Abbas meets Israeli Peace Initiative delegates ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 29, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas met Thursday with the leadership of the Israel Peace Initiative at his government headquarters in Ramallah, where he heard their presentation of a regional peace initiative. The group met a day after officials in Cairo announced a unity "understanding" between rival parties Fatah and Hamas, which will see the creation of a technocratic government to oversee the transition to the first government elections since 2006. » Read more

Egypt sends invites for signing ceremony ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 28, 2011 - 12:00am The Egyptian government sent invitations on Thursday to Palestinian political parties for the signing of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement, in a ceremony to be held next Tuesday in Cairo. The event will be used to set an implementation mechanism for the unity deal, to be approved by all political groups. Factions welcomed the invitations, and prepared to send delegations to Egypt. » Read more

Arab spring pushes Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah to reconcile ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Kristen Chick - April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah say they've agreed to end a four-year rift. If the agreement holds, it could pave the way for the first Palestinian elections since 2006 and end a period of simmering hostilities that have weakened both the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government in Gaza. In a deal brokered by Egypt, the two sides agreed in principle to form an interim government made up of “independents” and to hold elections in a year, officials said at a press conference. Officials said they would formally ink the deal within weeks. » Read more

Palestinian unity deal gives Netanyahu new line of attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - April 28, 2011 - 12:00am After months of playing defense against a Palestinian campaign for international recognition of statehood, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may now have a new line of attack. The Palestinian reconciliation deal announced in Cairo yesterday would pave the way for a unity government between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party and Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US, and the European Union. » Read more

Obama and 'the Jewish lobby of one' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) April 29, 2011 - 12:00am Among the most durable pieces of conventional wisdom circulating in Washington these days is that President Obama would never risk a confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (when he comes to town in May) out of fear of angering Israel's supporters in America a year before the U.S. presidential election. The notion that domestic politics and the pro-Israel community hold the president's Middle East policy hostage seems to bind Washington like a hard-and-fast political law of gravity. The only problem is it's dead wrong and dangerous. » Read more

Abbas seeks to allay fears on accord with Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - April 28, 2011 - 12:00am A day after his Fatah movement initialed a reconciliation agreement with militant Islamist group Hamas, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sought Thursday to counter warnings from Israel and suggestions in Washington that the accord would undermine peace efforts. Meeting at his headquarters with a group of Israeli businessmen and former security chiefs advocating an Israeli peace initiative, Abbas gave assurances that the Palestine Liberation Organization, which he heads, would still be responsible for handling negotiations. » Read more

In Shift, Egypt Warms to Iran and Hamas, Israel’s Foes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David Kirkpatrick - April 28, 2011 - 12:00am Egypt is charting a new course in its foreign policy that has already begun shaking up the established order in the Middle East, planning to open the blockaded border with Gaza and normalizing relations with two of Israel and the West’s Islamist foes, Hamas and Iran. » Read more

Palestinian Factions Give Differing Views of Unity Pact ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - April 28, 2011 - 12:00am A day after the two main Palestinian factions announced surprise plans for a unity government, the challenge of bringing together two rival parties with distinct ideologies burst into view, with each side presenting a different picture of what the accord means and what produced it. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, said Thursday that because he was also chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization he remained in charge of peace efforts with Israel. The future unity government, he said, will have only two functions, to rebuild Gaza and set up elections within a year. » Read more