The Hamas 'Peace' Gambit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer - (Opinion) May 8, 2009 - 12:00am "Apart from the time restriction (a truce that lapses after 10 years) and the refusal to accept Israel's existence, Mr. Meshal's terms approximate the Arab League peace plan . . ." -- Hamas peace plan, as explained by the New York Times "Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?" -- Tom Lehrer, satirist » Read more

Life in Nu'man land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory McCarthy - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian villagers of Nu'man have lived on their hilltop for generations, looking out across sweeping views of the terraced olive-tree slopes of the West Bank. But their view is changing dramatically and they fear there will be little place for Nu'man in the new landscape. » Read more

Pope in the Holy Land: The issues ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 8, 2009 - 12:00am As the Pope visits Jordan, Israel and the West Bank, he faces a combustible cocktail of issues combining relations between the world's three main monotheistic religions, one of the world's most intractable political conflicts and the legacy of the Holocaust. The BBC News Website looks at the areas of controversy he will have to navigate. CATHOLIC-JEWISH RELATIONS The Catholic Church has moved in recent decades to make amends for a long history of anti-Semitism. » Read more

Pope begins Mid-East pilgrimage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 8, 2009 - 12:00am Pope Benedict XVI stressed his "deep respect" for Islam as he arrived in Jordan to begin a Middle East visit. He described religious freedom as a fundamental human right, and said he hoped the Catholic church could play a role in the Middle East peace process. The Pope says he is going on his eight-day tour - his first to the region as pontiff - as a "pilgrim of peace". But Jordanian Islamist leaders have demanded that he apologise for a speech in 2006 that linked Islam and violence. After Jordan, the Pope's tour will take him to Israel and the West Bank. » Read more

Pope, Hope in Hand, Arrives in Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Rachel Donadio - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am When Pope John Paul II traveled to the Holy Land in 2000, the visit was history, the first by a pope to recognize the state of Israel or visit sites holy to Islam. » Read more