Right of Reply: Sensible statecraft
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Matthew Gould - (Opinion) May 11, 2011 - 12:00am


This paper’s recent editorial “Befuddled Britain” (May 6) was based on the understandable fear of many Israelis that the world will go misty-eyed about Hamas and let wishful thinking triumph over judgment. Britain understands that fear, and has been clear that it will not suddenly go soft on Hamas. Britain understands the threat Hamas poses to Israel, and the hate-filled ideology that pervades Hamas’s charter. But while the editorial was right to set out the importance of moral clarity, it was wrong to misrepresent Britain’s position on the issue on the basis of innuendo and falsehoods.


Rattling the Cage: There’s no double standard
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) May 11, 2011 - 12:00am


There’s a consensus here that the assassination of Osama bin Laden revealed the world’s, and especially America’s, double standard toward Israel: When the US targets a terrorist who killed Americans, they’re dancing in the streets, but when Israel targets a terrorist who killed Israelis, they wag their finger at us, if not worse. I disagree. I think the assassination of bin Laden was completely justified, while Israel’s targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists, at least under the current circumstances, are wrong.


Top Fatah official: 'PA won't be able to stop 3rd intifada'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Miller, Arieh O'Sullivan - May 12, 2011 - 12:00am


The Palestinian leadership won’t be able to contain the street protests planned for this weekend marking the 63rd anniversary of the creation of Israel, said a senior member of Central Committee of the Fatah movement. Abbas Zaki, whose tasks include monitoring the Arab Spring revolts, told The Media Line that Palestinians have been encouraged by how Arabs across the Middle East have toppled two leaders and threaten others with mass protests. With no peace talks with Israel on the horizon, Zaki warned, the Palestinian leadership will be hard pressed to contain the rage of demonstrators.


Hamas skeptical of Fatah's statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - May 11, 2011 - 12:00am


Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said Wednesday that the Islamist movement was somewhat skeptical as to the viability of Fatah's September-bound bid for statehood. Speaking with the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency, al-Zahar said that "all the talk of a Palestinian state is… an attempt to pacify us."


Palestinian PM urges Arab donors aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
May 11, 2011 - 12:00am


The Palestinian Authority appealed to Arab countries on Wednesday to pay the salaries of 155,000 government workers after Israel decided to suspend the transfer of tax funds to the PA. "We say to our Arab brothers: save us. We need your help more than any time before. It is the moment of truth," Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told a news briefing in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Public sector workers' April salaries were about a week overdue following Israel's decision, taken in protest at a Palestinian unity deal involving the Islamist group Hamas.


Netanyahu's US speech raises speculations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - May 12, 2011 - 12:00am


Likud sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu estimated Thursday that he will not announce Israeli concessions or a withdrawal from West Bank territories during his speech in Congress later this month. The sources, nevertheless said that should Netanyahu receive significant strategic guarantees from US President Barack Obama he may tone down his Congress address.


Fayyad could yet survive as Palestinian PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Tom Perry - May 12, 2011 - 12:00am


Salam Fayyad could survive as prime minister of a new Palestinian government to be agreed by Fatah and Hamas if the rival groups continue to show the flexibility that brought about their surprise unity deal. While the Islamist Hamas has expressed opposition to his leadership, at least one senior Hamas official, Izaat al-Rishq, has been quoted as saying that the idea of him remaining prime minister in the new government would be studied. Removing the internationally respected former World Bank economist from office now makes no sense to his supporters.


Obama plans address on Middle East after Arab spring, death of bin Laden
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yahoo News
by Laura Rozen - May 11, 2011 - 12:00am


President Barack Obama plans to give a major speech on the dramatic shifts underway in the Middle East and North Africa, White House officials said today.


Amid Syria's turmoil, Israel sees Assad as the lesser evil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - May 6, 2011 - 12:00am


As Syria's Assad regime buckles under mass protests for reform and democracy, neighboring Israel is watching with unease. True, the downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would ostensibly remove a key player in the Iranian-led alliance threatening the Jewish state on several fronts. But Syria under Mr. Assad has been a stable neighbor and maintained a regional balance that officials and analysts fear could crumble – providing an opening for hard-line Islamist groups.


Middle East peace: The wrong pact
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Michael B. Oren - (Opinion) May 12, 2011 - 12:00am


The world shared the American people's gratitude for the special forces who rid us of Osama bin Laden, but there was one flagrant exception. "We condemn the assassination of an Arab holy warrior," declared Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas regime in Gaza, who also deplored "the continuing American policy … of shedding Muslim blood."



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