May 3rd

Tensions Rise as Hamas Refuses to Take Sides in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Relations between the Palestinian group Hamas, which is based in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the Syrian authorities have been strained in recent weeks, mostly as a result of the antigovernment uprising there, with reports growing that Hamas is looking for another home. Al Hayat, the London-based pan-Arab newspaper, reported Saturday that Hamas’s political wing was decamping to Doha, the capital of Qatar, but Hamas officials in Syria and beyond it denied it. Similar reports circulated on Monday and denials were again issued. » Read more

Tensions Rise as Hamas Refuses to Take Sides in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Relations between the Palestinian group Hamas, which is based in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the Syrian authorities have been strained in recent weeks, mostly as a result of the antigovernment uprising there, with reports growing that Hamas is looking for another home. Al Hayat, the London-based pan-Arab newspaper, reported Saturday that Hamas’s political wing was decamping to Doha, the capital of Qatar, but Hamas officials in Syria and beyond it denied it. Similar reports circulated on Monday and denials were again issued. » Read more

May 2nd

Palestinians: Bin Laden's death is good for the cause of peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz May 2, 2011 - 12:00am The Western-backed Palestinian Authority said on Monday the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces was "good for the cause of peace," "Getting rid of Bin Laden is good for the cause of peace worldwide but what counts is to overcome the discourse and the methods -- the violent methods -- that were created and encouraged by Bin Laden and others in the world," PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib said. » Read more

Fayyad urges international intervention over Israeli freeze on Palestinian taxes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Prime Minster Salam Fayyad on Sunday urged foreign powers to intervene after Israel froze the transfer of tens of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax money following the formation of a Hamas-Fatah unity government. "Threats ... will not deter us from concluding our reconciliation process. It is our policy and we must work harder to end our divisions as soon as possible," added Fayyad. » Read more

Palestinian reconciliation is good news for Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) May 2, 2011 - 12:00am What do they have in common - the hawks of Iz al-Din al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; his bodyguard, Defense Minister Ehud Barak; and Nobel Peace Prize laureate President Shimon Peres ? They all threw a fit over the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas. » Read more

Palestinian reconciliation may lead to Israel's Palestinian separation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) May 2, 2011 - 12:00am As someone who considers herself to be a conservative journalist, I make an effort to refrain from reporting about what will happen in the future. Too many headlines, in my opinion, are about what so-and-so will say and what the fate of so-and-so will be. In the face of competition from the Internet and television, the printed press, afraid of becoming irrelevant, is often forced into making predictions. "I forgot my crystal ball at home" - is how I respond to the question "What will be?" I prefer to focus on what has been done and been said today and yesterday. » Read more

Opening of Rafah crossing offers Israel challenges ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - May 1, 2011 - 12:00am The Egyptian government's recent decision to open the Rafah border crossing point, the only land route into the Gaza Strip that doesn't pass through the Israeli territory, has left Israel scrambling for a response. Following the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Israel has imposed a land and maritime blockade on the enclave. » Read more

Hamas mourns bin Laden's death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas on Monday condemned the killing by US forces of Osama bin Laden and mourned him as an "Arab holy warrior" while Iran condemned "Zionist terror" and a US national security official told Reuters the mission of the special forces team that hunted down the terrorist had been to kill him. "This was a kill operation," the official said, making clear there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive in Pakistan. » Read more

Israel's Likud hard-liners calls for annexing West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 1, 2011 - 12:00am Amid ongoing Palestinian efforts to unilaterally obtain recognition of statehood in the United Nations in September, members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud-led cabinet are reiterating calls for Israel to respond with a unilateral annexation of the West Bank. "If they take steps, we will take steps. I think that we need to immediately annex all of the territories on the same day (the UN declares the establishment of Palestine)," Welfare and Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon told an audience at a meeting of the Likud's young leadership forum on April 28. » Read more

No "final decision" yet on Palestinian tax freeze: Israeli officials ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli officials remained close- mouthed Monday after Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz announced a day earlier a decision to freeze the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) following the reconciliation accord between Fatah and Hamas. Steinitz, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many other senior Israeli officials, have slammed the interim unity government deal reached between Hamas and the Fatah-ruled PNA last week in Cairo, and vowed not to negotiate with Hamas, which Israel maintains is a terrorist organization. » Read more