May 8th

Fayyad calls for end to land expropriation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am Battle over east Jerusalem lands heating up: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Friday took part in a prayer held on disputed lands in the Abu Dis area, where protest tents have been set up following the Israeli demand to expropriate lands. Fayyad participated in the prayer held by Kadi Taysir Tamami, head of the Palestinian Authority's Sharia courts, near Area E1, which is the focus of a dispute between the Palestinians and Israel, which seeks to build the community of Keidar and connect between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim. Hundreds of Jerusalem residents attended the prayer. » Read more

U.S. incorporating Livni's ideas into peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am The United States has adopted some of former foreign minister Tzipi Livni's recommendations about enlisting the Arab world into the peace process and have incorporated them into its Middle East policy, American and Israeli officials have told Haaretz. Livni's recommendations, which she passed on to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell during his visit to Israel a few days before she left her post, deal with enlisting the Arab world to take part in the peace process and to advance gradual normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel as part of a regional process. » Read more

Peace Now petitions court to stop settlement construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - May 7, 2009 - 12:00am Peace Now petitioned the High Court of Justice on Thursday, demanding that court instruct Defense Minister Ehud Barak and head of the IDF Central Command, Major-General Gadi Shamni, to order the immediate cessation of construction activities in the West Bank settlement of Halamish – Neve Tzuf. The organization further demands to know why no stop-work orders were issued, why the existing construction has not been demolished and why the necessary steps have not yet been taken to investigate and begin legal proceedings against those responsible for the illegal project. » Read more

Jerusalem worried over breakdown of U.S.-Israel cooperation under Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn, Barak Ravid - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am Senior officials in Jerusalem expressed concern recently over the sharp decline in the coordination between Israel and the United States on security and state affairs since President Barack Obama's entered the White House and especially since the formation of Israel's new government. Senior White House officials told their Israeli counterparts that Obama will demand Netanyahu completely suspend construction in the settlements, the officials said. » Read more

Where Will Israel Respond? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am Every time it finds itself cornered, Israel resorts to a balance-shattering violence that deflects attention away from the main problem at hand by depicting it as less important than reaching a ceasefire for example or ending the torture of civilians or the destruction of their economy - as has repeatedly happened with Lebanon and the Palestinians. » Read more

Damascus Deporting Mishal is a Good Step ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am I ask readers not to judge this commentary by its title, and hope they will read it to the last line. » Read more

The Hamas 'Peace' Gambit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer - (Opinion) May 8, 2009 - 12:00am "Apart from the time restriction (a truce that lapses after 10 years) and the refusal to accept Israel's existence, Mr. Meshal's terms approximate the Arab League peace plan . . ." -- Hamas peace plan, as explained by the New York Times "Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?" -- Tom Lehrer, satirist » Read more

Life in Nu'man land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory McCarthy - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian villagers of Nu'man have lived on their hilltop for generations, looking out across sweeping views of the terraced olive-tree slopes of the West Bank. But their view is changing dramatically and they fear there will be little place for Nu'man in the new landscape. » Read more

Pope in the Holy Land: The issues ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 8, 2009 - 12:00am As the Pope visits Jordan, Israel and the West Bank, he faces a combustible cocktail of issues combining relations between the world's three main monotheistic religions, one of the world's most intractable political conflicts and the legacy of the Holocaust. The BBC News Website looks at the areas of controversy he will have to navigate. CATHOLIC-JEWISH RELATIONS The Catholic Church has moved in recent decades to make amends for a long history of anti-Semitism. » Read more

Pope begins Mid-East pilgrimage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 8, 2009 - 12:00am Pope Benedict XVI stressed his "deep respect" for Islam as he arrived in Jordan to begin a Middle East visit. He described religious freedom as a fundamental human right, and said he hoped the Catholic church could play a role in the Middle East peace process. The Pope says he is going on his eight-day tour - his first to the region as pontiff - as a "pilgrim of peace". But Jordanian Islamist leaders have demanded that he apologise for a speech in 2006 that linked Islam and violence. After Jordan, the Pope's tour will take him to Israel and the West Bank. » Read more