BULLETIN No.115

Daily Telegraph Hamas shift on Israel Signs of a breakthrough between the international community and Hamas have emerged after the Islamist movement prepared to moderate hostility towards Israel.
New York Times Abbas Says He'd Put Peace Plan to a Vote Mahmoud Abbas said that he would call a referendum if Hamas failed to accept the peace plan within 10 days.
Haniyeh: We're closer than you think to deal on 1967 borders
Hamas withdraws militia from Gaza streets
BBC Israel 'to supply arms to Abbas'
Ha’aretz Analysis: Hamas appears set to give nod to talks with Israel
Editorial Israel's 'Realignment' Ehud Olmert's hope to win U.S. support for a new Israeli border offers President Bush both opportunity and peril.
Boston Review Hamas's Next Steps Finding the road to Palestine
Nixon Center Unrealists and Israel by Dimitri K. Simes - Helena Cobban
President's ultimatum to Hamas: recognise Israel or the people will decide
Abbas gives Hamas ultimatum on peaceMahmoud Abbas has challenged Hamas to accept the principle of a negotiated peace settlement with Israel or he would put the issue to a national referendum by mid-July
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Israel must make statesmanlike policy shift
Gulf News New challenge for Hamas
President Mahmoud Abbas vowed yesterday to call a referendum if the Hamas-led government refuses to back a proposal for a Palestinian state that implicitly recognises Israel.
Half empty or half full?
Bush's reaction to Olmert's plan has pleased the Israelis more than the Palestinians. It is definitely a case of the glass being half full or half empty when judging the two-day visit to Washington by the new Israeli Prime Minister.
Time to check Israel's convergence plan
Its characterisation by Bush as "an important step towards peace" has been hailed in Tel Aviv as better than what was expected before Olmert's US visit
Washington Post Olmert Urges Palestinians to Talks
FT Abbas gives Hamas ultimatum on peaceMahmoud Abbas has challenged Hamas to accept the principle of a negotiated peace settlement with Israel or he would put the issue to a national referendum by mid-July.
Washington Post Abbas Urges Hamas to Back 2-State Plan: Palestinian Leader Says He May Call Referendum
Dar Al Hayat Where is the Impasse in Hamas' Situation?
Ghazi al Touba - If Hamas wants to get out of the impasse it inherited from Fatah, it should turn this imaginary liberation into a real one, and rectify its organizational, intellectual and methodological structure, exploiting Fatah’s flawed structure to its advantage.
Al Ahram Managing cruelty Real hunger is beginning to strike the Palestinians as the boycotting of Hamas continues and the elected movement in government stands firm, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank
The question is how As the Quartet discusses how to bypass the democratically-elected Hamas-led government, Palestinians are running on empty, writes Erica Silverman
To disengage or engage? In Geneva, a group of Palestinian and Israeli diplomats, and retired military officers, argue the case of "giving Hamas a chance to change". Dina Ezzat listened in
New beginning with Israel Zeynep Gurcanli

Arab Reform Monitor Syria: Media Reform and its Limitations Marwan M. Kraidy
Gulf News The saga of France and Syria relations
Friendly ties between the two nations took a turn for the worse when Chirac changed his stance on the Iraq war.
Syria Comment
Amnesty International Incorrectly Suggests Syria Executed 80,000 in 1980s
Phil Weiss on Syria II
Hizbullah factor in Iran fray
The Tehran-backed militants could be drawn into the conflict if the US or Israel strikes Iran.

Washington Post Say No to Tehran's Gambit By Charles Krauthammer, All of a sudden, revolutionary Iran has offered direct talks with the United States. And the usual suspects are urging the administration to take the bait.
It's Time to Engage With Iran By David Ignatius
UPI Outside View: Gulf states fear Iran war
Gulf News What does Iran expect from the UN?
For the past three decades, the United States confronted two attempts by Iran to become the region's leading power. The US successfully thwarted both attempts, using means and resources from the same region, and from inside and outside Iran.
Iran: International Pressure and Internal Conflict Mehdi Khalaji examines the effect that global pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program has had on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration and its ability to overcome internal political and economic challenges.
Christian Science Monitor US eyes carrots, sticks for Iran nuke program The US, Germany, Britain, France, China, and Russia met in London to discuss incentives for Iran.

UPI Brzezinski wants orderly Iraq withdrawal
Iraq's government Could it prevail?
Out of Touch on Iraq By Dan Froomkin
Dar Al Hayat Sunni Arabs and Power Sharing in Iraq
Maged Ahmed el-Samarai - Security and political stability will not be regained unless the current rule and the political process overcome the sectarian quandary, and unless everyone works honestly and together with a national spirit for the sake of this great, patient people.
Al Ahram Iraq simmers Iraqi political leaders continued to bicker over key ministerial posts while the country remained in the grip of violence.
Still failing Five months after elections, and four weeks after a so-called political breakthrough, Iraq still lacks a government while killings and kidnappings continue, writes Nermeen El-Mufti
Slate Handing Off a War, Dispatches From Iraq: What lies ahead. Bing West
FT Bush and Blair admit to missteps in Iraq President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair pointedly refused to set a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, but acknowledged that they had both made missteps in the country.

Boston Review The Brotherhood How far will Egypt's Islamists go? Stephen Glain
A confrontation to hold off collapse and revolution Ahdaf Soueif: Every sector of Egyptian society is struggling with the government to stop further chaos spreading across the Arab region.
UPI Analysis: How to confront Islamists
Washington Institute Understanding the Middle East: A View from inside the Mossad former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy