June 3rd

Growth and narratives, natural and unnatural ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Blog) June 2, 2009 - 12:00am There are some hypocrisies so grand, so utterly defiant of awareness of the world and of oneself, that it takes days -- sometimes weeks -- for we mere mortals even to discern them. That's my excuse anyway. I've been following the issue of "natural growth" in the settlements with mixed feelings: I know people who live in the settlements, and whatever one thinks of their politics (and not all of them necessarily hew to a rigid political view) squeezing them out because they want to add a room for a new baby seems unconscionable. » Read more

Israelis growing increasingly anxious about Obama policies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News by Cliff Churgin - June 2, 2009 - 12:00am Sirens blared across Israel on Tuesday as the nation carried out its biggest-ever "doomsday" drill meant to simulate a catastrophic attack. The faux fears, however, were overshadowed by deepening anxiety in Jerusalem that Israel is heading for an unavoidable political showdown with President Barack Obama over the center-right government's refusal to stop building Jewish homes in the predominantly Palestinian West Bank. Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest daily newspaper, carried a front-page story Tuesday bluntly titled: "The American Threat." » Read more

Groups silent in face of Obama calls for settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Eric Fingerhut - June 2, 2009 - 12:00am Even as it publicly stakes out a hard-line position against Israeli settlement expansion, the Obama administration is avoiding serious criticism from most U.S. Jewish groups and pro-Israel Democratic lawmakers. Key pro-Israel Jewish Democrats have backed the president on the importance of an Israeli settlement freeze while also suggesting there is room for a compromise between the Netanyahu government and the White House. » Read more

US-Israeli relationship takes new direction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Jeffrey Heller - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am After George W. Bush’s terms of endearment for Israel — a country he once described as a “light unto nations” — a different terminology is being used to describe its cloudy relationship with his successor, Barack Obama. At odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Palestinian statehood and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the new US president will try to patch ties with the Muslim world in an address he will deliver in Egypt tomorrow. » Read more

Arab States Cool to Obama Pleas for Peace Gesture ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Michael Slackman - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama starts his much anticipated Middle East tour on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to press the Arab nations to offer a gesture to the Israelis to entice them to accelerate the peace process. » Read more

West Bank outpost, roadblocks removed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Hanan Greenberg - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am Illegal West Bank outposts are still up and running despite the American demand, but on Wednesday morning the security forces once again destroyed several improvised buildings in the Binyamin area. Also Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces removed two roadblocks in the Ramallah area in a bid to ease the restrictions on the Palestinian population, and issued an order preventing left-wing activists from entering sensitive areas in checkpoints near Nablus. » Read more

Much Awaited Visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Opinion) June 3, 2009 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama’s Middle East visit is certain to stir interest in many quarters, and definitely much more of it in this conflict-ridden part of the world. His much-anticipated speech in Cairo has been prefigured by laymen and pundits alike. The president, they say, will announce his administration’s idea on how the Arab-Israeli conflict can be managed to finally bring about peace in the region and put an end to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian problem. » Read more

PA optimistic about hard-line US stance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am Reports about growing tensions between Jerusalem and Washington over the revival of the peace process in the Middle East are being hailed by many Palestinians as a sign of US President Barack Obama's determination to change American policy toward Israel. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who met with Obama in Washington last week, was quoted as saying he had emerged from the talks with a feeling that the new US administration was "extremely serious" about its intention to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict. » Read more

Obama plans to teach Netanyahu tough love ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - (Analysis) June 3, 2009 - 12:00am Two weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Washington, on the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world from Cairo, matters are becoming clearer. Israeli-American relations are entering their most serious tailspin in a decade - the decade since Netanyahu's previous term as prime minister. » Read more

Key U.S. Jews wary of Netanyahu's unbending policy on settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nathan Guttman - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am For the first time in America's decades of jousting with Israel over West Bank settlements, an American president seems to have succeeded in isolating the settlements issue and disconnecting it from other elements of support for Israel. » Read more