Arabic media mum on Nakba Day events
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Jerusalem Post - May 14, 2012 - 12:00am



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NEWS: Pres. Abbas complains that Israel has been refusing to allow Palestinian security forces to import weaponry and says that he is very afraid of the consequences of the death of any hunger striking prisoner, and Quartet envoy Blair echoes this concern. Israel seems near to reaching a deal with hunger striking Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian families cherish photos of imprisoned relatives. PA police arrest a noted activist with a militant past following the assassination of the governor of Jenin. Israel continues to expand its naval power. Palestinian officials dismiss a letter from PM Netanyahu responding to an earlier one to him from Abbas. Occupation forces order the demolition of a Palestinian elementary school to make way for a military training ground. Israeli officials are increasingly concerned about possible international legal action regarding some settlement activity. Palestinians in Lebanon are wary of a Nakba Day march towards the Israeli border given last year's deadly violence. European human rights groups say Israeli occupation authorities have destroyed numerous Palestinian development projects in the occupied territories financed by EU funds. Arab writers returning from a Gaza literary festival decry Hamas oppression. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali says Palestinians must honor the memory, but also learn the lessons of, the Nakba. Shaul Arieli says both Palestinians and Israelis are misreading the international mood by insisting on maximal claims. Jeff Barak says it will be easy to measure the performance of the new Israeli coalition government. The Forward says the new government offers many positive possibilities. Fareed Zakaria wonders if Netanyahu can use his new power for anything more constructive than political survival. Amihai Attali says Palestinians are using their own version of the settlers' outposts strategy. Eli Brandstein says there are strong indications that Netanyah and his new coalition partner Kadima leader Mofaz have reached an understanding on Iran policy. Sharif Elmusa says that through their hunger strikes, Palestinian prisoners are acquiring their own public identities. Yossi Alpher says Israeli-Palestinian track II diplomacy has ground to a halt because there is nothing left to talk about, but Ghassan Khatib says they can still play an important role.

After Years Of Clashes, Mofaz And Netanyahu Agree On Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Eli Brandstein - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am

In the three meetings Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held with Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz on May 7, the two discussed at length the issue of Iran's nuclear program. Netanyahu sought to clarify whether Mofaz supported his policy on the issue and his position on the way to stop the Iranian race toward a nuclear bomb.

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Informal talks still have a role
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am

"Track II" or informal diplomacy played its most significant and constructive role in the history of Israeli-Palestinian relations prior to the Oslo breakthrough when the Palestine Liberation Organization started direct negotiations with the Israeli government. The reason track II talks flourished at that time--the late eighties and early nineties--was that Israel was refusing to deal directly with the Palestinian leadership.

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Sadly, nothing left to talk about
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am

A few weeks ago, after much soul-searching, I reluctantly accepted an invitation to a meeting about the peace process with Palestinian colleagues, held under the auspices of a veteran third-party convener who is truly dedicated to the cause of Israeli-Palestinian understanding and reconciliation. I have been turning down such invitations regularly for several years now, ever since concluding that the meetings had become pointless and were not worth the price I would pay in pure frustration.

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In their hunger, Palestinian strikers are acquiring names
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Egypt Independent
by Sharif S. Elmusa - May 12, 2012 - 12:00am

With the hunger strike of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel gathering momentum, I wanted to know names, look closely at faces, read biographies.

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Settlements, Palestinian Style
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Amihai Attali - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Several weeks before Passover 2011, a factory in the industrial area of Mishor Adumim received an unusual request: a Palestinian client urgently ordered more than 80 prefab structures. The factory's owner had never encountered such a large, urgent order before, but succeeded in meeting the deadline. Several weeks later, when the inspectors of the civil administration were enjoying their Passover vacation, hundreds of Palestinians congregated in the area of the Keidar channel under Maale Adumim and erected all the prefab structures within a short time period.

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Israel is strong, but does Netanyahu want peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Fareed Zakaria - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am

While incumbents around the world are struggling to hold on, one is thriving. By bringing the rival Kadima party into his ruling coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become “king of Israel,” in Aaron David Miller’s phrase. He has an unusual, perhaps unique, opportunity to use his new power to secure Israel’s future.

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If It's Okay for Mofaz...
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Editorial) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am

The dramatic announcement that Israel was going to have a new unity government instead of national elections scrambled the political calculus in the Knesset, left a shrunken opposition rudderless, and proved once again that Benjamin Netanyahu is one heck of a politician. It has also opened up opportunities for American Jewish dialogue on Israel.

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Afraid of the future
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) May 13, 2012 - 12:00am

As someone who devoutly wishes to see the end of Binyamin Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister, I was nevertheless delighted with last week’s turn of events which have all but guaranteed his remaining in power until the end of 2013 when this government’s official term of office expires.

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