May 7th

Israel has become its own worst enemy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am The UN Security Council was handed a report on Tuesday by the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon about Israel’s campaign in Gaza and its targeting of UN facilities earlier this year. The report’s conclusions are damning: Israel’s actions “breached the inviolability of United Nations premises” and amounted in many cases to “recklessness”. As usual, Israel retorted that the report was patently biased. In this matter, Israel is right: there are no two sides to the truth, and as UN investigators found out, the blame for disproportionate and thoughtless violence lies squarely with Israel. » Read more

Arab parties angry over citizenship decision ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - May 7, 2009 - 12:00am Legislators from Israeli Palestinian parties yesterday blasted as racist and dangerous a plan by the country’s right-wing interior minister to rescind the citizenships of four Palestinians suspected of involvement in anti-Israel activities. Eli Yishai, the interior minister, announced on Tuesday that he will begin the process of revoking the citizenship of the four men, claiming they left Israel over three decades ago for countries such as Lebanon, considered by Israel to be enemy territory, and alleging they had been involved in acts that undermined Israel’s security. » Read more

Israel's human rights abuses out in open ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am The revelation that harsh interrogation methods, including torture, were used against detainees during the US-led war in Iraq by the George W. Bush administration, continues to reverberate here and overseas. The actions, sanctioned in legal memorandums, were recently released by US President Barack Obama. The repercussions of Obama's actions, however, are being felt by key US government officials, especially those within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as within several other countries including Great Britain and Israel. » Read more

Khalid Mishal and Mama America ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) May 6, 2009 - 12:00am In an interview with the New York Times that lasted a total of 5 hours and was conducted over a two-day period, Hamas chief Khalid Mishal said "In order to understand Hamas you must listen to its point of view directly, Hamas is pleased whenever people want to hear directly from its leadership, rather than hearing about the movement from others" What is the meaning of these words? » Read more

Merkel: No 2-state solution substitute ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press May 6, 2009 - 12:00am There is no an alternative to a two-state peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday. Merkel, speaking a day before Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visits Berlin, also echoed comments made recently by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and White House Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel, saying that progress in the stalled Middle East peace process would make it easier to resolve the long-running standoff over Iran's nuclear program. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has yet to formally commit to a two-state solution. » Read more

Blair Says Resolving Mideast Conflict Critical to Curbing Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Gwen Ackerman, Jonathan Ferziger - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am Middle East envoy Tony Blair said resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would remove a toxic barrier between the West and Islamic nations and help deal with the nuclear threat from Iran. Peace in the region would “hugely help in resolving this bigger problem” and remove an “issue which puts such a poison into the relationship between the West, Israel, if you like, and the world of Islam,” the former British prime minister said yesterday in an interview in Jerusalem. » Read more

UN laments choking of Bethlehem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 7, 2009 - 12:00am The UN has accused Israel of restricting development of the Bethlehem region in the West Bank. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said just 13% of land around Bethlehem was open for use by the Palestinian population. It said the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ was hemmed in by Israeli settlements and military zones as well as Israel's West Bank barrier. An Israeli foreign ministry official said the issue was beyond Ocha's remit. » Read more

Arabs work for unified approach ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 7, 2009 - 12:00am Arab foreign ministers are meeting in Cairo to formulate a united approach on the Middle East peace process. The meeting is the first since the election of the right-wing Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It comes ahead of a flurry of diplomatic activity in the coming weeks, focussing on the Middle East. The ministers are also to discuss a report on alleged crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza strip last January. The Arab foreign ministers will be discussing how to restart "serious and direct negotiations" between the Israelis and the Palestinians. » Read more

AIPAC Confronts A New Reality as Obama’s Agenda Becomes Clear ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am Washington — “You’re not going to like my saying this,” Vice President Joe Biden told 6,000 delegates from the podium of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference — a spot that politicians usually vie over vigorously for the privilege of telling the crowd what they want to hear. » Read more

Federal Government May Revise Voluntary Guidelines for Giving Overseas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy by Ian Wilhelm - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am The U.S. Treasury Department wants to work with grant makers to revise its voluntary guidelines that seek to prevent charitable dollars from inadvertently flowing to terrorists, a department official said at the Council on Foundations meeting. Michael Rosen, a policy adviser in the department’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, said the office wants to work with foundations “to better refine the guidance.” » Read more