May 20th

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

The U.S. Policy Shift on 1967 Borders Explained ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ABC News by Terry Moran, Kirit Radia - (Blog) May 19, 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

Obama’s Mideast peace gaffe ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) May 19, 2011 - 12:00am President Obama’s State Department speech Thursday has prompted a fevered debate among Middle East policy wonks about whether he has changed past U.S. policy on the terms for Palestinian statehood — not to mention a wave of inflated and mostly erroneous rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates. The basic question is this: By saying that a division of territory between Israel and Palestine should be “based on” the “1967 lines” between Israel and the West Bank, with agreed “swaps” of land, did Obama move beyond the previous U.S. position on the subject? » Read more

Peace and Change ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) May 19, 2011 - 12:00am We have been waiting for President Obama to lay out his vision of the promises and challenges of the upheaval in the Arab world. His speech on Thursday did not go far enough — there was no game-changing proposal on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — but he did promise strong support to those yearning for freedom and goaded American allies, including Israel, to take the political risks that are essential for peaceful change and the only way to build a lasting peace. » Read more

Netanyahu Responds Icily to Obama Remarks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - May 19, 2011 - 12:00am President Obama’s endorsement on Thursday of using the 1967 boundaries as the baseline for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute — the first by an American president — prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to push back testily and the Palestinian leadership to call an urgent meeting. » Read more

Obama Sees ’67 Borders as Starting Point for Peace Deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Stefanie Marsh, Steven Lee Myers - May 19, 2011 - 12:00am President Obama, seeking to capture a moment of epochal change in the Arab world, began a new effort on Thursday to break the stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, setting out a new starting point for negotiations on the region’s most intractable problem. » Read more