Israel lobby part of the debate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) May 7, 2010 - 12:00am One of the fascinating aspects of recent tensions between the American and Israeli governments over Washington’s Middle Eastern diplomacy has been a sea change in the public posture of what is usually called “the Israeli lobby” in the United States. This phrase refers to a very sophisticated, extensive and successful web of American organisations and individuals working to shape American foreign policy so that it favours the prevalent Israeli rather than Arab view of things. » Read more

Mitchell's moment of truth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) May 7, 2010 - 12:00am George Mitchell, US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, deserves a modest round of applause. His patient coaxing of Israelis and Palestinians over the past 15 months is about to bear fruit: indirect talks between the parties are due to begin within days. There is no denying, however, the intense distrust with which both sides view the coming negotiations or the yawning gap between their positions. Mitchell's hard work is about to begin. » Read more

Put conditions on Israel's OECD entry ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Avi Shlaim - (Opinion) May 7, 2010 - 12:00am In the absence of any last-minute objections, Israel will be welcomed as a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development at its annual ministerial council in Paris on 26-28 May. A successful outcome to the long-standing Israeli campaign to be admitted to the OECD would be hailed by Israeli government ministers as a major diplomatic triumph at a time when they have come under growing global criticism for the policy of building settlements on occupied Palestinian land. » Read more

'Talks doomed due to Arafat's legacy' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by David Horovitz, Herb Keinon - May 7, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are doomed to hit a brick wall because no Palestinian leader will accept anything less than what Yasser Arafat rejected at Camp David 10 years ago, and no Jewish prime minister will offer anything more, Vice Premier and Regional Development Minister Silvan Shalom said Thursday in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. “No matter what we do, I do not see a Palestinian leader who is willing to accept what Arafat rejected, and I don’t see a Jewish prime minister who can give more than what [Ehud] Barak offered. Therefore, I see it as a dead end,” he said. » Read more

Foreign Ministry working with rightists against Palestinian incitement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - May 7, 2010 - 12:00am Last Monday, diplomatic reporters and members of the foreign press corps were invited to a press conference with Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon and the director of Palestinian Media Watch, Itamar Marcus, at which PMW's new report on Palestinian incitement against Israel was presented. » Read more

Foreign Ministry working with rightists against Palestinian incitement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - May 7, 2010 - 12:00am Last Monday, diplomatic reporters and members of the foreign press corps were invited to a press conference with Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon and the director of Palestinian Media Watch, Itamar Marcus, at which PMW's new report on Palestinian incitement against Israel was presented. » Read more

Why won't Israel allow Gazans to import coriander? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - May 7, 2010 - 12:00am The Defense Ministry is refusing - on security grounds, it says - to reveal why Israel prohibits the import into the Gaza Strip of items such as cilantro, sage, jam, chocolate, french fries, dried fruit, fabrics, notebooks empty flowerpots and toys, while allowing cinnamon, plastic buckets and combs. Palestinian smuggler climbing down into an underground tunnel that leads from Gaza to Egypt. But in its response to a freedom-of-information suit last week, the state did admit, for the first time, that there is specific list of permissible goods. » Read more

Hamas knocks Abbas on anti-armed resistance statements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 6, 2010 - 12:00am Islamic Hamas movement criticized on Thursday the statements of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinian people, including his Fatah party and Hamas, are not interested in the "armed resistance" against Israel. In a press release, a Hamas official, Salah al-Bardawil, described Abbas' statements as false and only aim to "fraud the will of the Palestinian people and their right to struggle for their freedom." » Read more

U.S. envoy meets Netanyahu ahead of peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 6, 2010 - 12:00am U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday for the second time in two days before the expected start of indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The United States hopes the two sides will embark on negotiations in an indirect format in the coming days, a U.S. spokesman said on Wednesday, after the first, three-hour meeting between Netanyahu and Mitchell. Neither side commented on the details of Thursday's meeting. » Read more

Bethlehem prepares for 2nd Palestine Investment Conference ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 5, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority cabinet allocated 485,000 US dollars to Bethlehem councils, southern West Bank, for local improvements and renovations ahead of the Second Palestine Investment Conference scheduled for June. Bethlehem Governor Abdul Fattah Hamayil met on Wednesday with mayors and heads of village councils to inform them of the PA cabinet's decision, providing them with the requested funding for preparations. » Read more