Mustafa Barghouthi says peace requires accepting that Palestinians are equal humans to Israelis. Ha’aretz says PM Netanyahu must accept the French invitation. David Horovitz looks at Israel’s battle to convince European states not to support a Palestinian UN statehood bid. Jacques Neriah says Israel has no idea how to deal with unarmed demonstrators. The Jerusalem Post says if critics of Dagan think he’s wrong, they must say why. Ronen Medzini says Israelis remain deeply concerned about possible diplomatic developments in September. The National says Israel’s isolation is growing. Adel Safty says Pres. Obama has shown his approach is different from former Pres. Bush in substance as well as style. Kieron Monks says discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel is growing. Alain Gresh looks at the Palestinian version of the “Arab Spring.” Tal Becker says Israelis urgently need to create a new discourse and strategy.

Israeli soldiers open fire on protesters at the border between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights. Israel’s outgoing intelligence chief Meir Dagan questions the judgment of political leaders. Pres. Abbas says he will attend a French peace conference if talks are based on the 1967 borders, and Israel says it’s considering the issue. Hamas officials close the border crossing with Egypt in protest at ongoing restrictions. Analysts say Egypt’s new government may facilitate a deal on a captured Israeli soldier. Israeli analysts think border incidents leave Israel in a no-win situation. The Israeli military says protesters “caused their own deaths.” The Media Line looks at Palestinian nonviolence and Israeli military responses.

Beyond Survival
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Shalom Hartman Institute
by Tal Becker - (Opinion) June 5, 2011 - 12:00am

For many years now, the conversation about Israel in the Jewish world has taken a familiar form. With rare exceptions, our sovereign project is spoken of in Jewish communities across the globe with pride about the past and anxiety about the future.

»

Beyond Survival
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
(Opinion) June 5, 2011 - 12:00am

For many years now, the conversation about Israel in the Jewish world has taken a familiar form. With rare exceptions, our sovereign project is spoken of in Jewish communities across the globe with pride about the past and anxiety about the future.

»

Palestine’s own spring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Le Monde Diplomatique
by Alain Gresh - (Opinion) June 6, 2011 - 12:00am

The images of Palestinians massed at Israel’s borders on 15 May represented a dream for some, and a nightmare for others. On the 63rd anniversary of the declaration of the Jewish state and of the nakba (catastrophe) for the many thousands of Palestinians expelled from their homes, demonstrators from Syria (1), Lebanon, Jordan and Gaza converged on the promised land. They were only a few thousand but the world wondered what would happen if millions marched peacefully to the borders and walls next time.

»

Can equality exist in the Jewish state?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
by Kieron Monks - (Opinion) June 4, 2011 - 12:00am

In 2005, following the arrest of several high profile Arab politicians and lobbyists living in Israel, the Shin Bet security agency made a statement justifying their actions: "The security service will thwart the activity of any group or individual seeking to harm the Jewish and democratic character of the State of Israel, even if such activity is sanctioned by the law."

»

Blueprint for future Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Adel Safty - (Opinion) June 6, 2011 - 12:00am

Last week US President Barack Obama reiterated and clarified his earlier statement endorsing the 1967 borders as the basis for negotiated permanent borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted furiously to the statement and promptly rejected the idea saying that the 1967 borders were indefensible, and vowed that a Palestinian state would not be founded “at Israel’s expense”.

»

Israel's isolation grows as Gaza noose tightens
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) June 5, 2011 - 12:00am

A year after Israel earned itself a public-relations disaster by killing nine civilians aboard the MV Mavi Marmara, another flotilla is fitting out in Turkey to sail to Gaza. And three weeks after last month's Nakba ("catastrophe") marches, marking the 1948 creation of Israel, ended with Palestinian deaths at border points, more marches to Israel's frontiers have been planned for today. June 5 is set aside to mark the anniversary of the Naksa ("setback"), the 1967 war, in which Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza.

»

UN’s 193rd member: Palestine?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - (Opinion) June 5, 2011 - 12:00am

The United Nations has 192 member states at this time. For Israel, the most pessimistic scenario is to discover one morning that the Palestinians got the 193rd seat, via a unilateral move that circumvents negotiations. However the Ramallah leadership’s path to the sought-after seat at the General Assembly in Manhattan is not an easy one at all. First and foremost, the Palestinians are facing the American obstacle. US President Barack Obama declared last week on no less than three separate occasions his objection to the Palestinian intention to seek UN recognition of statehood.

»

Let Dagan speak
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Editorial) June 5, 2011 - 12:00am

Outgoing Mossad chief Meir Dagan has been making headlines. A military strike on Iran would be a “stupid idea,” Dagan said a few weeks ago at a Hebrew University conference. At a Tel Aviv University conference last week he elaborated that such an attack “would mean regional war, and in that case you would have given Iran the best possible reason to continue the nuclear program.”

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017