Arab League chief: Hamas not a terror group
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 10, 2011 - 12:00am

Arab League Secretary-General and one of Egypt's leading presidential candidates Amr Moussa does not believe Hamas is a terrorist organization. In an interview with the Washington Post, Moussa said: "The view that Hamas is a terrorist organization is a view that pertains to a minority of countries, not a majority. Being a terrorist is not a stigma forever."

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Tony Kushner to receive CUNY honorary degree after all
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
May 10, 2011 - 12:00am

Trustees of the City University of New York approved an honorary degree for playwright Tony Kushner, reversing an earlier decision. The executive committee of the CUNY board of trustees voted Monday night to award Kushner an honorary doctorate during commencement ceremonies next month. The committee can reverse decisions of the full board. CUNY's board on May 2 had struck the playwright's name from a list of those scheduled to receive honorary degrees at CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice after a university trustee, Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, attacked Kushner as anti-Israel.

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West Bank: Tax Withholding by Israel Will Delay Paychecks for Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - May 9, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, left, said Monday that the Palestinian Authority could not pay the salaries of its employees on time this month because of Israel’s decision to withhold the transfer of tax revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. Israel delayed the transfer of almost $90 million after the reconciliation last week between Fatah, the party that dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza.

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France ups PA aid as Israel holds tax funds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
May 9, 2011 - 12:00am

France on Monday announced it would donate 10 million euros ($14.3 million) to the Palestinian Authority after Israel froze tax revenue transfers following a Palestinian unity agreement. The aid infusion came as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told reporters his government was unable to pay employees because of Israel's decision to halt revenue transfers after Fatah and Hamas inked a unity deal. "The Palestinian Authority cannot pay the salaries for the month until the Israeli government transfers the money," he said.

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Palestinians miss salaries for first time since '07
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Sawafta - May 9, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority said on Monday it had not been able to pay public sector salaries for the first time since 2007 because of Israel's decision to halt the transfer of tax funds. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Israel's decision, taken in protest at a Palestinian unity deal involving the Islamist group Hamas -- had put the Ramallah-based government in an impossible financial position.

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Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s leftist daughter, Adina Bar Shalom, talks about meeting Mahmoud Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Noam Sheizaf - May 9, 2011 - 12:00am

The delegation of Israelis who traveled last week to the West Bank headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, the Mukata in Ramallah, consisted mostly of the usual suspects. There were a few newcomers, such as Israeli tycoon Idan Ofer, but for the most part they were Israeli former officials, academics and activists who often talk about the need to advance the peace process and move toward a two-state solution.

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Independence Day and the ‘Nakba Law’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Issa Boursheh - (Opinion) May 8, 2011 - 12:00am

‘We appeal – in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months – to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the state on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.” This is what the founders of the State of Israel guaranteed to the family of nations and its own people. Full and equal citizenship; and this is what I, as a Palestinian-Israeli, am anticipating, with fairly low expectations.

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UN chief presses Israel to release Palestinian funds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - May 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel is under pressure to release tax revenues belonging to the Palestinian Authority (PA) which it has blocked in response to the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and an umbrella group of countries that make donations to the PA have urged the Israeli government to hand over a sum of around 300m shekels (£53.1m). The income is used to pay the salaries of PA employees and to provide services.

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News Analysis: Israel to continue transferring funds to PNA under international pressure: analysts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - May 6, 2011 - 12:00am

The Israeli government is facing international pressure as it suspends the transfer of some 89 million U.S. dollars of taxes that it has collected on behalf of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), in the wake of Hamas and Fatah signing the Egypt-sponsored reconciliation deal. Local analysts speaking to Xinhua on Thursday estimate that the money will be transferred soon, and that the EU is likely to continue providing aid to the Palestinians at least for now, though there is a strong possibility that the U.S. will end its aid. ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES

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Finance Minister: Ridiculous to give PA money days before signing deal with Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Moti Bassok - May 6, 2011 - 12:00am

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz yesterday defended his decision to freeze the transfer of tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority, saying it was meant to act as a warning to the PA against moving closer to Hamas.

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