Hamas, Fatah delegates to meet in Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 11, 2011 - 12:00am Delegations from Palestinian rivals will visit Cairo Saturday to start discussions on forming a unity government, a Hamas official said Wednesday. The delegations will represent Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, said Salah Al-Bardawil, a Hamas official in Gaza. Last week, the two movements signed a reconciliation agreement brokered by Egypt. The pact is sought to end political split between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where Fatah holds sway. » Read more

Palestinians' Fayyad could keep PM job ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - May 11, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, facing heavy international pressure, is leaning toward retaining his prime minister in an emerging Palestinian unity government, officials close to Abbas said Wednesday. Abbas's secular Fatah movement signed a reconciliation deal with the rival Islamic Hamas government in the Gaza Strip last week that calls for a joint government to be formed ahead of elections next year. Israel refuses to deal with any government that includes Hamas, which it, the U.S. and European Union consider a terrorist group. » Read more

Netanyahu to address US Congress May 24 - House speaker ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 10, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on May 24, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner announced on Tuesday. "It will be an honor to welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu to the Capitol on May 24 as part of his official visit to the United States," Boehner said in a statement. His office last month extended the invitation to Netanyahu, but a date had not been previously announced.

European Commission to allocate €85 million for PA salaries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 8, 2011 - 12:00am The European Commission Friday announced the approval of a $121.85 million financial package for the Palestinian Authority, said to be for the salaries and pensions of PA civil servants. The decision comes as Israel continues to withhold tax revenues paid by Palestinians for goods imported into Palestinian areas, which are due under agreement for transfer to the PA. The EU package was in addition to the $143.35 million already approved from European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument. » Read more

First Palestinian corporate bonds issued ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 11, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian investment firm PADICO announced Tuesday the first issue of corporate bonds in the Palestinian territories worth $70 million. At a press conference in Ramallah, PADICO said it was issuing 7,000 five-year bonds, which will be privately placed and neither traded nor listed on the Palestinian stock exchange. The investment company, which is publicly traded, focuses on investment in the Palestinian economy, and has interests in infrastructure, real estate and tourism projects. » Read more

Hamas: Recognizing Israel jeopardizes rights ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 11, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas will accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, but will maintain its refusal to recognize Israel, party leader Mahmoud Az-Zahhar told Ma'an on Wednesday. Speaking with Ma'an radio, the official said that Hamas was ready to recognize a Palestinian state "on any part of Palestine," for the first time publicly steering away from prior Hamas demands that the modern Palestinian state must be established "from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea." » Read more

Celebrating interdependence on Israel's Independence Day ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Ori Nir - (Blog) May 10, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's Independence Day is a good time to revel in what such a small country has achieved in such a short time and under such trying circumstances. But it is also a time to resolve to do more. On the former point, Israel's achievements are indeed amazing. With a population of 7 million citizens, Israel is no less than a technological, academic, medical, cultural, artistic, and scientific superpower. And this is not just on a per capita basis, but in absolute terms. It is bursting with ingenuity and creativity. » Read more

Protest a tough sell among Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - May 10, 2011 - 12:00am Camped under a tent in what he hoped would become the Tahrir Square of the West Bank, hunger striker Iyas Sarhan reclined on a foam mattress in a pair of increasingly baggy slim-fit jeans and waited for the Palestinian revolution to begin. » Read more

PALESTINIAN TERRITORY: Q&A on a new currency ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Blog) May 10, 2011 - 12:00am As part of a statehood bid they plan to bring before the U.N. this September, Palestinians are pushing for the creation of a new Palestine Central Bank and the introduction of new currency. But Jihad Al-Wazir, 48, governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, which hopes to soon evolve into the first central bank, says work is needed before reintroducing the Palestinian pound. » Read more

Mashaal: Israel has 1 year to recognize Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post May 10, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said that he gives the Israeli government a one-year deadline to recognize an independent Palestinian state founded on lands occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem as its capital, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported. » Read more