PM Olmert and PA Chairman Abbas to meet in Jericho on Thursday

The main item of Israel-related coverage in the UK media today is the British University and College Union proposal to discuss the possibility of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, and the possible Israeli response. In other news, several papers and news outlets note the outbreak of violence at a second Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. The Daily Telegraph, the Independent and the Scotsman, meanwhile, report death threats against female Palestinian journalists by Islamic militants in Gaza. The Daily Telegraph and the Times note the Islamist plot to blow up JFK airport in New York. The Financial Times has an editorial on the legacy of the Six Day War, and the Glasgow Herald has an article by Secretary of State at the Department for International Development Hilary Benn on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the possible ways to resolve it. Reuters, meanwhile, notes statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for the destruction of Israel.

Over the weekend, the main item of Middle East-related news was the release of a video of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston by his abductors in Gaza. In other stories, the Observer, the Sunday Times and the Times on Saturday noted the proposed UCU boycott of Israeli academia. In related news, the Financial Times on Saturday noted that Professor Alan Dershowitz is considering legal action against the boycotters. The Observer also publishes an article on the West Bank town of Jenin. Several papers continued to follow the ongoing violence at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon.  The Sunday Telegraph reported on the rise of Islamic extremism in Gaza. The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, meanwhile, spoke to Kate Burton, who was kidnapped in Gaza. The Sunday Times ran a piece on an Israeli espionage operation which helped win the 1967 Six Day War, while Scotland on Sunday had an article looking into the legacy of the Six Day War. Reuters on Sunday noted remarks by PM Olmert on the results of IDF action against rocket launchers in Gaza.

In the Israeli media today, the Jerusalem Post and Ynetnews note an Amnesty international issued a report critical of Israel. Haaretz, meanwhile, reports on a possible major speech to be given by President Bush on the Mid-East peace process. The paper has additional pieces on attempts to revive the Saudi peace initiative and a possible renewal of diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt. The Jerusalem Post has an additional article on proposed Israeli responses to the possible UCU boycott, and the paper also notes the possible imminent release from jail of an Israeli convicted of selling weapons to Iran in 1998. Ynetnews, meanwhile, notes a ministerial discussion on the Syrian threat, and also reports on a move by a group of east Jerusalem residents to organise a separate municipality. Maariv notes the awarding of an honorary doctorate by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to Kenan Makiya, a veteran Iraqi dissident and opponent of Saddam Hussein.

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