May 26th

MESS Report / Key U.S. figure in Israel-PA talks, Lt. General Dayton, steps down ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - May 26, 2010 - 12:00am The United States government's special security coordinator in the Middle East, Lt. General Keith Dayton, who has played a key role in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, will step down from the post in the fall, Haaretz has learned. Though initially scheduled to serve in his capacity for one year, Dayton has remained in the region for five years, at the behest of the U.S. government. » Read more

Rahm Emanuel invites Netanyahu to discuss 'shared security interests' with Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - May 26, 2010 - 12:00am White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington for talks with the U.S. President Obama on regional peace and security. "On behalf of the President I am happy to extend an invitation to visit President Obama in the White House for a working meeting to discuss our shared security interests, as well as our close co-operation in achieving peace between Israel and its neighbors," Emanuel told Netanyahu at the prime minister's Jerusalem office. » Read more

Gaza aid agencies urge Israel to ease Gaza access restriction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 25, 2010 - 12:00am Humanitarian aid agencies urged on Monday the Israeli government to ensure full and unfettered access into and out of the Gaza Strip for materials and exports necessary for the revival of the agriculture and fishing sectors in Gaza. "Maintaining agricultural livelihood and local food production in Gaza depend on the opening of border crossings," Philippe Lazzarini, UN acting humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, told a news conference in Gaza on behalf of several humanitarian aid agencies. » Read more

Israel ends highway segregation, pleasing no-one ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Douglas Hamilton - May 25, 2010 - 12:00am Starting Friday, Israeli troops will guard new checkpoints in the West Bank that nullify the impact of an Israeli court order allowing Palestinian drivers to use route 443. What was hailed as a victory for justice six months ago, when a 2002 ban on Palestinian traffic was ruled illegal, now looks like sleight of hand presaging a "human rights travesty", says the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). » Read more

Israel to permit entry to Arab investors for PIC ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 26, 2010 - 12:00am Israel will permit an exceptional 815 Middle East businessmen and women to enter the West Bank for Bethlehem's second Palestine Investment Conference (PIC) in June, officials announced on Tuesday. Executive director of PIC Ja’far Hdeib called news of the permits, communicated by Israel's Civil Administration late Monday night, the first signs of success for the conference, titled Investing in Palestine: Empowering Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. » Read more

UN peace envoy: 2-state solution urgent ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 26, 2010 - 12:00am UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry spoke Tuesday of the urgency of achieving the two state solution at a UN International Meeting in Turkey. » Read more

Gaza: 15 injured in Israeli airstrikes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 26, 2010 - 12:00am Fifteen Palestinians were injured on Wednesday morning as Israeli F16 warplanes bombarded a training base belonging to Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources confirmed that some of the victims sustained critical wounds, with media coordinator for Gaza medical services Adham Abu Selmiyya saying injured were evacuated to hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip. He explained that several houses close to the training base sustained material damage. » Read more

What Do They Want from the Palestinians? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Yariv Oppenheimer - May 26, 2010 - 12:00am Those Palestinians, what ingrates. Instead of being happy that the Israeli economy has learned to exploit the lands of Judea and Samaria and to invest inordinate sums of money to build factories and industrial zones in the territories, the Palestinian Authority announces a boycott and a ban on purchasing Israeli goods that are manufactured in the settlements. We could have expected better from the Palestinians. » Read more

PA's Abbas slams Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - May 26, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas harshly slammed the Iranian regime Tuesday for interfering in Palestinian affairs. In an interview with Egyptian television, Abbas said that Hamas was refusing to achieve intra-Palestinian reconciliation because of an Iranian veto. "We, the Palestinian people, are like a hijacked airplane," he said. "The decision-making power is not in our hands, but rather, in the hands of the Iranians. For that reason, the Palestinian people's unity, just like the plane, is also hijacked." » Read more

Effective resistance to illegal occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - May 26, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian campaign to boycott settlement products is enjoying exceptionally high levels of enthusiasm and support from all sectors of Palestinian society. It is also garnering sympathy and understanding from a wide range of members of the international community. » Read more