Israeli leader's upcoming U.S. trip loses steam ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - May 16, 2011 - 12:00am As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to embark on a U.S. trip his aides once said would include a "historic" announcement designed to jump-start the Middle East peace process, there's a growing consensus that neither Israel nor Washington is ready to make any bold moves after all. Some of the pressure Israel was facing from the U.S. and Europe has been at least temporarily lifted by the international unease over a May 4 reconciliation deal between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, officials and analysts say. » Read more

What would Netanyahu do for peace? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by David Makovsky - (Opinion) May 16, 2011 - 12:00am Just a few weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to Washington had the makings of a confrontation amid U.S. dissatisfaction over peace policy. Then Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed a power-sharing arrangement with Hamas. Although Washington cannot easily demand that Netanyahu make major concessions on peace as Abbas joins forces with a group sworn to Israel’s destruction, the Israeli prime minister should still arrive this week with a plan for renewed peace talks. » Read more

Israel’s border bloodshed: Will Syria be held accountable? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post (Editorial) May 16, 2011 - 12:00am THE SYRIAN regime of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday made a desperate effort to distract attention from its continuing, bloody assaults on its own people. Hundreds of Palestinians were bused from refu­gee camps near Damascus to the de facto border with Israel in the Golan Heights, where they broke through a fence and invaded a nearby town. Surprised and badly outnumbered, Israeli troops eventually opened fire, killing at least one person. » Read more

The Long Overdue Palestinian State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mahmoud Abbas - (Opinion) May 16, 2011 - 12:00am SIXTY-THREE years ago, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was forced to leave his home in the Galilean city of Safed and flee with his family to Syria. He took up shelter in a canvas tent provided to all the arriving refugees. Though he and his family wished for decades to return to their home and homeland, they were denied that most basic of human rights. That child’s story, like that of so many other Palestinians, is mine. » Read more

Israel Leader Outlines Points Before U.S. Trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - May 16, 2011 - 12:00am Days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with President Obama, he laid out his principles Monday for accepting a Palestinian state, showing greater flexibility on territory but still pursuing a far more hawkish approach than any Palestinian leader is likely to accept. He also made clear that if the recent reconciliation accord between Hamas and Fatah, the two main Palestinian parties, led to Hamas becoming part of a Palestinian government, no peace would be negotiated. » Read more

Israel Leader Outlines Points Before U.S. Trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - May 16, 2011 - 12:00am Days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with President Obama, he laid out his principles Monday for accepting a Palestinian state, showing greater flexibility on territory but still pursuing a far more hawkish approach than any Palestinian leader is likely to accept. He also made clear that if the recent reconciliation accord between Hamas and Fatah, the two main Palestinian parties, led to Hamas becoming part of a Palestinian government, no peace would be negotiated. » Read more