May 11th

Hamas: Recognizing Israel jeopardizes rights ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 11, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas will accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, but will maintain its refusal to recognize Israel, party leader Mahmoud Az-Zahhar told Ma'an on Wednesday. Speaking with Ma'an radio, the official said that Hamas was ready to recognize a Palestinian state "on any part of Palestine," for the first time publicly steering away from prior Hamas demands that the modern Palestinian state must be established "from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea." » Read more

Celebrating interdependence on Israel's Independence Day ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Ori Nir - (Blog) May 10, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's Independence Day is a good time to revel in what such a small country has achieved in such a short time and under such trying circumstances. But it is also a time to resolve to do more. On the former point, Israel's achievements are indeed amazing. With a population of 7 million citizens, Israel is no less than a technological, academic, medical, cultural, artistic, and scientific superpower. And this is not just on a per capita basis, but in absolute terms. It is bursting with ingenuity and creativity. » Read more

Protest a tough sell among Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - May 10, 2011 - 12:00am Camped under a tent in what he hoped would become the Tahrir Square of the West Bank, hunger striker Iyas Sarhan reclined on a foam mattress in a pair of increasingly baggy slim-fit jeans and waited for the Palestinian revolution to begin. » Read more

PALESTINIAN TERRITORY: Q&A on a new currency ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Blog) May 10, 2011 - 12:00am As part of a statehood bid they plan to bring before the U.N. this September, Palestinians are pushing for the creation of a new Palestine Central Bank and the introduction of new currency. But Jihad Al-Wazir, 48, governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, which hopes to soon evolve into the first central bank, says work is needed before reintroducing the Palestinian pound. » Read more

Mashaal: Israel has 1 year to recognize Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post May 10, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said that he gives the Israeli government a one-year deadline to recognize an independent Palestinian state founded on lands occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem as its capital, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported. » Read more

Israel stripped 140,000 Palestinians of residency rights, document reveals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - May 11, 2011 - 12:00am Israel stripped thousands of Palestinians of their right to live in the West Bank over a 27-year period, forcing most of them into permanent exile abroad, a document obtained under freedom of information laws has disclosed. Around 140,000 Palestinians who left to study or work had their residency rights revoked between 1967 and 1994. » Read more

PA-Israel joint security may be first victim of Fatah-Hamas pact ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - May 11, 2011 - 12:00am The security agencies of the Palestinian Authority have been praised for fostering stability and prosperity by helping dismantle the West Bank's armed militias and networks of Hamas fighters. But an element to their success - coordination with Israel's security establishment - may be in jeopardy after Fatah, the West Bank's dominant Palestinian faction, and Hamas agreed to a deal designed to lead to a unity government. » Read more

World watches to see how far Hamas will compromise in peace with Fatah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - May 10, 2011 - 12:00am The landmark reconciliation deal reached last week by the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas required compromises on both sides, but none more so than by the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip. Reflecting on the deal that brought their four-year rift to an end, Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, said afterward that his side had conceded autonomy on "how to manage the resistance". The use of violence - along with negotiations with Israel, domestic governance and foreign affairs - will now require Fatah's approval, Mr Meshaal told The Wall Street Journal. » Read more

Pragmatism Between Hamas and Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Jameel Theyabi - (Opinion) May 9, 2011 - 12:00am The questions currently on the table are the following: Why was the Palestinian reconciliation not secured before the headache and the flu which hit Syria due to the acuteness of the “massive” demonstrations and protests that are ongoing in the Syrian cities and towns?! Did the Syrian authorities’ allusion to the presence of Palestinian “infiltrators” play a role in Hamas’s search for a hosting place other than Damascus?! » Read more

The wisdom of “conspicuous silence” ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) May 10, 2011 - 12:00am On numerous occasions during the ongoing turmoil in the Arab World, I’ve been accused by friend and foe alike of engaging in “conspicuous silence.” Commentators, particularly in the age of the internet and cable television, are expected by news organizations and consumers to provide instant analysis on anything and everything. But sometimes the only honest and intelligent thing to say is very little, or even nothing. » Read more