice spot for writers to set up shop, then wait for the public to turn up to listen to the writers talk. In Palestine, though, things are a little different. Here, it's the job of the writers to go out and travel from city to city, seeking out an audience. And here, the writers listen as much as they talk: to the people whom they've come to meet about the realities of life under military occupation. » Read more

Israel seeks to silence dissent ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ben White - May 11, 2010 - 12:00am Last Thursday, in the early hours of the morning, a Palestinian community leader's home was raided by Israeli security forces. In front of his family, the wanted man was hauled off to detention without access to a lawyer, while his home and offices were ransacked and property confiscated. While this sounds like an all-too typical occurrence in West Bank villages such as Bil'in and Beit Omar, in fact, the target in question this time was Ameer Makhoul, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and head of internationally renowned NGO network Ittijah. » Read more

Obama asks Abbas to prevent anti-Israel incitement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 11, 2010 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama Tuesday asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to prevent anti-Israeli incitement during indirect peace talks and said he would welcome him at the White House "soon." During a phone conversation between the two leaders, Obama also expressed appreciation for Abbas' recent decision to appear on Israeli television, and said he would hold both the Palestinians and the Israelis accountable for any actions that undermine the proximity talks. » Read more

Shin Bet recruiters enticing Palestinian medical students with Jerusalem entry permits ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - May 12, 2010 - 12:00am The Shin Bet security service is trying to recruit Palestinian medical students as a condition for granting them entry permits to Jerusalem, according to two medical students at Al-Quds University pursuing internships in Palestinian university hospitals in the city. » Read more

Obama to Abbas: I am committed to creation of Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - May 11, 2010 - 12:00am U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged commitment to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state and vowed to hold both Israel and the Palestinians accountable if either side takes actions that "undermine trust" during U.S.-mediated talks launched this week. In a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama welcomed the beginning of indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and reiterated his strong support for the two-state solution. » Read more

Exclusive: Arab Bank shuts down in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Golan Hazani - May 10, 2010 - 12:00am The largest bank in the Arab world, the Arab Bank, will shut down its three Gaza branches, the Calcalist learned Monday. Their closing will mark the last of the banks working according to international banking standards in Gaza. Tunnel operators in Strip say ruling Islamist movement issue the order late Wednesday for unknown reasons; Hamas says tunnels will continue to operate as long as blockade not lifted Full Story » Read more