Court may rule on US stand on Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Barbara Ferguson, Tim Kennedy - May 12, 2011 - 12:00am The case, involving a young Israeli-American, could serve as a landmark in Israeli-Palestinian relations. Eight-year-old Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky has dual American and Israeli citizenship, yet carries an American passport that designates “Jerusalem” as the country of his birth. The State Department — bowing to ongoing negotiations between Israel and Palestinians over the status of the once-divided city — has resisted all appeals by young Zivotofsky’s parents (and their persistent lawyers) to have the passport designation of “country of birth” changed to “Israel.” » Read more

Palestine willing to merge with ?GCC when liberated: Envoy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Khaleej Times by Anwar Ahmad - May 13, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian government seeks support from the GCC countries to resolve their long-standing conflicts with Israel and is willing to merge with the GCC bloc when liberated, said Dr Khairi Al Oraidi, Ambassador of Palestine to the UAE. Addressing the media on the occasion of the Nakba or catastrophe day at the embassy premises on Thursday, Dr Al Oraidi, said: “I believe in the important role which the GCC countries have been playing in the region socially and politically.” » Read more

When Will the Israelis Protest? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) May 12, 2011 - 12:00am More than at any time before, the State of Israel on the anniversary of its founding seems similar to all other countries in the region, as its “regime” resorts to the same fear-mongering methods that were adopted by Arab regimes that have gone, as well as by others that still make use of them with their citizens to convince them of the absurdity of change and the danger of the alternatives. » Read more

When Will the Israelis Protest? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) May 12, 2011 - 12:00am More than at any time before, the State of Israel on the anniversary of its founding seems similar to all other countries in the region, as its “regime” resorts to the same fear-mongering methods that were adopted by Arab regimes that have gone, as well as by others that still make use of them with their citizens to convince them of the absurdity of change and the danger of the alternatives. » Read more

Israel trying to push Palestinians out of Jordan Valley, says report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - May 13, 2011 - 12:00am By exploiting the land, water resources and tourist sites of the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea areas, Israel is trying to annex the territory, an Israeli human rights group said yesterday. Such exploitation of the strip of land on the eastern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank helps Israel maintain its authority over the area's borders and prevent them from falling under the control of the Palestinians, according to the group, B'Tselem, and other analysts. » Read more

Close the door on Israel's land grab ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) May 13, 2011 - 12:00am What would you do if your citizenship were rejected once your passport expired? Impossible, you would think - a travel document isn't your only, or even your primary, tie to your land of origin. But that was the fate of 140,000 Palestinians, as the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported this week, when Israel quietly cancelled their West Bank residency status between 1967 and 1994. It was as if residents simply blinked out of existence when their travel documents expired. » Read more

Israel’s Security Elite Joins the Opposition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) May 11, 2011 - 12:00am It probably won’t surprise you to hear that the leaders of Israel’s security establishment, the people who’ve led the fight against the state’s enemies for decades, are more frightened now than they’ve been in a long time. You might be shocked, though, to hear what’s got them in a panic. It’s not the Iranian nuclear project they’re scared of, nor Hamas, nor the unrest that’s rocking the Arab world. Israel has always faced dangers, and it’s always come out on top. What scares them most is their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

CUNY trustee asked to resign over anti-Palestinian comments ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jordana Horn - May 13, 2011 - 12:00am The trustee who opposed Jewish-American Tony Kushner’s honorary degree on the basis of the playwright’s views on Israel is being called on to resign. Kushner had originally been removed from a list of candidates for honorary degrees from the City University of New York after trustee Jeff Wiesenfeld denounced his past statements about Israel and Palestinians, including a reference to “ethnic cleansing” during the formation of the state. A special meeting of the trustees was held on Monday night, and Kushner was put back on the list to receive a degree. » Read more

The Invisible Return ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Danny Rubenstein - May 13, 2011 - 12:00am THE MAIN ROAD BETWEEN Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and the coastal area is especially crowded on spring days between the festivals of Passover and Shavuot, when tens of thousands – tourists and hikers, Jews, Christians and Muslims – make the traditional pilgrimage to the holy sites in Jerusalem. » Read more

IDF on Lebanon alert for Nakba Day demonstrations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - May 13, 2011 - 12:00am IDF troops will be deployed in large numbers throughout the West Bank and along the border with Lebanon on Friday, amid expectations that massive demonstrations will break out on both fronts ahead of Nakba Day (“the day of the catastrophe”). The IDF began reinforcing troops in the West Bank earlier this week, and sources in the Northern Command said on Thursday that there were expectations that Palestinians in Lebanon will also travel to the border to participate in the protests. » Read more