May 5th

Don't bet much on a US-Israel showdown ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by George Giacaman - (Opinion) May 5, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no political rookie. Nor is US President Barack Obama bereft of a battery of advisers with experience on how to deal with Israel. One expects that both will try to avoid a showdown as much as possible even if for different reasons. Netanyahu is due to visit the United States in May and the outlines of his » Read more

Did Egypt's Campaign against Hezbollah Fail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) May 5, 2009 - 12:00am The question that presents itself is the following: Is there an Egyptian campaign against Hezbollah, or is it merely a claim by Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah? A verbal campaign has started since last summer to criticize Egypt on the pretext that it is participating with Israel in putting the Hamas Government and the people of Gaza under siege. The Egyptians at the time refrained from commenting, and restricted themselves to playing the role of the mediator who wanted to close the Palestinian rift, until the war broke out, and the issue escalated. » Read more

On the right path ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Editorial) May 5, 2009 - 12:00am His Majesty King Abdullah said during recent talks in Washington with US President Barack Obama and other high-ranking US officials that the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem is the only workable answer on the table. There are simply no other options that are viable or operational. Also recently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that his country would be willing to support the two-state solution if Palestinians themselves agreed to this basis for a settlement. » Read more

AIPAC delegates lobby for two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Barbara Ferguson - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am To thunderous applause, former Republican House leader Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama’s policies in the Middle East, promoted military action against Iran, and assailed diplomatic engagement as weakness at the American Israel Political Action Committee’s (AIPAC) annual conference in Washington. Just before he went on stage late yesterday, Gingrich told The Jerusalem Post that the president’s policy with Israel and Iran was a “fantasy” and that Obama was “endangering Israel” by trying to work toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » Read more

Israeli Palestinian Spat Over Photos of Pope Beside the Wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line May 5, 2009 - 12:00am Israel has been accused of issuing orders to demolish a stage built to welcome the Pope to a Palestinian refugee camp next week so as to avoid images of the pontiff in front of the controversial Israeli barrier surrounding Bethlehem, The Media Line has learned. The dispute over where, exactly, the pope should be received when he visits the ‘Aida Palestinian refugee camp next week centers around whether or not the refugee camp's reception for the pope should be held at a spot at which a walled section of Israel's separation barrier, including a military control tower, are easily visible. » Read more

Homes destroyed for lack of permit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am The newly tiled floor is still immaculately swept and the two sofas and two armchairs are regularly dusted. Taghreed Essayyad, 36, likes to keep the sitting area clean because she and her family spend as much time as possible in their home in the Al Tur neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Or, at least, in the corner that still stands. When a Jerusalem municipality bulldozer a few months ago flattened the rest of the house for being built without permit, a wire caught under its tracked wheel, Mrs Essayyad recalled with some fondness, and the bulldozer broke down before it could complete the job. » Read more

Palestinians say Netanyahu 'ambiguous' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) May 5, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday that the position on the peace process outlined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to an influential US lobby group is "ambiguous." "The statements by the Israeli prime minister to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are ambiguous and insufficient," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said. Netanyahu called Monday for a "fresh" triple-track approach to peace with the Palestinians that includes an immediate resumption of talks without conditions. » Read more

UN meeting to give impetus to Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Edith M. Lederer - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am Russia has invited Security Council ministers to a meeting next week to give "new impetus" to the Middle East peace process. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who holds the council presidency this month, said Monday that "the meeting will reaffirm the council's involvement in the search for a Middle East settlement." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will preside at the May 11 meeting, and Churkin said some ministers already have accepted. The only speakers will be representatives of the 15 council nations and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he said. » Read more

Israel's Peres omits mention of Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 4, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Monday Israel's new government wants peace with all Arabs but made no explicit mention of establishing a Palestinian state, a top U.S. and Arab priority. "Israel stands, with her arms outstretched, her hands held open to peace with all nations, with all Arab states, with all Arab people," Peres said in a speech to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the leading U.S. pro-Israel lobby. Peres holds a largely ceremonial post but has great personal prestige as an elder statesman. » Read more

Jerusalem Diary: 4 May ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Tim Franks - May 4, 2009 - 12:00am It is evening prayers. In a small hall in Jerusalem, the service is being conducted in Hebrew. Some of the words - indeed some of the prayers - chime exactly with those of a synagogue prayer-book. But this is a Catholic Mass. There are, it is estimated, more than one billion Catholics around the world. Within the Middle East, the great majority celebrate Mass in Arabic. A tiny sliver - about 400 - celebrate Mass in Hebrew. » Read more