May 6th

The friend ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) May 6, 2010 - 12:00am The settlers of Pisgat Ze'ev, the intruders of Sheikh Jarrah, the people who covet Silwan, the infiltrators into the Muslim Quarter and you, the mayor of the nationalist city, Nir Barkat, can stop worrying: (All of ) Jerusalem is yours, forever. Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel met at the White House with his friend, Barack Obama, on a mission from his other friend, Benjamin Netanyahu, and when he came out he said he had the impression that Obama respected his advice to postpone discussions on Jerusalem. » Read more

Abbas: Hamas is smuggling weapons into the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury - May 6, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday accused the rival Hamas movement of smuggling weapons into the West Bank territory under his control. "On the one hand, the organization is punishing those who launch rockets in Gaza, while at the same time it hoards weapons in the West Bank," the Palestinian leader said in an interview with the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat. Palestinian security forces routinely discover these caches, Abbas told the newspaper. » Read more

Not taking listener requests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) May 6, 2010 - 12:00am After an exhausting odyssey, it seems that the Obama administration has finally managed to get the peace process going again. Although the dispute over the construction freeze in East Jerusalem has precluded direct bilateral talks, the proximity talks will break the ice that has been clogging up the Israeli-Palestinian track for over a year. Regrettably, the good news was received in Jerusalem with a demonstrative chill and a lowering of the already modest expectations that the talks will bring peace any closer. » Read more

PNA to test U.S. credibility in proximity talks among criticism from opposition groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Saud Abu Ramadan, Fares Akram - May 6, 2010 - 12:00am A senior Palestinian National Authority (PNA) official said on Wednesday that the upcoming few weeks will show the U.S. administration's seriousness and credibility in pushing forward the four-month proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians. "The coming weeks will be a test for the ability and credibility of the U.S. administration to push forward real and serious negotiations that lead to tangible results and not only negotiations without outcomes," Nabil Abu Rdineh, spokesman of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told reporters. » Read more

PNA says Israel may thwart talks before starting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 6, 2010 - 12:00am Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused on Thursday Israel of working to thwart the U.S.- sponsored proximity talks before they begin. "Nobody expects the failure of the negotiations before they begin except those who want it to fail," Erekat said, responding to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor who on Wednesday said that the proximity talks "won't work" and "won't yield results." » Read more

May 5th

Hypocrisy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) April 26, 2010 - 12:00am The incitement issue is rife with hypocrisy on both sides. It is exaggerated by both Israelis and Palestinians so as to excuse their refusal to negotiate and to "score points", particularly with the international community. While the latter should be tough on incitement, it should not permit that issue to obfuscate the need for immediate progress toward a solution in more pragmatic spheres of the conflict. » Read more

Mitchell to give peace train a fresh push ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) May 4, 2010 - 12:00am But perhaps the big question today is: Are there still believers in the US-sponsored peace process? We've seen this before in the past. The US special envoy to the Middle East heads to the region amid signs that peace talks, bogged down for what seems like an eternity, are about to resume. The peace process, an American coinage that dates back to the 1970s, is going into its penultimate thrusts. It has become an institution, a diplomatic edifice that thrives and withers depending on geopolitical agendas and regional crises. » Read more

Ten reasons why we shouldn't dismiss proximity talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) May 5, 2010 - 12:00am The broad agreement to launch “proximity talks” between Israelis and Palestinians this week has been widely dismissed as a gesture without much hope or substance. That may be too pessimistic and too early a conclusion. The talks, in which George Mitchell will shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, may include some intriguing elements that are worth watching, especially vis-à-vis the US and its views on a permanent peace settlement. » Read more

White House charm offensive pays off: Wiesel says tension is ‘gone’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Opinion) May 4, 2010 - 12:00am When Elie Wiesel says it's all kosher, it's good. For now, anyway. President Obama capped an intensive two weeks of administration make-nice with Israeli officials and the American Jewish community by hosting Wiesel, the Nobel peace laureate and Holocaust memoirist, for lunch at the White House. "It was a good kosher lunch," was the first thing Wiesel pronounced, emerging from the White House to a gaggle of reporters. And not just the food. "There were moments of tension,” Wiesel said. “But the tension I think is gone, which is good.” » Read more

Soldiers charged with using boy, 10, as human shield ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Ben Lynfield - May 5, 2010 - 12:00am Two Israeli soldiers were charged in a military court yesterday with forcing a 10-year-old Palestinian boy in the Gaza Strip to handle objects they suspected of being rigged to explode. The soldiers were indicted for "ordering the boy to open cases that they thought were explosives", Major Dorit Toval, the prosecutor, said. The alleged crime took place during Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military onslaught waged more than a year ago with the aim of halting Hamas rocket fire at southern Israel. A gag order was placed barring publication of the names of the soldiers. » Read more