May 9th

Abbas Urges Continuation of U.S. Aid Despite Agreement With Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - May 8, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority beseeched a group of visiting American Jews on Sunday to urge Congress not to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid as a result of his recent unity agreement with Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.

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Abbas ‘absolutely’ still our partner, Peres tells ‘Post’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Greer Fay Cashman, David Horovitz - May 9, 2011 - 12:00am

PA President Mahmoud Abbas is “absolutely” still a peace partner for Israel, despite his signing of a reconciliation agreement with Hamas, President Shimon Peres has told The Jerusalem Post. In an interview conducted to mark Israel’s 63rd Independence Day, the president described the Fatah-Hamas accord signed last week as “a temporary bridge.” Peres said he “criticized” Abbas over it, but “that doesn’t free me of the need to talk with him.... I have no intention of turning my back on the Palestinian peace camp, even if I criticize it.”

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Livni: Settlement freeze could have stopped PA deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - May 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Fatah and Hamas would not have reached a reconciliation agreement had Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu immediately agreed to a Palestinian request to extend the 10-month settlement housing start freeze that ended in September 2010, opposition leader Tzipi Livni said on Saturday. Speaking on the Channel 2 program Meet the Press, Livni said Israel needed a prime minister who could persuade the world not to allow a Palestinian state to be declared unilaterally at the UN General Assembly in September, but that Netanyahu did not fit the bill.

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Abbas meets J Street reps in Ramallah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - May 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with a J Street delegation in Ramallah on Sunday and addressed various political issues. Abbas said that the two-state solution can not be achieved without first securing Palestinian national unity. The Palestinian president stressed that the Palestinian Authority is willing to immediately resume peace talks with Israel as long as Israel freezes settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

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'Hamas signed unity pact from position of weakness'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ilana Curiel - May 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon commented Saturday on an interview published by the Wall Street Journal, in which Hamas politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal said his organization will determine the nature of the resistance against Israel – including the use of violence – in coordination with the Fatah. "I've heard plenty of statements like this; particularly those said in English and addressed to western audiences," Ya'alon said.

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Report: Abbas wants Fayyad to head unity gov't
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - May 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is interested in keeping Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as the head of the Hamas- Fatah unity government despite recent reports to the contrary, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday. It was recently said that Abbas, like Hamas leaders, is not among Fayyad's supporters. The relationship between the two has been strained for years; loyalists of the president accuse the prime minister of stealing the spotlight by gaining international popularity.

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Report: Abbas wants Fayyad to head unity gov't
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - May 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is interested in keeping Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as the head of the Hamas- Fatah unity government despite recent reports to the contrary, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday. It was recently said that Abbas, like Hamas leaders, is not among Fayyad's supporters. The relationship between the two has been strained for years; loyalists of the president accuse the prime minister of stealing the spotlight by gaining international popularity.

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Report: Abbas wants Fayyad to head unity gov't
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - May 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is interested in keeping Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as the head of the Hamas- Fatah unity government despite recent reports to the contrary, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday. It was recently said that Abbas, like Hamas leaders, is not among Fayyad's supporters. The relationship between the two has been strained for years; loyalists of the president accuse the prime minister of stealing the spotlight by gaining international popularity.

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May 6th

The Palestinian reconciliation accord brings a new sense of urgency to the issue. The CUNY trustee who blocked an award for playwright Tony Kushner implies Palestinians are “not human.” PM Netanyahu says Israel could accept Palestinian statehood by September under certain conditions and that France will insist on Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Israeli troops arrest five Palestinians in Jenin. Hamas leader Misha’al criticizes the killing and burial of Osama bin Laden. Hamas says it will maintain the de facto truce with Israel. Settlers are using tourism to draw other Israelis to the West Bank. Netanyahu says only negotiations can achieve peace. Analysts say international pressure is likely to force Israel to keep transferring Palestinian taxes to the PA, but Israel’s finance minister ridicules the idea. The UN stages Gaza’s first marathon. Nehemia Shtrasler says Netanyahu doesn’t seem to understand time is not on Israel’s side. Another Israeli cabinet minister calls for annexing occupied territories in the event of Palestinian statehood recognition. Sec. Clinton reiterates that Hamas must accept the Quartet conditions to become an interlocutor. J Street says a new Palestinian government should be given a trial period. The “Arab Spring” poses new problems or Israel. The unity deal meets with guarded praise in the Middle East press. PM Cameron says Hamas must recognize Israel. David Makovsky asks if the unity agreement will threaten Palestinian commitments. Palestinian parties begin the process of forming a new government. Hassan Haidar says the unity agreement will make it harder to exploit the Palestinian cause. Ahmad Majdoubeh says Palestinians should declare statehood. Abdel Monem Said Aly says the Arab-Israeli conflict will now be judged on democratic principles. Hamid Alkifaey says a democratic Arab world will embrace peace with Israel.

Democratic Arab world to embrace peace with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Hamid Alkifaey - (Opinion) May 5, 2011 - 12:00am

One could reasonably argue that the golden opportunity for peace in the Middle East was blown away when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated on November 4, 1995. He was the only Israeli leader capable of making peace with the Palestinians, and was about to do so had it not been for the bullets of Yigal Amir, the rightwing religious zealot who believed in the "winner takes all" principle.

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