May 3rd

Netanyahu wants secret talks; PLO demands parameters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began to rally their negotiations teams Sunday, with US-mediated peace talks set to begin Monday via "discrete channels," Israeli press reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his advisers that he intends to open the talks in person, and according to news reports asked to be briefed on an “eight point” plan set out by the administration of former Israeli Minister Ehud Olmert, particularly around final-status issues.

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Clinton in struggle for Israel's nuke secret
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Eli Lake - May 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will try this week at the United Nations to keep the worst-kept secret in the Middle East: Israel's status as a nuclear power. In recent weeks, the U.S. government has held talks with Egypt on a proposal to eliminate nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The U.S. diplomacy on the proposal also has been coordinated closely with Israel, according to a senior White House official.

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For Obama, room to maneuver on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Christi Parsons, Paul Richter - May 3, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama's altercations with the Israeli government have brought protests from U.S. groups that staunchly support Israel. But the administration retains substantial overall support among American Jewish voters, and that appears to be giving him political running room to ply his approach to the issue. Obama has criticized Israel for continuing to build Jewish housing in disputed territory, which the president says threatens efforts to restart peace talks, contributes to instability in the region and jeopardizes U.S. interests.

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Censorship in Israel: 'A unique model'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - May 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Privy to the nation's top secrets, she keeps private ones pretty well too. "She" is Sima Vaknin-Gil, Israel's chief censor. It's her job to keep sensitive information that could harm state security out of the media. Appointed by the defense minister, she has tremendous powers but says she uses these sparingly, balancing state security and freedom of speech. Most democratic countries balk at censorship, but a recent poll shows half of Israel's Jewish population believes that freedom of expression is too free in Israel.

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Who Lives in Sheik Jarrah?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Kai Bird - (Opinion) May 3, 2010 - 12:00am

As a boy, I lived in Sheik Jarrah, a wealthy Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Annexed by Israel in 1967 and now the subject of a conflict over property claims, my former home has come to symbolize everything that has gone wrong between the Israelis and Palestinians over the last six decades. Despite talk of a slowdown in Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, Jerusalem’s mayor, toured Washington earlier this week and told officials that the expansion into Arab neighborhoods is going ahead at full speed.

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April 30th

Roger Cohen profiles PM Fayyad, and Time magazine lists him in its top 100 most influential people in the world. Fayyad calls for lifting the siege of Gaza. A cosmetics company ceases operating in Israeli settlements. Sec. Clinton says Arab states should do more on peace. Pres. Abbas says the US has pledged to stop Israeli provocations, and US officials reportedly promise not to veto a Security Council resolution if further settlement activity occurs in Jerusalem. Tzvia Greenfield says Israel must make peace if it wants to survive. Pres. Obama has reportedly said that if talks are still stalemated in the fall, he will call an international conference. Israelis worry that settler violence is spinning out of control. Jordan's King Abdullah says Israel is playing with fire. Israelis are concerned Palestinians will seek UN recognition of a state. The State Department says Israel must remove unauthorized outposts. Some Palestinians urge Pres. Abbas to appoint a deputy. The UN distributes laptop computers to Gaza students. Divestment bills do not pass in two California universities. Tariq Alhomayed asks when Arab tolerance for Hamas will end. ATFP President Ziad Asali outlines new nonviolent Palestinian strategies for independence.

Gaza…The Next Explosion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) April 29, 2010 - 12:00am

The Arabs might be taken by surprise by the situation in the Gaza Strip blowing up at any moment; all the signs indicate that the situation on the street has reached boiling point and that divisions between the Hamas leaders, as well as divisions between Hamas and its other allies in the Gaza Strip, have increased.

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The sensible Palestinian statehood plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) April 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians have recently been developing a peaceful multilevel strategy to achieve their national goals of a negotiated peace agreement with Israel, an end to the occupation, and the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

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Divestment Bills Fail at Two Calif. Universities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
April 29, 2010 - 12:00am

The student government at the University of California, Berkeley fell a vote short in a bid to override a veto against a divestment bill. Meanwhile, a vote early Thursday morning by the Associated Students at the University of California, San Diego reportedly was unsuccessful in passing a similar measure. At Berkeley, 13 senators voted early Thursday morning to override the veto, with five voting to uphold it. Fourteen votes were necessary for the override. The vote at about 4 a.m. followed a meeting that began in the evening attended by about 200 people, according to reports.

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One Laptop Per Child reaches Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
April 29, 2010 - 12:00am

The UN in the Gaza Strip has begun distributing thousands of laptop computers to children in its schools. The rugged laptops are made by the non-profit organisation One Laptop Per Child, which aims to give a computer to every child in the developing world. One Laptop Per Child say computers are a good way of improving the education of children living in poverty. Humanitarian conditions have deteriorated in the Gaza Strip in the last three years, the UN says.

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