http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...15-081152-3898r

Saudi reformers get jail for sedition

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...15-011501-9107r

Abbas: Hamas in election can quell violence

In Gaza, Newly Elected Hamas Officials Attend to Basics

By Molly Moore

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip -- For the first time in the half-century that he's lived on a nameless dusty lane on the periphery of town, Mohammad Ali has a street light.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

--------------------
Egypt Should Set Pace of Its Reforms, Premier Says
--------------------

Ahmed Nazief asserts U.S. pressure would only hinder political and economic change.

By Sonni Efron
Times Staff Writer

May 16 2005

WASHINGTON; Egypt is conducting political and economic reforms at its own pace, and pressure by the Bush administration on Cairo to move faster would only be counterproductive, visiting Prime Minister Ahmed Nazief said Sunday.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,7726763.story

Police quiz Jewish extremists over missile plot :

Three Jewish extremists were interrogated by police on suspicion they planned to fire a missile into the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, in hopes of disrupting the planned Gaza withdrawal, police said today.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/05/16/story202757.html

http://snipurl.com/exrz

Gaza withdrawal opponents paralyze Israeli roads:

Jewish ultranationalists, some setting tyres ablaze, paralyzed rush hour traffic in Israel on Monday in the biggest such protest against a planned withdrawal from settlements in the occupied Gaza Strip.
http://snipurl.com/exs1

Minister of Health Asserts Israel Buried 80 Tons of Nuclear Waste in oPt:

He called on the UN agencies interested in environment to halt the Israeli transgressions, which endanger both the human beings and natural resources.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8856.htm

http://snipurl.com/exs2

--------------------
Right-Wing Protests Jam Highways Across Israel
--------------------

Thousands denounce Gaza pullout. In West Bank, work is to begin on enclosing settlement.

By Laura King
Times Staff Writer

May 17 2005

JERUSALEM; In the biggest and most disruptive protests yet against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to relinquish the Gaza Strip, thousands of right-wing demonstrators snarled evening rush-hour traffic across the country Monday, using burning tires and their own bodies to block highways and urban thoroughfares.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,4979944.story

Palestinian Government to Receive Additional Aid from Japan

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=D8286C:2F72C9D

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says he will also ask the US for
direct economic assistance when he meets President Bush later this
month

Mahmoud AbbasPalestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is on his way to China
after a three-day visit to Japan, where he picked up a pledge of an
additional $100 million in aid from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Before departing the Japanese capital, Mr. Abbas told reporters he
will ask for direct U.S. economic assistance when he meets President
Bush later this month.

Japan's Foreign Ministry says the country soon plans to resume direct
assistance to the Palestinian Authority for the first time in five
years. That announcement comes a day after Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi pledged a fresh aid package totaling $100 million
during his meeting with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Mr. Abbas said during his upcoming
visit to Washington he will ask the United States to contribute aid
directly to the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abbas says his government
is now capable of administering funds itself and that will help
promote transparency.

Until now, the United States and many other countries have funneled
aid through non-government organizations and other third parties. When
Mr. Abbas' predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat, was in charge, there
were serious concerns among donors about massive corruption in the
Palestinian administration.

Mr. Abbas on Tuesday also urged Israel to do more to achieve Middle
East peace. He said if Israel takes no steps beyond withdrawing from
the Gaza Strip then the conflict will again worsen. The Palestinians
want Israel to implement other obligations under the road map peace
plan, including a total freeze on settlement activity and the
immediate dismantling of unauthorized Jewish outposts in the West
Bank.

Israel accuses the Palestinians of failing to meet their initial road
map obligations, including a crackdown on militants.

During his three days in China, Mr. Abbas is expected to call for
Beijing to take a larger role in the Middle East peace process.

China has long been supportive of the Palestinian cause but has
recently increased defense technology ties with Israel.



The Palestinian leader heads to Washington next week for his first
visit there since he was elected in January.

Jewish Extremists Threaten Muslim Holy Site While Hundreds of
Demonstrators Protest Disengagement

(http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=D8286D:2F72C9D

Israeli police question several Jewish extremists who talked of
missile attack against Dome of Rock

A Jewish Ultra-Orthodox man stands near a group of policemen during an
anti-disengagement protest in Jerusalem Israeli police say they've
questioned several Jewish extremists who talked of firing a missile at
a key Islamic holy site in Jerusalem. At the same time, hundreds of
demonstrators have been arrested for blocking roads throughout Israel
to protest the government's plan to pull out of Gaza.

Israeli police say a handful of Jewish extremists has been arrested
over the past month on suspicion of plotting attacks against the Dome
of Rock, one of Islam's holiest sites.

Police say several of those in custody admitted discussing trying to
buy an anti-tank missile to fire at the mosque complex. The men said
they planned to fire the missile, throw hand grenades at approaching
Israeli security forces and then commit suicide.

The plot was apparently abandoned because of lack of money and
know-how.

Police say they lack sufficient evidence to keep holding the men and
have released them with some restrictions, but without charge.

Israeli security forces have repeatedly warned of attempts by Jewish
extremists to attack the Haram al-Sharif, which is home to Dome of the
Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque. Such an attack would likely spark
violence not just in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza but throughout the
entire Middle East.

News of the plot was only revealed late Monday and comes amid growing
tension over the government's plan to dismantle Jewish settlements in
Gaza and small portions of the West Bank beginning in August.

Hundreds of opponents of the plan set up roadblocks and staged sit-ins
throughout Israel Monday evening, tying up traffic for hours.

About 150 demonstrators showed up in Gilo, a neighborhood on the
outskirts of Jerusalem built on Palestinian land annexed by Israel.
Jaqueline Esther Levensen was among the protesters.

"We're talking about uprooting Jews and losing their homes," said
Jaqueline Esther Levensen, who was among the protesters.

"It's really important for the youth to understand that we're losing
the country and we have to defend [it] and be on our guard - [do]
everything possible to prevent this uprooting."

Some 300 demonstrators, most of them young people, were detained, but
protest organizers warn this is only the beginning.

Writing in the Israeli daily, "Yedioth Ahronoth," Yair Lapid
criticized Monday's demonstrations as a "festival of self adoration,"
by the settler youth. But, he wrote there was a valuable lesson for
Israelis stuck for hours in traffic because of the protests. He says
the public now knows what it's like to live with road blocks. "For a
single moment," he writes, "we too were Palestinians" - referring to
the Israeli military sieges and road blocks most Palestinians have
lived under for much of the past four years.

Israelis 'hopeful' on release for U.S. spy Pollard:

Israel expects imminent progress in its bid to secure the release of Jonathan Pollard, an ex-U.S. Navy intelligence analyst convicted of spying for the Jewish state in the 1980s, political sources said on Tuesday.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8879.htm

http://snipurl.com/ezl1

A Force to be Reckoned With: The New Palestinian Uprising:

The State of Israel, as Edward Said and others have long argued, existed in Zionist awareness and was deliberately transformed to become an essentially Western priority before the actual physical construction of the state on the yet to be destroyed hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages.
http://www.counterpunch.com/baroud05172005.html

Israel's defense industries account for 10% of the global market:

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/doc...=915000&fid=942

http://snipurl.com/ezk6

Israel offers settlers a land swap
Ariel Sharon hopes a plan to move Gaza settlers to land north of the
Gaza Strip will ease resistance to leaving. By Josh Mitnick
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0519/p06s01-wome.html?s=hns

Progress on political rights for Kuwaiti women
On May 16, the Kuwaiti parliament voted to give women the right to vote
and run for office. By Jamie Etheridge
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0519/p07s02-wome.html?s=hns

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/19/internat.../19mideast.html

Israel carries out first airstrike in Gaza, in 3 months of truce

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13533

Israeli air rocket gravely wounds Hamas member

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13539

British torture victims challenge Saudi authorities

US General: Syria Should Do More to Prevent Iraq Terrorism

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=D8B30C:2F72C9D

General John Abizaid says Syria is not doing enough to prevent
terrorists from using its territory to plan and support operations in
Iraq The American General who commands all U.S. forces in the Middle
East says he can not confirm a statement by one of his subordinates
that the recent increase in violence in Iraq resulted from a meeting
of leading insurgents in Syria. But the general, John Abizaid, says
Syria should do more to ensure that insurgents do not use the country
as a logistical base.

On Wednesday in Iraq, a senior U.S. military official said there was a
secret meeting in Syria about a month ago of top commanders working
under Iraq's al-Qaida leader Abu Musab Zarqawi. The official, who
requested anonymity from reporters who spoke to him, said the
terrorist leader himself might have been at the meeting, and that it
resulted in the recent intense wave of bombings that has killed
hundreds of people, mostly Iraqis, during the last three weeks.

Speaking later in Washington, General Abizaid said he could not
confirm that, but he did say Syria is not doing enough to prevent
terrorists from using its territory to plan and support operations in
Iraq.

General Abizaid "Clearly, we do know that there are activities that
are taking place in Syria, not with the collusion of the Syrian
government, but are activities that are insurgent-inspired that are
taking place over there,” he explained. “It's very important that the
Syrian government do everything within its power to keep violence from
migrating, or being planned in Syria, into Iraq."

General Abizaid spoke after a classified discussion with members of
the U.S. Congress about military operations in his area of
responsibility, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan. He accused Abu
Musab Zarqawi of perverting the meaning of Islam to try to justify the
killing of innocent Iraqi men, women and children.

General Abizaid's boss, the top U.S. military officer, General Richard
Myers, called Zarqawi a "criminal" who will go to "any lengths" to try
to spark a civil war in Iraq.

General Richard Myers"A lot of Iraqi men, women and children have died
because this violent extremist is trying to convince others to do it.
Talk about a guy that just has absolutely no moral foundation. It's
an outrage," said Mr. Myers.

General Myers said recent public opinion polls in Iraq indicate that
the Iraqi people understand what the Zarqawi group is trying to do,
and do not support it.

The U.S. military has just completed a major operation in western
Iraq, near the Syrian border, which it says significantly damaged the
insurgents' ability to launch attacks.

Israel to Respond More Aggressively to Palestinian Violence

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=D8B310:2F72C9D

Some Palestinian officials are expressing frustration with militant
groups for not sticking to cease-fire they agreed to

Senior Israeli officials say the military will respond more
aggressively to Palestinian attacks and warn the current flare-up in
violence could delay Israel's plans to pull out of the Gaza Strip and
parts of the West Bank this August. The warnings follow an unusually
heavy barrage of rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants
and the deaths of two members of Hamas.

Shaul Mofaz (File photo)Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has
ordered the military to respond more vigorously and use all necessary
means, to halt attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

The decision was made during a meeting of military and security
chiefs.

Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim also sent a message to the militants
- stop the attacks or risk collapse of the cease-fire, which has
lasted for more than three months, despite some violations.

The deputy minister told Israel Radio that if the militant attacks
continue the security forces will respond more forcefully. He said
Israel wants calm before its planned disengagement from Gaza and he
warned there will be no Israeli withdrawal under fire.

The warnings follow a flare-up in violence during the past two days.

Early Wednesday, a Hamas militant was killed, apparently while
preparing to plant a bomb along the heavily patrolled Gaza border with
Egypt. Later, Palestinian militants launched dozens of mortar shells
and crude Qassam rockets at Israeli targets, mostly settlements inside
Gaza.

Israel launched a helicopter missile strike against what military
officials said was a group of Hamas militants firing more rockets. One
militant later died from wounds sustained in the attack.

Tawfik Abu Khufa, spokesman for the Palestinian Interior Ministry,
blamed Israel for trying to stir up trouble. He said the Israeli
helicopter missile attack meant that Israel had already reverted to
its practice of targeted assassinations. He accused Israel of trying
to provoke violence.

Some Palestinian officials are expressing frustration with the
militant groups for not sticking to the cease-fire they agreed to, but
many also blame Israel for not doing enough to ease conditions for
Palestinians.

Israeli officials say the Palestinian Authority has not done enough to
crack down on the militants. Some say the current upsurge in violence
is also a sign of Hamas flexing its muscle after doing well in recent
local council elections.

Despite the latest violence, senior officials from both sides have met
to try to prevent further escalation.

Gaza attacks threaten to unravel a Mideast cease-fire
Palestinians fired mortars at Jewish settlements this week, in response
to militant deaths. By Joshua Mitnick
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0520/p07s02-wome.html?s=hns

Mofaz gives Israeli army free hand:

Israel's defence chief has given the army a free hand to strike at Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups firing mortars and rockets, as a shaky, three-month-old truce threatens to unravel
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/023...06D79CF0721.htm

http://snipurl.com/f0jk

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/21/internat...059&partner=AOL

Palestinian Attack Hardens Israeli Settlers' Resistance

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/rizvi.php?articleid=6033

Israeli Arsenal Vexes Nuclear Negotiators

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.j...sID=0&listSrc=Y

Something for Everyone to Hate

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1028

Steps Before All-Out War
DEBKAfile Special Report


AND:

Hizballah blasted Israeli positions on Mt. Dov with mortar fire Saturday after IDF fired warning shots over head of Lebanese shepherds who crossed border. No casualties on either side.

Abu Mazen in Cairo Saturday says Palestinian fire on Israeli targets is dying down and he will meet Sharon June 7.

DEBKAfile reports Palestinian leader is smoothing way to his White House visit next week with disinformation. Israeli PM’s office: No meeting scheduled with Abbas. In its Special Report below, DEBKAfile estimated three days of calm would be staged ahead of his Washington visit. Truce deal claimed by Palestinian interior minister Yousef and Hamas leaders is therefore temporary expedient with terrorist group holding options open.

DEBKAfile reports Kfar Darom attack was Palestinian test ahead of resumption of full-scale war. Battlefield debut of Israel’s armed unmanned aerial drone failed to deter continuing Palestinian violence.

Kfar Darom villagers march on UNWRA school in Deir Balah from which Palestinian gunmen fired mortar, gun and anti-tank weapons on their village damaging homes. Attack early Friday claimed by three Palestinian groups Hamas, Fatah’s al Aqsa Brigades and Popular Committees.

One gunmen shot dead, second injured, by Israeli tank. Villagers protest IDF inadequacy in stemming Palestinian violence now in its third day

Also Friday, Palestinians continued shelling Israeli targets in and outside Gaza Strip, staged three shooting incidents in Rafah region. Intelligence of another Palestinian attack impending prompted closure of Karni goods terminal.


Afghan leader Karzai flies Saturday to US for four days under shadow of fresh allegations of prisoner abuse by US troops

Pakistani FM Kasuri says Osama bin Laden is alive and moving from place to place with small band of fighters. He declined to say more about al Qaeda leader’s whereabouts.

Minister added Pakistani army had paralyzed

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C6C...B08C0994124.htm

Egypt police arrest opposition leaders

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A0C...36C0E69EBA5.htm

Sharon to meet US Jews on Gaza plan

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7A1...DB2D72D1B52.htm

Rice accuses Syria of meddling in Iraq

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle...ion=focusoniraq

Rice broadens indictment of Syria for supporting insurgents in Iraq

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/578852.html

US Administration split over gesture to PA Chairman Abbas ahead of talks

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1118251.cms

Syria 'a step away' from facing US military action

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1118251.cms

Syria 'a step away' from facing US military action

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...22-032308-2075r

Abdullah: Middle East responsible for own reform

UN Team Verifies Full Syrian Withdrawal from Lebanon

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=D9CD45:2F72C9D

US says it will continue to push for removal of all Syrian
intelligence assets in Lebanon

A U.N. inspection team has verified the full withdrawal of all Syrian
troops from Lebanon. Secretary General Kofi Annan certified the
withdrawal in a report to the Security Council. "We have verified all
the withdrawal, including all the border area. So, in principle,
Lebanon should be free of all foreign forces today," he said.

The secretary-general submitted a report to the Council saying a
verification team he sent to Lebanon last month had checked 133 former
Syrian positions. All had been vacated except one, in the disputed
Deir Al Ashayr region.

Mr. Annan said until the dispute over Deir Al Ashayr is settled, he
would not classify the Syrian presence there as a violation of the
Security Council's order that all foreign forces be withdrawn from
Lebanon. "The border has not been fully demarcated, something we've
encouraged them to look at carefully because there are conflicting
claims about whether territory is in Lebanon or Syria."

The verification team report also hedged its findings on the pullout
of Syrian intelligence assets. The authors noted that a withdrawal of
intelligence apparatus was harder to document because such activities
are by nature often clandestine.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United
States would continue to push for a full withdrawal of all Syrian
intelligence assets in Lebanon.

"But we cannot rest, Syria must also remove its intelligence forces
and allow the Lebanese people to be free," she said.

Ms. Rice was speaking to the American Israeli Public Affairs
Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobby group.

The Security Council passed a U.S. and French-backed resolution last
September demanding the pullout of all foreign forces from Lebanon.
But it was the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri in February that prompted the intense pressure that resulted in
Syria's pledge to withdraw by the end of April.

A separate U.N. team named to investigate Mr. Hariri's killing is
expected to begin its work this week.

Syria had dominated Lebanese politics since 1975, when it sent
soldiers to help end a civil war. An estimated 17,000 Syrian troops
remained in the country at the time Mr. Hariri was assassinated.

The Hariri killing threw Lebanon into its worst political crisis since
the war, leaving the country without a government for weeks and
threatening to delay elections.

But Lebanon's new government won a vote of confidence in parliament
last month. The elections are set to begin next Sunday.

Syrian reformers try to keep the pressure on
The opposition hopes to keep the world spotlight on the Damascus
regime, but several pro-democracy activists have been arrested. By
Rhonda Roumani
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0525/p06s02-wome.html?s=hns

Sharon: "Agreement signed by Arabs not worth paper its written on:"

Although Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is meant to be spearheading a drive to forge diplomatic relations with up to 10 Arab states, the premier told a closed meeting with a pro-Israel lobby in New York that he was deeply sceptical about the value of such agreements.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...tisraelussharon

http://snipurl.com/f4f8

Syria Stops Cooperating With U.S. Forces and C.I.A.:

The ambassador, Imad Moustapha, said in the interview on Friday at the Syrian Embassy here that his country had, in the last 10 days, "severed all links" with the United States military and Central Intelligence Agency because of what he called unjust American allegations.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8937.htm

http://snipurl.com/f4fd

Syria's Voices of Change

By Anthony Shadid

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Ayman Abdel Nour's contest with censorship began with a term not uncommon in Syria: "forbidden."

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

--------------------
As Heir of Arafat, Abbas Stays Out of His Footsteps
--------------------

Palestinian Authority president keeps a low profile as he takes on corruption and militants, but some see him as too timid.

By Ken Ellingwood
Times Staff Writer

May 25 2005

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The mountains of wrecked cars and rubble have been scooped up and hauled away. Gone, too, is the half-ruined wing of a building that served as a hide-out for Palestinian gunmen. In their place, a new governmental complex is taking shape.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,2350415.story

-----------------------------------------------------------
ABBAS DEPARTS FOR U.S. DOGGED BY DOMESTIC ILLS, PEACE IMPASSE
By Joshua Mitnick
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
-----------------------------------------------------------
QALQILYA, West Bank -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas departed yesterday for his first U.S. summit, buoyed by an Israeli promise of more prisoner releases but with little expectation of a breakthrough on peace talks.

Mr. Abbas, in office a little more than four months, will meet President Bush at the White House tomorrow with a hard-won cease-fire with Israel in jeopardy and amid pressing domestic problems.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who preceded Mr. Abbas to Washington, yesterday set the stage for the visit by announcing plans to release 400 Palestinian prisoners but vowing not to compromise on his country's security.

"We hope [Mr. Abbas] will be able to lead his people and create a democratic, law-abiding society," Mr. Sharon said at a convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. "We are willing to help Chairman Abbas as much as we can as long as we do not risk our security."

Security is likely to figure prominently in the talks with Mr. Bush. Recent clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants have highlighted the difficulties Mr. Abbas faces in controlling such groups.

The Palestinian leader also faces political problems a day after the Palestinian election commission signaled that a July 17 parliamentary election might be delayed. Members of his party had told The Washington Times earlier this month that such a delay was likely.

For most Palestinian analysts, the most positive feature of the meeting is that it is happening at all. After years of boycotting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died last year, the Bush administration is seen as signaling a chance for a fresh start in relations.

"At least [the Americans] are not antagonistic to [Mr. Abbas]. Palestinians are used to bias," said Said Zeedani, a Palestinian political analyst based in Ramallah.

Mr. Abbas, who stopped yesterday in Amman, Jordan, for talks with King Abdullah II, said before his departure that his main goal in Washington was to see that Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was the beginning, not the end, of a process.

"My goal on this trip is to succeed in getting American support for the road map," he said of a U.S.-backed peace plan that lays out steps leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"The sooner the Israelis accept that they have to get started with permanent-status negotiations," he said, "the better it is for them and for us."

Mr. Bush will sweeten the Palestinian leader's visit with a $200 million aid package approved by Congress earlier this month, though the money will go to Palestinian nonprofit organizations rather than Mr. Abbas' government. An additional $50 million is earmarked for Israel to set up crossing points into the Gaza Strip.

Aid to the Palestinian Authority would help Mr. Abbas carry out a promised consolidation of his security forces and rehabilitate the Gaza Strip after Israel's planned withdrawal.

Though Mr. Abbas is a weaker leader than Mr. Arafat, his one strong suit is that Palestinians think he has international diplomatic clout that can be used to reopen negotiations with Israel. Sharing the stage with Mr. Bush will reinforce that image.

"Intelligent people on the street believe that Abbas is much more politically aware than Arafat," said Nassim Odeh, a former council member in Qalqilya affiliated with Fatah, Mr. Abbas' dominant political organization.

"He is skillful, and we hope that this political skillfulness will be appreciated."

Though Mr. Abbas would benefit from U.S. pressure on Israel to ease humanitarian conditions for Palestinians and to proceed with the road map, analysts see little momentum.

"I don't think that Bush is looking to renew the peace process in any significant way. His agenda is full. Iraq and Iran are more burning issues," said Hillel Frisch, a political science professor at Bar-Ilan University.

"It's clear that both sides aren't there to strike an agreement. ... Both just want to continue the lull, the relative peace, and that's good enough for both."

?Abraham Rabinovich contributed to this report in Jerusalem.

(http://insider.washtimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050525-121925-6957r)

MIDEAST: Gaza Moves Into Unsettling Times
By Ferry Biedermann
GUSH KATIF, Gaza Strip - Israel's government last week postponed the implementation of its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip for three weeks, ostensibly to take into account an annual Jewish period of mourning.
http://ipsnews.net/new_notan.asp?idnews=28712

Bush, Abbas to Meet at White House
http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=DA1748:2F72C9D

Palestinian president's meeting with President Bush will be his first
as leader of Palestinian Authority

Mahmoud Abbas comes to the White House Thursday for the first time as
President of the Palestinian Authority. He will discuss prospects for
peace with President Bush.

The most important aspect of this meeting may be the fact that it is
occurring at all.

Mr. Abbas's predecessor, Yasser Arafat, was not welcome at the Bush
White House. But shortly after he assumed office, Mr. Abbas got an
invitation from President Bush.

He is expected to ask Mr. Bush to pressure for action under the terms
of the Middle East peace formula known as the road map. He is also
likely to urge the United States to provide assistance directly to the
Palestinian government, instead of channeling it through aid groups.

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan says President Bush welcomes the
opportunity to meet with the Palestinian leader. He says while Mr.
Bush backs Israel's plans to disengage from the Gaza Strip, the road
map remains the best path to peace. "The President strongly supports
the two-state vision that he outlined of Israel and Palestine living
side-by-side in peace and security. And the way to get there is the
road map," he said.

Mr. McClellan says this is a hopeful moment in the history of the
Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and all sides need to live up to their
responsibilities. "President Abbas has publicly spoken out against
terrorism, and against violence aimed at Israelis. He's publicly
spoken about stopping terrorism, and it's important that he continue
to move forward to dismantle terrorist networks and organizations.
That's one of the responsibilities he has," he said.

The White House spokesman says the international community will
support the Palestinian government as it takes on the terrorists and
puts democratic institutions in place. He says the United States has
made substantial commitments, and notes Japan recently joined in with
a significant pledge of its own.



Some Israeli Settlers Agree to Leave Gaza
http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=DA1749:2F72C9D

Israeli media report more than 1,000 settler families living in Gush
Katif settlement block have agreed to move if government asks them to
do so

Jewish settlers who plan to withdraw from Gaza look at map of
northern West Bank The majority of Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip
have agreed to move voluntarily to new homes inside Israel ahead of
the planned evacuation of all Gaza settlements in August. According to
Israeli media more than 1,000 settler families living in the Gush
Katif settlement block in Gaza have signed a letter for presentation
to Israel's High Court, saying that if the government insists that
they must move, they will do so voluntarily as a group.

They are thus meeting a deadline set by the Justice Minister to either
agree to the move or risk not being evacuated together as one
community and lose other resettlement benefits.

Speaking on Israel radio, Meir Shim'oni of the Gaza settlement
council, cast the settlers' wishes in a different light, making it
clear relocation is not their first preference.

He said what the people really want is to stay together as a group -
in Gush Katif.

About 8500 Israelis live in 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip. It's
foreseen that most of them will be relocated just up the coast, around
Nitzanim, a strip of desirable beach front land near the southern city
of Ashkelon.

Over the past several months a number of settlers have indicated they
would move voluntarily ahead of the government's planned mass
evacuation. Some of them complained of being ostracized by other
settler families who remain opposed to the disengagement.

The decision by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to remove all settlements
from the Gaza Strip and four small ones from the northern West Bank
has sharply divided Israeli society. Opinion polls show that the
majority of Israelis favors disengagement, but a vocal minority
remains opposed and has staged street protests to make that point.
Some have vowed passive resistance to attempts by police and soldiers
to remove them from their homes. Others have even hinted of violence.

Mr. Sharon has said the disengagement is necessary to enhance Israel's
overall security and to strengthen its control over the much larger
Jewish settlement blocks in the West Bank.

Palestinians welcome any Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian land, but
they have said all along that the disengagement plan is Mr. Sharon's
way of ensuring Israeli control over West Bank land. Palestinians want
Gaza, the West Bank and traditionally Arab East Jerusalem for their
future independent state.

http://csmonitor.com/2005/0526/dailyUpdate.html

Gaza Plan Leads to Warning of Rise in 'Jewish terror'

Al-Kidwa: Bush must solve Palestinian problem or forget his plans for Mideast :

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa warned U.S. President George W. Bush to resolve the Palestinian problem or risk the failure of his plans to democratize the Middle East.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/580877.html

'No re-entry' for Palestinian refugees:

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday ruled out the return of any Palestinian refugees to Israel or the loss of three major blocs of Jewish settlements in the West Bank under any peace deal.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-05...ron-aipac_x.htm

http://snipurl.com/f606

Israel blocks Islamic Movement's participation in London meet :

Israel has prevented the deputy chairman of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, Sheikh Kamel Khatib, from taking part in a conference on the right of return, which is scheduled to take place in London this weekend.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/580917.html

http://snipurl.com/f607

Sharon guard arrested as security threat :

A security guard at Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Sycamore Ranch and two right-wing activists, all residents of Sderot, were arrested by the Shin Bet and police, under suspicion of having collected intelligence about the security arrangements around the residence of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/579985.html

http://snipurl.com/f608

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/580479.html

Hezbollah: All of northern Israel is in range of our rockets

Heir apparent in Lebanon
Saad Hariri looks set to trounce his opponents in the parliamentary
elections that begin Sunday. By Nicholas Blanford
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0527/p01s04-wome.html?s=hns