Managing the Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

ISRAEL'S BLOCKADE of Gaza is crumbling. In the wake of last week's clash between Israelis commandos and militants on a relief flotilla, the world at large has condemned it; the Obama administration has called it "unsustainable." Egypt reopened its crossing into Gaza for humanitarian aid and some travel. But the solution is not as simple as simply ending the checks on sea and land traffic by Israel. What's needed is a new regime that addresses the legitimate needs of Palestinians in Gaza without further empowering Hamas and its patron, Iran.

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Israel must clarify Palestine's status
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Hussein Ibish - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am

While world attention has been heavily focused on efforts to break the siege of Gaza, Palestinians in the West Bank are pursuing a series of new, nonviolent, strategies challenging the Israeli occupation. What they are primarily seeking, and what the Israeli government is desperately trying to avoid, is clarity about the status of the occupied territories.

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The Leadership of the Palestinian Cause between Turkey and Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Out of the Israeli brutality against civilians on board the flotilla in international waters, new realities emerged that may lead to radical solutions if the major players in the International Quartet acted wisely and boldly, and if the regional powers led by Egypt and Turkey understood well the opportunity to support Palestine without one-upmanship. Israel has lost its mind in recent times as it is under extreme pressure that has shaken its confidence in its ability to plan strategies and draw in American support for them, as usual.

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Proximity talks still on
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Between President Mahmoud Abbas and US officials, the start of so-called proximity talks appear not to have been derailed by Israel's attack on an aid ship and killing of at least nine activists. On Wednesday, both Abbas and the US deputy treasurer spoke at the Palestinian Investment Conference, stressing the need for talks, while US special envoy to the Mideast George Mitchell addressed the conference Thursday and said talks must go on despite the attack. Mitchell, who met Abbas after the opening session, said the raid illustrated the need to move forward with peace talks.

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The flotilla - a non-violent success?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Jonathan Power - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am

The unprovoked and murderous Israeli commando attack on the peace flotilla is the Selma of the Arab-Jewish struggle for the land of Palestine.

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Abbas urges world to protect Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday praised activists who took part in an aid sail to the Gaza Strip, which left nine people dead following an Israel Defense Forces raid of the ships. Abbas lauded the passengers killed in the raid and said that the act of solidarity with Gaza was "very respectable". Speaking at the Palestine Investment Conference in Bethlehem, the Palestinian president said that just like the sail, which was aimed at breaking the blockade imposed on the Strip, the conference was a sail aimed at breaking the economic siege on Palestine.

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Mideast Peace Tops List of Hopeless Causes: Aaron David Miller
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Aaron David Miller - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Groucho Marx, one of America’s pre- eminent philosophers, once quipped, “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes.” I thought of Groucho the other day, while ruminating about President Barack Obama and the crisis after Israeli commandos boarded a ship ostensibly carrying human-rights activists and aid supplies headed for Gaza in defiance of Israel’s blockade.

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A way forward for Netanyahu and Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Globe and Mail
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) May 28, 2010 - 12:00am

After much effort, U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration has succeeded in resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace process through “proximity talks.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Canada this weekend, and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas meet separately with U.S. envoy George Mitchell to discuss the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

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'Israeli-Arab peace a US priority'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - May 28, 2010 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON – Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the top US national security priorities, according to the National Security Strategy released by the White House on Thursday. Along with defeating al-Qaida, leading the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and ending the Iran challenge to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the strategy refers to Arab-Israeli peace as an important American interest.

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Obama extends White House invite to Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 28, 2010 - 12:00am

One day after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, the same offer was extended to President Mahmoud Abbas. A statement from the White House press secretary released on Thursday morning confirmed that Abbas would sit with US President Barack Obama on 9 June, almost a week after Netanyahu meets with the leader. Netanyahu will head to Canada later in the week on a previously scheduled visit, and from there travel south to the US for his meeting with Obama on Tuesday 1 June.

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