Inside Story: Palestinian Reconciliation
After four years of rift and rivalry; the two Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a long awaited reconciliation agreement in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Wednesday.

How did the new regime in Egypt achieve in two months what the previous adminsitration had failed to do in years?

Inside Story, with presenter Nick Clark, discusses with Gamal Abdel Gawad, from the Al Ahram Centre of Strategic Studies; Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian Initiative; and Yaakov Katz, a military and defence analyst from the Jerusalem Post.

This episode of Inside Story aired from [sic] Thursday, May 5, 2011.

Pope 'Committed' to Reconciliation with Jews
THE TELEGRAPH: Pope Benedict XVI has said that the Catholic church was 'irrevocably committed' to reconciliation with Jews, tacitly admitting a gap continues to exist between the two sides.

Pope Benedict XVI places his note to God in the Western Wall at Judaism's holiest site in Jerusalem's Old City, Israel. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
On the second day of his visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, the Pope toured holy sites around Jerusalem and had separate meetings with Muslim and Jewish leaders.

After meeting Israel's two chief rabbis, Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger, the Pope addressed the issue of tension between Christianity and Judaism dating back thousands of years.

"Today I have the opportunity to repeat that the Catholic Church is irrevocably committed to the path chosen at the Second Vatican Council for a genuine and lasting reconciliation between Christians and Jews,'' the Pope said.

"As the declaration [from the Second Vatican Council] makes clear, the Church continues to value the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews and desires an ever deeper mutual understanding and respect through biblical and ideological studies as well as fraternal dialogues.'' >>> By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem | Tuesday, May 12, 2009