May 6th

'Arabs revising peace plan to win Israel backing for 2 states' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoav Stern - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am Arab states are revising elements of a 2002 peace plan to encourage Israel to agree to the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state, the London-based paper Al-Quds al-Arabi reported Wednesday. The countries are making the amendments at United States President Barack Obama's request, the paper said. Some of the changes deal with a controversial "right of return" for Palestinian refugees to Israel or a future state of Palestine. » Read more

A moment of reckoning in the Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) May 6, 2009 - 12:00am The US-Israeli relationship today is like a bunch of oranges, apples and bananas thrown into a blender to make a fruit smoothie. Action is the name of the game, but outcomes are not clear. » Read more

UN will seek damages from Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by James Reinl - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am In the wake of a UN report that blasts Israel for damaging UN buildings and killing staff during its three-week invasion of Gaza, the secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, said yesterday he will seek reparations. Speaking with journalists following the publication of a report by the UN’s Board of Inquiry, Mr Ban held back from criticising Israel, but said the world body was seeking cash compensation for damage sustained. » Read more

Obama outreach to Muslims worries Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press May 4, 2009 - 12:00am A solid majority of Jewish Israelis worry that President Barack Obama's outreach to the Arab and Muslim world will come at their expense, a new poll showed Monday. Israelis also strongly back stopping Iran's nuclear program, even if Israel has to attack Iran without American approval, according to the survey. » Read more

Obama and Netanyahu administrations listen to each other at AIPAC ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Analysis) May 5, 2009 - 12:00am “This relationship matters to me,” one partner says. “Show me,” says the other. Such conversations, as any couple can attest, usually don't augur the happiest of chats. If this year’s AIPAC policy conference stopped well short of a full-blown spat between the pro-Israel lobby and the Obama administration, it was because each side was listening to the other: Obama officials listened to Israeli fears about the Iranian nuclear threat, and AIPAC and Israel's prime minister listened to the U.S. administration’s insistence on the inevitability of Palestinian statehood. » Read more

At Aipac Conference, Biden Calls for Settlement Freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) May 5, 2009 - 12:00am Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. John Kerry pledged to confront Iran and protect Israel, but called on the Jewish state to freeze settlements. In their addresses Tuesday on the closing day of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference, both said President Obama was committed to removing Iran’s nuclear threat. Biden said Israel, the Palestinians and others in the region needed to take demonstrable steps toward peace. “Show me!” he shouted. The vice president spelled out steps that needed to be taken by the various parties. » Read more

Blair: New Mideast peace plan unveiled in weeks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press May 6, 2009 - 12:00am The Obama administration and international negotiators are drafting a new strategy for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and expect to unveil it within six weeks, said international Mideast envoy Tony Blair. The plan is being devised by the Obama administration, with input from others, the former British prime minister told Palestinian reporters. » Read more

Gaza patients questionings 'rise' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 4, 2009 - 12:00am The number of Palestinians forced to provide information before being let out of Gaza for medical treatment is rising, an Israeli group has reported. In the first three months of 2009 more than 400 patients were interrogated, Physicians for Human Rights says. They say Israeli security services are involved in a systematic attempt to recruit Palestinians as collaborators. Israeli officials say they are carrying out security checks to ensure those entering Israel do not commit attacks. » Read more

U.N. Inquiry Finds Israel Purposely Fired on School in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Colum Lynch - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am A United Nations inquiry into the Gaza conflict earlier this year concluded that Israel intentionally struck a U.N.-run elementary school, killing three young men seeking shelter from the fighting, according to a summary released Tuesday. The incident was one of eight in which the Israel Defense Forces fired on U.N. personnel or facilities that drew scrutiny from a three-member U.N. board of inquiry. The board found that Israel had repeatedly breached the inviolability of U.N. » Read more

Can the Pope Bring the Peace? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by John L. Allen, Jr. - (Opinion) May 6, 2009 - 12:00am SYMBOLIC gestures are the tools of any leader’s trade, but nowhere do they spell the difference between life and death quite like the Middle East. For example, the visit in 2000 by Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister, to Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the site of two Islamic shrines, helped set off the second intifada. » Read more