May 22nd

Second round in a long bout ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - May 22, 2009 - 12:00am The long-awaited Obama-Netanyahu meeting has finally taken place. If this were a boxing match, one would probably have to call the result of the latest round at the White House a tie. » Read more

The Idea of a New Camp David and Parallel Negotiations on All Fronts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - May 22, 2009 - 12:00am Arab capitals are discussing with Washington the idea of President Barack Obama inviting the leaderships of Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Israel to a conference similar to the Camp David talks. Held in July, the conference would include parallel negotiations between Israel and each of Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, with the goal of reaching an all-inclusive peace. » Read more

Obama’s team moves to middle ground ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - May 22, 2009 - 12:00am The meeting in the White House Monday between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified significant differences as well as deep convergences in the two countries’ approaches to two major sources of tension and conflict in the Middle East - the Iranian nuclear sector and the Arab-Israeli conflict. » Read more

No US blank cheque for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - May 21, 2009 - 12:00am The first round of the contest between the US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not draw blood. At their 90-minute meeting in Washington on May 18, the two circled each other warily, striving with studied politeness to conceal their considerable mutual antipathy. There was no disguising, however, the wide divergence of their views. The coming rounds promise to be more bruising. » Read more

Israeli troops kill two Gaza militants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat May 22, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli troops crossed into Gaza and killed two Palestinian militants who were planting a bomb along the border fence before dawn Friday, the Israeli military said. Violence has largely abated along the tense frontier since Israel's devastating offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers early this year, but sporadic border violence and rocket fire have continued. Soldiers posted along the border spotted the two men planting a bomb near the fence and crossed into Gaza to engage them, the military said. The gunmen were killed in the ensuing firefight. » Read more

What is the Problem with Abbas? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - May 21, 2009 - 12:00am An organized campaign against the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is being carried out by the media of Iran, and its allies and agents in the region [of the Arab world]. Its goal is to make Abu Mazen appear to be weak. The campaign intensified following the Fatah conference and the forming of the new government. So on what basis is Mahmoud Abbas still present? » Read more

May 21st

Obama demands that Israel stop settlements. But how feasible is that? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - May 21, 2009 - 12:00am This week, US President Barack Obama conveyed a clear message to his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu: the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank must stop. On Thursday, Israeli police evacuated an unauthorized settlement outpost of Maoz Esther, but Israeli peace activists said the move was a public relations stunt, since no settlers live there on a permanent basis. » Read more

Keeping Score on Obama vs. Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Helene Cooper, Mark Landler - (Analysis) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am After the much anticipated White House meeting on Monday between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, one question being asked in diplomatic circles is this: Did Mr. Obama give up more than he got? The meeting between the two, their first as leaders, was mainly an exercise in breaking the ice. But at the early stages of a relationship between the nations’ leaders that is likely to be more strained than it was during the Bush years, their dealings are being analyzed for signs of who has the upper hand. » Read more

Vote Fatah (or Hamas) ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Khalil Shikaki - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am THE performance of the Palestinian Authority during the past 17 months has been impressive. It has managed against the odds to restore order in the West Bank to a degree not seen in many years. And it has confronted and disarmed nationalist and Islamist groups. Corruption is also not as rampant as it was a few years ago. » Read more

Don't do us any favors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Issa Amro - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am I am unfamiliar with any location in Israel or in the occupied territories where a Jew cannot travel to his own home in his car. Yet for us, the Palestinians in Hebron, this is the norm. Since 2001, the main street in Hebron's Wadi Hassan, which you refer to as the Zion Route, has been closed off to the movement of Palestinian vehicles. The street is only open to Israelis, even though all its residents are Palestinian. Not even one Jew resides on this street. » Read more