Turkish and Israeli Officials Meet Secretly on Raid Crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Dina Kraft - July 1, 2010 - 12:00am The Turkish foreign minister and an Israeli cabinet member met secretly in Europe on Wednesday to try to defuse the crisis that erupted after Israel’s deadly raid on a Turkish aid boat bound for Gaza. According to Israeli news reports, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey and Industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer of Israel met in Zurich. » Read more

Direct talks if PM clarifies stand ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - July 1, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in an apparent charm offensive aimed at the Israeli public, has told reporters from the Hebrew media he is willing to enter direct negotiations with the Netanyahu government, as soon as he hears from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu regarding Israel’s position on borders and security issues. Abbas, in the briefing with Israeli journalists Tuesday in Ramallah, said that originally he wanted to hear from Netanyahu whether he was willing to accept the understandings agreed upon by his predecessor, Ehud Olmert. » Read more

Turkish Aid From Flotilla Begins Arriving in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - July 1, 2010 - 12:00am One month after Israeli commandos killed nine Turks in a raid on a flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade, the ships’ cargo of aid has begun to arrive here by land, starting Wednesday with 82 second-hand battery-powered scooters for the handicapped. In the same pipeline are hundreds more scooters, hospital beds, drugs, crutches and surgical tools, building materials, food and clothing, said Mahmoud Daher, a health officer for the World Health Organization here. » Read more

The Two Sides of a Barbed-Wire Fence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Nicholas D. Kristof - (Opinion) July 1, 2010 - 12:00am The Israeli occupation of the West Bank is widely acknowledged to be unsustainable and costly to the country’s image. But one more blunt truth must be acknowledged: the occupation is morally repugnant. » Read more

Peace Demands Courage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) July 1, 2010 - 12:00am Too often Israeli-Palestinian relations are seen as a zero-sum conflict in which whatever is good for one party is bad for the other. In reality, both parties, for different reasons, need the same thing: a negotiated agreement that ends the occupation and the conflict once and for all. Palestinians cannot achieve their basic goal of independence and statehood without a negotiated agreement. Similarly, Israel cannot achieve peace, defined borders, regional acceptance and long-term security without a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians. » Read more