Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Robert Mackey assess the challenge posed by established Israeli settlements to the creation of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank (1), while Haaretz reports that settlement expansion has recently seen its most acceleration in five years (13). Treasury Department official Michael Rosen announces that the federal government may revise its voluntary guidelines for donating overseas, and suggests American Charities for Palestine as an alternative model (2). The Obama administration reiterates its determination for peace based on two states at the annual AIPAC conference (3), while German chancellor Angela Merkel states that there is no alternative to an agreement between two states (7). Arab leaders meet in Cairo to formulate a unified approach to the Mideast peace process (4).

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The West Bank Archipelago ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Robert Mackey - (Blog) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am This week, leading Israeli, Palestinian and American officials have agreed that the creation of a Palestinian state on territory in the West Bank and Gaza is essential to peace in the Middle East. But spend any time looking at a map of the West Bank as it is today, or with any of the many different proposals for how that map might be redrawn to accommodate the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians, and it becomes clear why any sensible mapmaker might choose to steer well clear of the challenge of drawing up that state. » Read more

Federal Government May Revise Voluntary Guidelines for Giving Overseas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy by Ian Wilhelm - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am The U.S. Treasury Department wants to work with grant makers to revise its voluntary guidelines that seek to prevent charitable dollars from inadvertently flowing to terrorists, a department official said at the Council on Foundations meeting. Michael Rosen, a policy adviser in the department’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, said the office wants to work with foundations “to better refine the guidance.” » Read more

AIPAC Confronts A New Reality as Obama’s Agenda Becomes Clear ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am Washington — “You’re not going to like my saying this,” Vice President Joe Biden told 6,000 delegates from the podium of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference — a spot that politicians usually vie over vigorously for the privilege of telling the crowd what they want to hear. » Read more

Arabs work for unified approach ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 7, 2009 - 12:00am Arab foreign ministers are meeting in Cairo to formulate a united approach on the Middle East peace process. The meeting is the first since the election of the right-wing Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It comes ahead of a flurry of diplomatic activity in the coming weeks, focussing on the Middle East. The ministers are also to discuss a report on alleged crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza strip last January. The Arab foreign ministers will be discussing how to restart "serious and direct negotiations" between the Israelis and the Palestinians. » Read more

UN laments choking of Bethlehem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 7, 2009 - 12:00am The UN has accused Israel of restricting development of the Bethlehem region in the West Bank. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said just 13% of land around Bethlehem was open for use by the Palestinian population. It said the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ was hemmed in by Israeli settlements and military zones as well as Israel's West Bank barrier. An Israeli foreign ministry official said the issue was beyond Ocha's remit. » Read more

Blair Says Resolving Mideast Conflict Critical to Curbing Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Gwen Ackerman, Jonathan Ferziger - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am Middle East envoy Tony Blair said resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would remove a toxic barrier between the West and Islamic nations and help deal with the nuclear threat from Iran. Peace in the region would “hugely help in resolving this bigger problem” and remove an “issue which puts such a poison into the relationship between the West, Israel, if you like, and the world of Islam,” the former British prime minister said yesterday in an interview in Jerusalem. » Read more

Merkel: No 2-state solution substitute ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press May 6, 2009 - 12:00am There is no an alternative to a two-state peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday. Merkel, speaking a day before Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visits Berlin, also echoed comments made recently by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and White House Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel, saying that progress in the stalled Middle East peace process would make it easier to resolve the long-running standoff over Iran's nuclear program. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has yet to formally commit to a two-state solution. » Read more

Khalid Mishal and Mama America ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) May 6, 2009 - 12:00am In an interview with the New York Times that lasted a total of 5 hours and was conducted over a two-day period, Hamas chief Khalid Mishal said "In order to understand Hamas you must listen to its point of view directly, Hamas is pleased whenever people want to hear directly from its leadership, rather than hearing about the movement from others" What is the meaning of these words? » Read more

Israel's human rights abuses out in open ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am The revelation that harsh interrogation methods, including torture, were used against detainees during the US-led war in Iraq by the George W. Bush administration, continues to reverberate here and overseas. The actions, sanctioned in legal memorandums, were recently released by US President Barack Obama. The repercussions of Obama's actions, however, are being felt by key US government officials, especially those within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as within several other countries including Great Britain and Israel. » Read more

Arab parties angry over citizenship decision ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - May 7, 2009 - 12:00am Legislators from Israeli Palestinian parties yesterday blasted as racist and dangerous a plan by the country’s right-wing interior minister to rescind the citizenships of four Palestinians suspected of involvement in anti-Israel activities. Eli Yishai, the interior minister, announced on Tuesday that he will begin the process of revoking the citizenship of the four men, claiming they left Israel over three decades ago for countries such as Lebanon, considered by Israel to be enemy territory, and alleging they had been involved in acts that undermined Israel’s security. » Read more

Israel has become its own worst enemy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am The UN Security Council was handed a report on Tuesday by the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon about Israel’s campaign in Gaza and its targeting of UN facilities earlier this year. The report’s conclusions are damning: Israel’s actions “breached the inviolability of United Nations premises” and amounted in many cases to “recklessness”. As usual, Israel retorted that the report was patently biased. In this matter, Israel is right: there are no two sides to the truth, and as UN investigators found out, the blame for disproportionate and thoughtless violence lies squarely with Israel. » Read more

Gaza: Why probe is neccessary ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am The world has looked on aghast as the Israelis have sowed a deadly harvest of cluster bombs in south Lebanon and bombarded the helpless penned-in citizens of the Gaza ghetto with rockets and heavy ordnance including deadly white phosphorus shells. Had the Serbs or the Iranians launched such attacks, Washington would have howled with rage. But for too long successive American administrations have stayed hypocritically silent while their Israeli ally has flouted the rules of war and common humanity and behaved like a terror state. » Read more

Settlement expansion seeing biggest boost since 2003 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - May 7, 2009 - 12:00am West Bank construction has been accelerating for several months, putting Israel on a collision course with a U.S. administration taking a hard line on settlement expansion. A new outpost, new roads, and other building projects have raced ahead in and around the settlements, often without legal permits, producing the biggest construction drive since 2003, according to Dror Etkes of the Israeli advocacy group Yesh Din. That group monitors construction in the West Bank. » Read more

Border Guard kills Palestinian near Tomb of Patriarchs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - May 6, 2009 - 12:00am Border Guard officers stationed at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron shot and killed a Palestinian man who approached a guard post and disobeyed several orders to halt. One officer was lightly wounded in the incident. The officers became wary of the Palestinian when he approached their post and refused to undergo a search. He then fled towards a guard post located nearby, where other officers were standing watch. » Read more

U.S.: We are committed to Syrian-Israeli peace deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid, Yoav Stern - May 7, 2009 - 12:00am The United States told Syria on Thursday it was committed to seeking a peace deal between the Syrian government and Israel, a main objective for Damascus in its rapprochement with Washington. "We conveyed...President Obama's sincere commitment to pursue Arab-Israeli peace on all tracks, including on the Syrian-Israeli track," senior State Department official Jeffrey Feltman said after meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem in the Syrian capital. » Read more

Nation building for Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am Not everything is bad. True: The situation in Pakistan is deteriorating from day to day. True: Iran is continuing to gallop toward nuclearization. True: The new U.S. administration has yet to find its strategic path. True: Benjamin Netanyahu is still holed up in a bunker, outside of which bizarre coalition partners wait in ambush. But there is good news in the diplomatic world surrounding Israel. » Read more

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