For Mideast peace, Israel needs to own up to Palestinian pain
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Opinion) May 19, 2011 - 12:00am

Look what a few hundred demonstrators can do in a day: 1948 is on the agenda. The breach of the fence in the Golan Heights was enough to breach a far older and more complex fence, bringing 1948 to center stage in the political discussion.

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Don’t let the radicals win
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yariv Oppenheimer - (Opinion) May 19, 2011 - 12:00am

In one sense, Israel’s leadership should be grateful to the hundreds of protestors who invaded the Golan and illustrated to all of us what Israel faces ahead of the Palestinian UN move in September. In the face of settler insistence to cling to the Greater Israel vision and Palestinian demands (endorsed by small parts of Israel’s Left) to turn the territories and Israel into one state, lacking a Jewish majority, the mainstream of Israel’s society must unite and earnestly promote the two-state vision.

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Rattling the Cage: Two cheers for Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) May 18, 2011 - 12:00am

There’s a way out of this frogmarch to pariahhood. If Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to pick up the negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas where they left off under Ehud Olmert, the Palestinians wouldn’t have us on the run like they do now. If Netanyahu agreed to give up the equivalent of the land we colonized in 1967, the world would cheer, and the wind would go out of the sails of the Palestinian demand to return to the land we rightly fought for in 1948.

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UC Debates Free Speech Vs. Federal Protection
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Rex Weiner - May 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Shlomo Dubnov, an associate professor at University of California, San Diego, had an unusually busy schedule the first week of May.

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Mahmoud Abbas’s formula for war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) May 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Middle East diplomacy is settling into a familiar pattern. Desperate to jump-start an Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Obama administration and its European allies are piling pressure on Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu, demanding that he offer a plan, concessions — something — that will provide the basis for starting negotiations with Palestinians.

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George Mitchell resigns as U.S. Middle East envoy
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Yahoo News - May 16, 2011 - 12:00am

George Mitchell, Obama's special envoy for Middle East peace, will step down after a frustrating two and a half years seeking to jump-start the stalemated Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warmly thanked Mitchell, 77, the former Senate majority leader from Maine and North Ireland peace negotiator, for his service, in statements sent out by the White House Friday. Mitchell, in a brief resignation letter to the president, said he'd agreed to serve two years, and had now served longer than that.

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Italy upgrades Palestine's diplomatic status
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said Monday that Rome would upgrade Palestine's representation to a full diplomatic mission. During a visit to Bethlehem, Napolitano said the head of the mission would have the status of an ambassador. At a joint press conference, President Mahmoud Abbas thanked his Italian counterpart for upgrading Palestinian diplomatic status and for Rome's commitment to a peaceful settlement in the Middle East. France, Portugal, Norway, Greece, Spain and Ireland have all elevated Palestine's diplomatic representation in their capitals.

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CUNY trustee asked to resign over anti-Palestinian comments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jordana Horn - May 13, 2011 - 12:00am

The trustee who opposed Jewish-American Tony Kushner’s honorary degree on the basis of the playwright’s views on Israel is being called on to resign. Kushner had originally been removed from a list of candidates for honorary degrees from the City University of New York after trustee Jeff Wiesenfeld denounced his past statements about Israel and Palestinians, including a reference to “ethnic cleansing” during the formation of the state. A special meeting of the trustees was held on Monday night, and Kushner was put back on the list to receive a degree.

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George Mitchell resigns as U.S. Middle East envoy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yahoo News
by Laura Rozen - May 13, 2011 - 12:00am

George Mitchell, Obama's special envoy for Middle East peace, will step down after a frustrating two and a half years seeking to jump-start the stalemated Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warmly thanked Mitchell, 77, the former Senate majority leader from Maine and North Ireland peace negotiator, for his service, in statements sent out by the White House Friday. Mitchell, in a brief resignation letter to the president, said he'd agreed to serve two years, and had now served longer than that.

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Israeli-Palestinian sports talks progress at IOC
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli and Palestinian Olympic officials stepped up efforts to improve cooperation during a second round of talks with the IOC on Thursday. With free movement for athletes and coaches high on the agenda, Israeli officials promised to present their government a Palestinian proposal to help overcome travel restrictions imposed on their territories. International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge described the follow-up talks to a January summit as "frank and friendly."

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