Abbas welcomes Obama call to renew peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 19, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed on Thursday U.S. President Barak Obama's efforts to renew talks with Israel that collapsed last year, a senior Palestinian official said. "President Abbas expresses his appreciation of the continuous efforts exerted by President Obama with the objective of resuming the permanent status talks in the hope of reaching a final status agreement," said the official, Saeb Erekat. » Read more

Netanyahu in U.S., says Obama misunderstands ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller, Matt Spetalnick - May 20, 2011 - 12:00am Israel said the United States "does not understand reality" as its leader arrived in Washington on Friday after President Barack Obama endorsed a longstanding Palestinian demand on borders of a future state. In a policy speech on the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit, Obama laid down his clearest markers yet on the compromises he believes Israel and the Palestinians must make to resolve the decades-old conflict. » Read more

Palestinians condemn latest Israel settlement plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 20, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian officials on Friday condemned an Israeli plan to build 1,550 housing units on annexed land around Jerusalem, authorised the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for talks in Washington. An Israeli Interior Ministry spokeswoman said a planning committee had approved two building projects in Pisgat Zeev and Har Homa. These urban settlements were built on land that Israel annexed after a 1967 war, in a move not recognised internationally, and that it sees as Jerusalem neighbourhoods. The spokeswoman did not say when construction was expected to start. » Read more

Israeli military attache to Moscow expelled as spy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press May 18, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's military has rejected Russian charges that a military attache to Moscow was a spy as "unfounded." The military said in a statement Wednesday that the officer underwent a "thorough investigation" after he returned to Israel. Israeli media identified the officer as Col. Vadim Leiderman. The military statement said the officer "was detained for investigation last week by Russian authorities,on suspicion of spying." Channel 2 TV reported he was taken away by Russian agents during dinner. He was questioned and expelled. » Read more

Harsh West Bank 'honor killing' brings tougher law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Nasser Shiyoukhi - May 19, 2011 - 12:00am A 20-year-old Palestinian woman who was thrown into a well and left to die in the name of "family honor" has not become just another statistic in one of the Middle East's most shameful practices. The killing of Aya Baradiya — by an uncle who didn't like a potential suitor — sparked such outrage that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas scrapped laws this week that guaranteed sentences of six months or less for such killings. » Read more

Harsh West Bank 'honor killing' brings tougher law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Nasser Shiyoukhi - May 19, 2011 - 12:00am A 20-year-old Palestinian woman who was thrown into a well and left to die in the name of "family honor" has not become just another statistic in one of the Middle East's most shameful practices. The killing of Aya Baradiya — by an uncle who didn't like a potential suitor — sparked such outrage that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas scrapped laws this week that guaranteed sentences of six months or less for such killings. » Read more

Israel's Netanyahu: 1967 borders can't be defended ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - May 19, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's prime minister on Thursday gave a cool reception to President Barack Obama's Mideast policy speech, warning a withdrawal from the West Bank wold leave Israel vulnerable to attack and setting up what could be a tense meeting at the White House. In his speech, Obama endorsed the Palestinian position on the borders of their future state, saying it should be based on Israel's lines before the 1967 Mideast war. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the fighting, and the Palestinians claim those areas for their state. » Read more

Abbas calls meeting to discuss Obama speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 19, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas has called an urgent meeting following US President Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East on Thursday, a PLO official said. Saeb Erekat said Abbas appreciated Obama's efforts to reach a comprehensive solution to the conflict and his remarks on the right to self-determination and dignity. Erekat said the Palestinians remained committed to all previous agreements with Israel, "hoping that the Israeli government will do the same, to give the peace process the chance it deserves." » Read more

Obama makes a blunt push for Middle East peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Christi Parsons, Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - May 20, 2011 - 12:00am President Obama plunged back into efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, pressuring both sides with a set of U.S. principles that appeared to catch Israeli leaders off guard and is likely to set up a tense meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday. » Read more

The U.S. Policy Shift on 1967 Borders Explained Media Mention of ATFP In ABC News - May 20, 2011 - 12:00am In what was billed as a major address on recent developments in the Middle East, President Obama today backed pre-1967 borders as the basis for negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians on the contours of an eventual peace deal. How does this shift U.S. policy? » Read more