Richard Stallman, a creator of free software system Linux, chooses to speak to Palestinians (who invited him) and forego a speaking tour in Israel

Ramzy Baroud, editor of PalestineChronicle.com, is one of those allowed to cross into his Gaza home under the new Egyptian rule

A “parallel states” solution has been developed by a team of Israeli, Palestinian and international scholars, policymakers and protagonists in the conflict. It is built upon a new understanding of sovereignty based on the relation between the state and the individual citizen not territory

Obama’s speech underscored ‘that self-government under Israel’s brutal occupation and blackmail is an illusion and it might be better to dissolve the Palestinian Authority that sustains this illusion’ writes Ali Abunimah

Bedouin villagers have documented claims to land in the Negev – which the Israel Land Administration wants for a forest and so repeatedly destroys their village. Amnesty International is running a campaign to help the Bedouin which JfJfP fully supports. Go to Amnesty’s web-page to find out how you can add your support

The mother of a young American, spine, kidney, spleen pierced by a bullet asks the visiting American diplomat to tell their government of his injuries. She won’t, saying ‘That’s politics’. Yes. He is an Arab, the bullet is from an Israeli gun on Nakba-day.

In this third posting, we publish the memory of the Rafah crossing’s history held by Gisha, the Israeli not-for-profit legal centre dedicated to the right of freedom of movement

A second report on the Rafah opening, from the Ma’an news agency, gives details of who may be allowed to cross, when, and of some of the people in Egypt who long to see their families immured in Gaza

The co-operation of President Mubarak and the Egyptian army with Israel to block the Rafah crossing has been a principal target of the popular uprising. Pressure to open this one gateway to Gaza has been maintained, with results expected this weekend.

After Israel’s attack on Gaza in Operation Cast Lead, West Dumbarton Council voted to boycott all products made in Israel, including books bought for its libraries. But not to boycott books by Israelis printed elsewhere, or books by Jews as such, or any books sold in bookshops. Opponents claimed otherwise. The statement by the council is at the end of this posting.

As we posted last week (Human rights groups organise public protest at power of AIPAC) Move Over AIPAC! held a conference and protest in Washington DC May 21-24. A supporter heckled Netanyahu in Congress. She was assaulted and taken to hospital – where she was arrested Check the original for photos and video.

A third, Israeli, view adds to the posts on this page of Arab and American Jewish perspectives on Netanyahu’s speech to Congress this week – and finds nothing of hope or substance in it. Yet accepting the ’67 borders could be in Israel’s interest

The American Congress responded to PM Netanyahu as a supine people once responded to their out-of-touch Arab dictators – with appeasing applause – writes Dima Khatib. They must all know you can’t choose who represents the other side

Jane Eisner, editor of Forward – US Jewish weekly – , believes that the thunderous noise of 30 standing ovations for Behamin Netanyahu in his visit to Congress has drowned out the doubts and anxieties about his intransigence

Former BBC Middle East correspondent Tim Llewellyn says the BBC fails to inform their audiences of the context of the conflict, especially the fact that the Palestinians are fighting a war of liberation against illegal and harsh occupation. The BBC gives its response. The context is a review of the updated edition of Bad News from Israel by Greg Philo and Mike Berry

Khaled Meshaal, Hamas leader ih Syria has said negotiations with Israel should be given a chance. Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas official in Gaza, says this does not represent the position of Hamas

The widely reported Palestinian disappointment with Obama’s speech is news to most readers in Israel and the USA. Here Josef Federman recaps the Palestinian position and asks chief negotiator Saeb Erekat what his strategy is now

Jonathan Cook offers his analysis of what the Palestinian energy and Israeli political inertia and reliance on military force on Nakba Day shows about the regional state of play

The disappointment with President Obama’s Middle East speech may belong to disappointment at the lack of effective American power. Obama has understood this, if not what the ‘right to choose your own leaders’ means, suggests Antony Lerman

Reuters has produced this brief history of who supported which borders, when