This month MEMO looks at the US mid-term elections, the razing of a Palestinian village in Israel, the continued fallout from the flotilla and much more.

US capitulates to Israel in the shadow of its mid-term elections

• Obama and Netanyahu met this month in a meeting which saw the US administration capitulate to Israel in the shadow of the upcoming US mid-term election. Obama has backed Israeli demands for direct negotiations with the Palestinians. He promised the US would never ask Israel to do anything that undermines its security and praised Israeli restraint over the last month with regard to illegal settlement construction. The pressure has now been turned on the Palestinians.
  
  
• Netanyahu is now said to be putting together a list of "concessions" to Palestinians aimed at convincing them to enter direct talks. The main proposed "concessions" will be, inter alia, to widen the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority's security forces, [Israel] to cease operating in Palestinian areas altogether and for a reduction in the number of West Bank roadblocks. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has stated that Israel has given enough, the concessions will be put to a vote and it will be difficult to convince the inner 7 ministers of the proposals. Netanyahu has alluded to the possibility of discussing an extension of the settlement freeze which is the central Palestinian demand, but it is contingent upon Palestinians agreeing to direct negotiations first which would render Palestinians' participation in negotiations moot.

This Month's news was dominated by the fatal Israeli assault on the humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza, its consequences and the political fallout.

Also, the struggle for east Jerusalem continues this month.

Israel's attack on the 'Freedom Flotilla'

The Freedom Flotilla - a fleet of eight ships carrying over 10,000 tonnes of aid to the Strip aimed to deliver its cargo, break the naval blockade and draw international attention to the situation. Israel claims that there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It condemned the flotilla as "an attempt at violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow a violation of its sovereignty at sea, in the air, or on land" despite that the flotilla was headed for Gaza and not Israel.

MEMO reviews some of the pertinent May headlines coming out of the British, Israeli and American papers including the rise of Turkey, the new British coalition government and nuclear Israel.

Declaring war on freedom of expression - the tale of Noam Chomsky

Early last month, the highly acclaimed academic, Noam Chomsky was blocked from entering Occupied Palestine. Chomsky, who was on a speaking tour in the region, was scheduled to speak at the Birzeit University in the Occupied West Bank. However, on arrival at the Israeli border with Jordan, he was detained and questioned. Later in an interview with the Israeli Channel 10, Chomsky revealed that his 'interrogators had told him he had written things that the Israeli government did not like. "I suggested [the interrogator try to] find any government in the world that likes anything I say," he said. Israeli media were surprisingly critical of their government's decision, with even the more right wing nationalist paper, Yediot Ahronot, calling it a 'foolish act in a frequent series of recent follies'. The self-proclaimed 'only democracy in the Middle East' came under fire from human rights groups and the wider media, all citing that the principle of freedom of expression was being undermined and that this act was 'characteristic of a totalitarian regime'.

Suffice to say that Professor Chomsky delivered his speech, albeit via video link and that the governments' action only worked to further highlight the authoritarian nature of the Occupier regime - and expose them as hypocrites to those who weren't already aware they were.

Throughout April, Israel continued its defiance of the international community with settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian land. President Barack Obama has been forced into an embarrassing acquiescence pushing instead for another round of diplomacy amid chatter of an autumn summit. Tensions rose above normal levels in the region after Israel and the US accused Syria of delivering advanced missiles to Lebanon's Hizbullah.  Paradoxically, Obama's high-profile nuclear summit was boycotted by Israel. Other big stories included that of the Israeli journalist, Anat Kam, who blew the whistle on the military assassination of Palestinians in the West Bank and the military order to expel thousands of Palestinian from the territory. MEMO also offers in this edition a reading of the US media coverage.

Settlement expansion and the peace process

Last month saw the fiasco in which Israel announced its approval for the building of 1,600 new units in an ultra-orthodox settlement in east Jerusalem during a visit by US vice president Joe Biden in total defiance of US demands for a freeze in construction. US demands were in line with Palestinians who refused to return to direct talks without a full freeze.

Toward the beginning of the month, the US endeavoured to broker a four month freeze in east Jerusalem by encouraging Palestinians to enter into direct peace talks with Israel. Washington believed this would be enough to restart talks for the first time since the war on Gaza. A number of senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman insisted publicly that they would not halt the illegal expansion. The latter claimed that making further concessions was pointlessness and that Israel could convince the US of the "completely unreasonable" nature of its demand.