May 18th

Abu Marzouq: Hamas and Fatah to meet in Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 18, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The leaderships of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Cairo next week to revive their stalled reconciliation agreement, the deputy head of Hamas' politburo said Friday. Moussa Abu Marzouq told the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat that the meeting would focus on the long-awaited unity government which the parties had pledged to form to prepare for elections. » Read more

Abbas amends election law by decree ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 18, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday issued an executive order amending the 2005 election law as a precursor to holding a municipal vote sooner than scheduled, an official said. The minister of local governance, Khaled Qawasmi, told Voice of Palestine radio that the decree would help the new government take a decision to hold elections "as soon as possible." He added that the law would allow holding an election in more than one stage in case more than a day was needed. » Read more

Interpol 'refuses to help' in Arafat adviser case ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 18, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Interpol is refusing to cooperate with Palestinian prosecutors to summon a former presidential economic adviser to the West Bank to answer corruption charges, the attorney-general said Friday. Ahmad al-Mughni told Ma'an that Muhammad Rashid, who served former President Yasser Arafat, has failed to respond to repeated summons. » Read more

May 17th

Is Israel united in obstruction? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 15, 2012 - 12:00am The new coalition government suddenly formed last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the new leader of the Kadima party, Shaul Mofaz, remains something of a mystery. It is essentially a deal between two men, not two parties. Only Netanyahu and Mofaz really know the terms under which they joined forces.  » Read more

Israel's Image Revisted ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) May 16, 2012 - 12:00am Writing in the Wall Street Journal this week on the occasion of Israeli Independence Day, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren penned a powerful op-ed on the erosion of Israel's image. His conclusion: Israel's image has deteriorated in large part because of a "systematic delegitimization of the Jewish state." » Read more

Ice cream in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Egypt Independent by Amr Ezzat - (Opinion) May 15, 2012 - 12:00am In 2008, stifled by an Israeli blockade exacerbated by a weak Egyptian position, Gazans barged through Egypt’s borders to get needed supplies of food and other products. At the time, some Egyptians sympathized with our brothers in Gaza, while others condemned their act, saying their break-in violated Egypt's sovereignty. In response I published an article in my blog titled “Crossing the lines,” in which I mocked those who were more angered by the Palestinians’ transgression of the borders than they were by their suffering and suppression.  » Read more

Prisoners and the wounded, crossing borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Jamal Muqbel - (Opinion) May 17, 2012 - 12:00am About four years ago, a friend of mine told me about a meeting between Israelis and Palestinians near the Dead Sea. I really did not want to get involved at all, but my friend said to me, "Just come with me and you do not have to talk or participate." » Read more

Israel Must Recognize Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) May 17, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli judiciary today reaffirmed that Israel is the only country on earth that does not recognize itself.  » Read more

Time for a new deal for administrative detainees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jessica Montell - (Opinion) May 17, 2012 - 12:00am Back in 1997, not long after I joined the B’Tselem staff, one of the first projects I was assigned was to research the issue of administrative detention. I collected hundreds of individual detention orders and pored over hundreds of transcripts from administrative detention appeal hearings. What struck me most about Israel’s use of administrative detention was the sense that the system functioned like an assembly line, issuing cookie-cutter detention orders. » Read more

Inside Out: Nakba lessons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) May 16, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinians and their supporters commemorated Nakba Day on Tuesday, marking the 64th anniversary of what they refer to as the “catastrophe” of the fall of Palestine and the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. In the course of the War of Independence in 1948-9 hundreds of thousands of Palestinians lost their homes and livelihoods, and subsequently found themselves unable to go home. Many of the refugees and their descendants still live in squalid refugee camps across the Middle East, clinging to a dream of a personal return and national restoration. » Read more