Proximity talks still on ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 4, 2010 - 12:00am Between President Mahmoud Abbas and US officials, the start of so-called proximity talks appear not to have been derailed by Israel's attack on an aid ship and killing of at least nine activists. On Wednesday, both Abbas and the US deputy treasurer spoke at the Palestinian Investment Conference, stressing the need for talks, while US special envoy to the Mideast George Mitchell addressed the conference Thursday and said talks must go on despite the attack. Mitchell, who met Abbas after the opening session, said the raid illustrated the need to move forward with peace talks. » Read more

Mideast Peace Tops List of Hopeless Causes: Aaron David Miller ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Aaron David Miller - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am Groucho Marx, one of America’s pre- eminent philosophers, once quipped, “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes.” I thought of Groucho the other day, while ruminating about President Barack Obama and the crisis after Israeli commandos boarded a ship ostensibly carrying human-rights activists and aid supplies headed for Gaza in defiance of Israel’s blockade. » Read more

Gaza Businessmen – Pawns in the Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Felice Friedson - June 3, 2010 - 12:00am Ali Abu Shala said he has a great idea - an amusement park on the Gaza beach. “We have a very good beach in Gaza,” says the wiry engineer. “Why not to lease it to a company, a big company for 20 years, develop it and bring good life to the people? Why not?” Abu Shala led a delegation of some 100 Gazan businessmen to the Palestine Investment Conference, which convened in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Escorted by Israeli security forces as they travelled from the beleaguered Gaza Strip, the Gazans came hoping to tap into funding and get their business ideas going. » Read more

The U.S. needs to keep nudging Israel on a Gaza fix ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by David Ignatius - (Opinion) June 4, 2010 - 12:00am The Obama administration, caught between two allies during this week of crisis, has signaled Israel and Turkey that the blockade of Gaza should be loosened to allow more humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinian population there. » Read more

Operation Make the World Hate Us ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Republic by Leon Wieseltier - June 3, 2010 - 12:00am Israel does not need enemies: it has itself. Or more precisely: it has its government. The Netanyahu-Barak government has somehow found a way to lose the moral high ground, the all-important war for symbols and meanings, to Hamas. That is quite an accomplishment. Operation Make the World Hate Us, it might have been called. » Read more

Israel Signals New Flexibility on Gaza Shipments ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am While still insisting that its blockade of Gaza is essential to its security, the Israeli government is now shifting its position, “exploring new ways” of allowing goods to reach the coastal enclave, an Israeli official said Thursday. » Read more

Abbas: Investment can liberate nation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 4, 2010 - 12:00am Bethlehem - Ma'an - Arab and Palestinian businessmen and women gathered in Bethlehem Tuesday, to open the Second Palestinian Investment Conference (PIC), with President Mahmoud Abbas dedicated to the lives of some 10 activists killed delivering aid to Gaza. In his opening speech, Abbas formally named the PIC the "Freedom Conference," in commemoration of the loss of life and upheaval swelling from Israel's decision to attack the Freedom Flotilla of six ships en route to Gaza with 10,000 tons of aid for the besieged Gaza Strip. » Read more

Obama: Use flotilla tragedy for Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Matt Spetalnick - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday the deadly Gaza flotilla incident was "tragic," but he expressed hope it could provide an opening to boost Middle East peace efforts. Obama, in an interview with CNN's Larry King days after an Israeli raid on Gaza-bound aid ships, said Israel "has legitimate security concerns" about the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Rockets are regularly fired from there into the Jewish state. » Read more