May 5th

Israel planning new West Bank train network, minister says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am


Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) announced Tuesday that the ministry was promoting a plan to establish a train network in the West Bank which will converge with the new train tracks planned throughout Israel. Katz said that the plan had been drawn up with the cooperation of international organizations which have expressed great interest in the issue. He added that a train track is planned to run between Jenin, the Yizrael Valley and to Jerusalem.


Obama advisor: Jerusalem issue at end of talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 5, 2010 - 12:00am


Just before the start of proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the Obama administration has indicated that the issue of Jerusalem will be discussed at the end of the talks, and not at the beginning. The US interest in Jerusalem stems from construction plans made public during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the region, just a short time before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to meet with US President Barack Obama in the White House.


Like a plane without a pilot
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unjustifiably draws fire for policies that move ahead without his involvement. The Jewish intellectuals, who suddenly saw the darkness and were terrified, should know: Even if not one more Jewish home is built in the occupied territories ?(including East Jerusalem?), the enormous apparatus of domination continues to operate there with an inner logic of many years’ duration. It moves along by itself, like some huge aircraft without a pilot.


Court orders state to explain why Amona outpost not demolished
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - May 5, 2010 - 12:00am


The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction requiring the state to explain why it has not followed through with evacuating every illegal outpost built on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The court made its ruling particularly with regard to the Amona outpost, where settlers began to build in 1995 and have continued to do so despite an official evacuation as recently as 2006.


PLO factions fail to stand united in municipal polls
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 5, 2010 - 12:00am


Factions of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) failed to agree on entering municipal elections in the West Bank under a unified list, representatives said on Tuesday. "Forming a unified list is far away and difficult now despite the talks," Amin Maqboul, a member of Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Xinhua. President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, the main faction in the organization, held several dialogues with the leftist groups of the PLO over the past two months to unite in the elections that would be held in July.


Israelis and Palestinians stand to gain from talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Karin Laub - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am


Both Israelis and Palestinians stand to gain by renewing U.S.- mediated contacts this week — the Obama administration's first sustained, on-the-ground attempt to bridge vast differences over what a Palestinian state should look like.


Anti-wall demonstrators face prison term, fines
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 3, 2010 - 12:00am


An Israeli military court sentenced a 16-year-old Hebron boy to three months in prison, while six others were sentenced to three years of probation and a 2,000 shekel (537 US dollars) of fines for participation in an anti-wall rally. The sentencing, carried out at the Ofer military base and detention center near Ramallah in the West Bank on Sunday, saw the Israeli military prosecutor argue that the men and teenagers had endangered the lives of Israeli soldiers.


PA sets deadline to end settlement work
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 5, 2010 - 12:00am


The Palestinian Authority is working in full swing to make sure no laborers will be working in Israeli settlements by the end of 2011, PA Minster of National Economy Hasan Abu Libda said Tuesday. “There are currently 25,000 Palestinians who make their living from working in Israeli settlements. They should stop as they aren’t any different from 200,000 other unemployed workers,” Abu Libda said in an interview with Ma'an.


If Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resume, Israel plans to highlight incitement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am


With some expecting US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to resume this month, Israel is complaining of Palestinian government-sponsored "incitement'' against the Jewish state. Israel is planning to highlight claims of demonization of Israel and glorification of terrorism by Palestinian leaders after months of being on the defensive over settlement expansion in the West Bank and Jerusalem, analysts said. Government spokesman Mark Regev said that progress on incitement would be a "crucial'' issue in peace negotiations.


Palestinians’ Emotions Run High After a Fire Destroys a Mosque in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am


A fire swept through a mosque in this Palestinian village early Tuesday, angering Palestinians who said they were certain that extremist Israeli settlers were to blame, although investigators have found no proof. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, echoed those sentiments and warned that the blaze “represented a threat to the efforts to revive the peace process.”



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