May 4th

Gaza government executes spy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 4, 2011 - 12:00am Gaza's Ministry of the Interior announced the death Wednesday of a man convicted of collaboration, identified only as A.S., and said to have been found guilty of spying. It is the sixth execution that has been carried out by the Gaza government, in contradiction to a Palestinian law that necessitates the approval of the president before death sentences are carried out. The ministry said in a statement that the death sentence was carried out after all means of appeal had been completed, and after obtaining the approval of the Gaza government. » Read more

Factional tensions cause unity ink delay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 4, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas leader in exile Khalid Mash'al's insistence on delivering a speech at the signing ceremony of unity documents in Cairo on Wednesday delayed the start of the historic event by more than an hour, sources told Ma'an. Sources said President, PLO leader and Fatah chairman Mahmoud Abbas would be the only Palestinian figure to speak at the event, but tensions rose when Mash'al said that he - as the representative of Hamas - would also like to address the audience. » Read more

Candidates for the next Palestinian PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 4, 2011 - 12:00am With the Palestinian unity agreement signed and set to be sealed on Wednesday noon in Cairo, four candidates have emerged as the top contenders for the post of prime minister. The candidates have been identified as follows: Munib Al-Masri Billionaire philanthropist and unity activist from Nablus, who spearheaded a unity push with business owners and independent leaders in the West Bank, traveling more than once to Gaza to meet with figures there. He heads PEDECO, a Palestinian investment firm. » Read more

Palestinians optimistic on Hamas-Fatah unity deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - May 4, 2011 - 12:00am On the eve of a pact to reconcile the two leading Palestinian factions, Palestinians are optimistic that the Arab Spring may help mend a four-year split and strengthen their push for statehood. "The opinion of all Palestinians is to get united. It brings them a sense of power, and a sense of strength, and a sense of unity to be able to deal with Israel," says Bassem Ezbedi, a political science professor at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank. He acknowledged that there are "all sorts of obstacles," some of which could be "explosive." » Read more

The Arab Spring is driving the Hamas-Fatah unity deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Robert Malley - (Opinion) May 3, 2011 - 12:00am The impact on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is the most debated aspect of the “unity” deal between the two principal Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, but it is almost certainly the least significant. So far, U.S. reactions to the unexpected agreement have been predictably negative, with Washington warning against forming a reconciled government with an unreformed Hamas. In so doing, it appears to view this deal through the obsolete prism of a moribund peace process and a frozen conflict between a moderate and militant axis. » Read more

Support the Palestinian unity government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jimmy Carter - (Opinion) May 3, 2011 - 12:00am This is a decisive moment. Under the auspices of the Egyptian government, Palestine’s two major political movements — Fatah and Hamas — are signing a reconciliation agreement on Wednesday that will permit both to contest elections for the presidency and legislature within a year. If the United States and the international community support this effort, they can help Palestinian democracy and establish the basis for a unified Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza that can make a secure peace with Israel. » Read more

Gaza: Barenboim Performs in Palestinian Territory ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram - May 4, 2011 - 12:00am The Israeli musician Daniel Barenboim and 25 members of his orchestra performed in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Mr. Barenboim, who has honorary Palestinian citizenship, is a harsh critic of Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and he co-founded a music education project in the Palestinian territories.

May 3rd

The Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Agreement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Institute For National Security Studies- Tel Aviv University by Shlomo Brom - May 3, 2011 - 12:00am The Egyptian announcement of April 27 that Fatah and Hamas reached an agreement on reconciliation took many people by surprise, including Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, who himself did not believe that Hamas would accept the Egyptian reconciliation offer. Israel and the United States, who have factored the rift between Fatah and Hamas as a central element in their policies, were likewise surprised. Against this background, several major questions about the reconciliation agreement emerge. What moved the parties to change their positions and reach an accord? » Read more

Obama must bring his daring to Israeli-Palestinian peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) May 3, 2011 - 12:00am The value of yesterday's assassination of Osama bin Laden is more symbolic than practical. The Al-Qaida leader has influenced events around the world more than anyone else in the past decade. He ordered the attacks of September 11, 2001, which led to the American military intervention in Afghanistan and indirectly led to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. » Read more

Obama has been given an extra chance - he must use it wisely ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - May 3, 2011 - 12:00am The killing of Osama bin Laden in a commando raid in Pakistan has shown that America has not lost its initiative and fighting spirit in the war against radical Islam. President Barack Obama has proved he is no latter-day Neville Chamberlain, the leader who tried to appease the forces of evil. » Read more