May 7th

Israel Throws Birthday Bash As Jets Strike Gaza Targets
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
May 7, 2008 - 6:51pm

Israel last night kicked off week-long unprecedented celebrations to commemorate its creation 60 years ago on the land of Palestine. The celebrations started hours after Israeli tanks and bulldozers rumbled into the southern Gaza Strip, while military jets struck a series of Palestinian targets. One Palestinian was killed and at least 14 were wounded in the fighting, according to witnesses.

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The Near Impossibility Of A Mideast Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Eran Yashiv - (Opinion) May 7, 2008 - 6:50pm

With Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visiting Israel this week and President George W. Bush expected next week, talks about peace between Israel and the Palestinians are on the agenda yet again. This elusive peace is widely proclaimed as both essential and achievable. But while the former is true and desirable, the latter is a widespread misperception. The solution to the conflict exists and is well known, but it cannot be implemented in the foreseeable future.

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As It Turns 60, The Fear Is Israel Has Decided It Can Get By Without Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jonathan Freedland - (Opinion) May 7, 2008 - 6:49pm

n the wee small hours on Israeli television, they show reruns of what was once a staple form of mass entertainment: kibbutz choirs - the men in pressed work shirts, the women in peasant skirts - singing Hebrew folk melodies exalting the Land of Israel, while a smiling audience joins in. The pictures were black and white, the sets cardboard, and the programmes interminable - a socialist-realist tableau of a simple farming nation engaged in wholesome, patriotic amusement.

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Palestinian Police Clash With Militants In West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Bourdreaux - May 7, 2008 - 6:43pm

Palestinian policemen dispatched last week to an unruly West Bank district clashed Tuesday with Islamic militants there, wounding two of them during a crackdown that could influence peace talks with Israel. It was the first such confrontation since 480 police reinforcements clad in black and khaki uniforms marched into the city of Jenin before thousands of cheering residents Saturday to launch "Operation Smile and Hope."

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After 60 Years, Arabs In Israel Are Outsiders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - May 7, 2008 - 6:43pm

As Israel toasts its 60th anniversary in the coming weeks, rejoicing in Jewish national rebirth and democratic values, the Arabs who make up 20 percent of its citizens will not be celebrating. Better off and better integrated than ever in their history, freer than a vast majority of other Arabs, Israel’s 1.3 million Arab citizens are still far less well off than Israeli Jews and feel increasingly unwanted.

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May 6th

ATFP President Dr. Ziad Asali argues for empowering moderates over extremists in the Arab News (1). Israel¹s 60th anniversary is marked with reflection (2, 4, 6, 10). Israelis and Palestinians mull the effect of corruption allegations against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (7,9). In the New York Times, Ethan Bronner examines the Palestinian citizens of Israel. (2).

May 5th

It's Time For Livni
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) May 5, 2008 - 5:34pm

As expected, Ehud Olmert stated yesterday at the start of the cabinet meeting that, "I have an agenda as prime minister of Israel, I intend to carry out this agenda, and continue conducting the meetings and performing the tasks I have to do." In other words, he intends to continue the agenda according to which part of his time is spent with investigators and lawyers, and the rest with Mahmoud Abbas and Condoleezza Rice.

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Don't Brand J-street As Anti-zionist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Kimche - (Opinion) May 5, 2008 - 5:33pm

We tend to make our political calculations based on situations we know, based on the past, and not on changes that are happening before our eyes. Don Rumsfeld once wrote the following delightful truism: There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know.

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Time For National Turning Point
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) May 5, 2008 - 5:30pm

As Israelis finalize preparations for their momentous 60th anniversary - a date marking 10 years of consistent economic growth and industrious expansion - there remains the underlying question that will go unanswered yet another decade: What will be done with the West Bank and Golan Heights? Despite all of its considerable achievements, cross-border violence persists and Israel's existence remains fundamentally insecure.

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Roadmap Needs Serious Us Monitoring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) May 5, 2008 - 5:27pm

The fifth anniversary of the internationally sponsored roadmap to Palestinian-Israeli peace coincided with an unusual period of intense references to it by politicians and leaders. During both the visit to Washington of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week and the current visit to the region of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attention was focused on the details of the roadmap, which, when it was drafted, enjoyed the support of almost every single country in the world. And yet there is no sign of it being implemented.

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