May 5th

Israel planning new West Bank train network, minister says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) announced Tuesday that the ministry was promoting a plan to establish a train network in the West Bank which will converge with the new train tracks planned throughout Israel. Katz said that the plan had been drawn up with the cooperation of international organizations which have expressed great interest in the issue. He added that a train track is planned to run between Jenin, the Yizrael Valley and to Jerusalem. » Read more

Obama advisor: Jerusalem issue at end of talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 5, 2010 - 12:00am Just before the start of proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the Obama administration has indicated that the issue of Jerusalem will be discussed at the end of the talks, and not at the beginning. The US interest in Jerusalem stems from construction plans made public during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the region, just a short time before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to meet with US President Barack Obama in the White House. » Read more

Like a plane without a pilot ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unjustifiably draws fire for policies that move ahead without his involvement. The Jewish intellectuals, who suddenly saw the darkness and were terrified, should know: Even if not one more Jewish home is built in the occupied territories ?(including East Jerusalem?), the enormous apparatus of domination continues to operate there with an inner logic of many years’ duration. It moves along by itself, like some huge aircraft without a pilot. » Read more

Court orders state to explain why Amona outpost not demolished ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - May 5, 2010 - 12:00am The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction requiring the state to explain why it has not followed through with evacuating every illegal outpost built on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The court made its ruling particularly with regard to the Amona outpost, where settlers began to build in 1995 and have continued to do so despite an official evacuation as recently as 2006. » Read more

PLO factions fail to stand united in municipal polls ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 5, 2010 - 12:00am Factions of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) failed to agree on entering municipal elections in the West Bank under a unified list, representatives said on Tuesday. "Forming a unified list is far away and difficult now despite the talks," Amin Maqboul, a member of Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Xinhua. President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, the main faction in the organization, held several dialogues with the leftist groups of the PLO over the past two months to unite in the elections that would be held in July. » Read more

Israelis and Palestinians stand to gain from talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Karin Laub - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am Both Israelis and Palestinians stand to gain by renewing U.S.- mediated contacts this week — the Obama administration's first sustained, on-the-ground attempt to bridge vast differences over what a Palestinian state should look like. » Read more

Anti-wall demonstrators face prison term, fines ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 3, 2010 - 12:00am An Israeli military court sentenced a 16-year-old Hebron boy to three months in prison, while six others were sentenced to three years of probation and a 2,000 shekel (537 US dollars) of fines for participation in an anti-wall rally. The sentencing, carried out at the Ofer military base and detention center near Ramallah in the West Bank on Sunday, saw the Israeli military prosecutor argue that the men and teenagers had endangered the lives of Israeli soldiers. » Read more

PA sets deadline to end settlement work ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 5, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority is working in full swing to make sure no laborers will be working in Israeli settlements by the end of 2011, PA Minster of National Economy Hasan Abu Libda said Tuesday. “There are currently 25,000 Palestinians who make their living from working in Israeli settlements. They should stop as they aren’t any different from 200,000 other unemployed workers,” Abu Libda said in an interview with Ma'an. » Read more

If Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resume, Israel plans to highlight incitement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am With some expecting US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to resume this month, Israel is complaining of Palestinian government-sponsored "incitement'' against the Jewish state. Israel is planning to highlight claims of demonization of Israel and glorification of terrorism by Palestinian leaders after months of being on the defensive over settlement expansion in the West Bank and Jerusalem, analysts said. Government spokesman Mark Regev said that progress on incitement would be a "crucial'' issue in peace negotiations. » Read more

Palestinians’ Emotions Run High After a Fire Destroys a Mosque in the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am A fire swept through a mosque in this Palestinian village early Tuesday, angering Palestinians who said they were certain that extremist Israeli settlers were to blame, although investigators have found no proof. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, echoed those sentiments and warned that the blaze “represented a threat to the efforts to revive the peace process.” » Read more