NEWS: The United Methodist Church votes against divesting from companies that provide equipment to enforce Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories. Hamas says it has been holding secret diplomatic talks with five EU countries. The regional epidemic of foot and mouth disease among livestock has spread to Gaza. Some Palestinian journalists boycott a press freedom reception at the US consulate in Jerusalem in support of hunger striking prisoners. A Likud official says September 4 is the most likely date for the next Israeli election. Some Israelis say the upcoming election make an Israeli attack against Iranian nuclear facilities more unlikely. Palestinian political leaders meet in Cairo. Nuns in Bethlehem protest the next phase of Israel's separation barrier in the occupied West Bank. Hamas officials say Khaled Meshaal may “be asked” to run for another term of Politburo leadership even though he said he would not. An Israeli marathon runner supports Palestinian human rights and says they also face a marathon struggle. COMMENTARY: Raja Shehadeh looks at how Israeli settlement activity has grown relentlessly over the decades and how it has compromised the prospects for peace. Jonathan Rosen says Netanyahu might end up with the largest party in the Knesset and still not be prime minister after the next election. Harriet Sherwood asks why Israel is holding elections now. Sadegh Zibakalam says the Arab uprisings have created a new atmosphere for real, lasting peace with Israel. Aaron David Miller lists five “dumb ideas" about dealing with the Middle East. Frank Barat interviews Jeff Halper about the state of the occupation. Robert Blecher says, difficult and remote as it may seem, a two-state solution is still the most straightforward and only conflict-ending solution for Israel and the Palestinians. Philip Farah says Palestinian Christians are united in opposing the occupation. Elliott Abrams says Hamas is one of the big losers of the “Arab Spring.”

Hamas and the Arab Spring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations
by Elliott Abrams - (Blog) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am


It would be logical to assess that Hamas (a part of the Muslim Brotherhood) must be a winner from the “Arab Spring.” The various revolts have brought Islamists into power in several Arab countries, and most importantly the Muslim Brotherhood has attained a predominant position in Egypt’s parliament and may win the presidency in the forthcoming election.


Palestinian Christians Against the Occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Philip Farah - (Blog) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am


In a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren claimed that Christians in Israel are better off than their brethren anywhere else in the Middle East. Two Sundays ago, "60 Minutes" made clear he attempted to intimidate Bob Simon by going over Simon's head to speak to Jeff Fager, the head of CBS News and executive producer of "60 Minutes," to complain that Simon's story on Christian Palestinians was "a hatchet job" against Israel.


Back to Square One
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Akhbar
by Robert Blecher - (Opinion) May 1, 2012 - 12:00am


Israeli Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, an Arab citizen, recently set off a controversy when he stood – but did not sing – as the Israeli anthem was played at a court ceremony. For the far right, his silence was an act of betrayal. The chairman of the Knesset's Constitution Law and Justice Committee, Knesset member David Rotem, demanded his dismissal. Israel’s Palestinian citizens, meanwhile, fêted Joubran – the court’s only Arab – for his subtle defiance of a prominent state symbol.


'We've gone way beyond Apartheid'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
by Frank Barat - (Interview) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am


Frank Barat: I'd like to start by talking about what's happening in Jerusalem. When I came in 2007, you took us to Silwan, explaining the huge house demolition plan the Israeli government had in mind, telling us that thanks to the efforts of many and including an intervention by the US, the demolitions didn't happen. Today, nonetheless, it looks like the demolitions will take place. Could you give us an update on this, and also give us a broader view of what people now often refer to as the 'ethnic cleansing' of Jerusalem?


The Dumb Idea Hall of Fame
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am


In my 25 years of government service, I came up with more than my fair share of bad or just plain dumb ideas (see Arafat, Yasir, invitation to the Holocaust museum). In fact, I consider myself something of an expert on the subject. But life's about learning, right? And like Justice Potter Stewart's famous 1964 opinion on pornography, these days I've come to know a bad idea when I see one.


The landscape of the Arab spring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Sadegh Zibakalam - (Opinion) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am


The "Arab spring" is well into its second year. What is the broad outcome of this gigantic struggle and, more importantly, what can be sketched so far for the future of the Middle East?


Israel's prime minister is considering early elections. Why the hurry?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - (Analysis) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am


Even the sombre news of the death of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's highly influential father at the age of 102 could not quell the febrile atmosphere in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, this week. There was one topic of conversation among MKs, their aides and political journalists at crowded canteen tables: the sudden almost-certainty of a general election being brought forward from autumn 2013 to late summer this year.


An alternate agenda for elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am


The Knesset and the local media have been abuzz these past few months with talk about the likelihood of a general election being held well before the designated date of October 2013. That buzz first became audible immediately after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced his surprise decision to hold the Likud primary at the end of January, sparking a flurry of speculation among politicians and journalists that this was a sign of the prime minister’s intention to call a general election as early as the second half of 2012.


The House That Sabri Built
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Rajah Shehadeh - (Blog) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am


BEIT IJZA, West Bank — One of the first statements under oath that I took for Al Haq, a human rights organization I helped establish, was from Sabri Garaib, a farmer from Beit Ijza, a Palestinian village ten miles northwest of Jerusalem.



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