June 8th

Netanyahu’s conundrum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Arnaud De Borchgrave - (Opinion) June 7, 2011 - 12:00am


When a joint session of the U.S. Congress gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 29 standing ovations - four more than President Obama received for his last State of the Union message - there was little doubt that Israel is an integral part of the American body politic. It was a hard-line speech by an Israeli on the right of the Israeli spectrum that firmly rejected Mr. Obama's proposal for Mideast peace: The pre-1967 war frontier with minor land swaps for both sides.


New French initiative for Israeli-Palestinian peace faces difficulties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - June 8, 2011 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM, June 7 (Xinhua) -- France has presented a new plan to break the deadlock in direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but faces opposition from both the United States and Israel. The plan envisions the 1967 lines, which existed before the Six Day War, as the borders between Israel and the future Palestinian state. The French initiative agrees mostly with a recent speech by U.S. President Barack Obama, but goes further to emphasize security for the two states, not only for Israel.


Time to try a new option
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Editorial) June 6, 2011 - 12:00am


The partial opening of the Rafah crossing by Egypt's military rulers, coupled with the anticipation of another Turkish-led naval flotilla seeking to breach the Gaza blockade, provide a timely opportunity to review the logic of Israel's restrictions on movement into and out of the Strip. The Egyptian move also raises the issue of Gaza's future relationship with Egypt, Israel and the West Bank.


September Knocks on Israeli Gates
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Pierre Klochendler - (Opinion) June 7, 2011 - 12:00am


"September 2011 is knocking on our gates," says an Israeli army officer who, under strict operation procedures, would not reveal his name. He was alluding to the United Nations General Assembly annual meeting expected to resoundingly endorse the Palestinian drive for recognition of statehood.


PNA starts paying salaries after getting Algerian fund
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 8, 2011 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will start paying its employees on Wednesday after receiving an Algerian fiscal assistance. Before evening, employees can get their salaries via ATM, and starting from Thursday, they can get it from banks, said Yousef Al- Zomor, PNA's main accountant, noting the 26.4 million-U.S.-dollar Algerian fund reached PNA's treasury Wednesday, according to the Voice of Palestine Radio. The PNA needs 150 million dollars monthly to pay for some 148, 000 employees in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.


Preventing Israel’s final solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) June 7, 2011 - 12:00am


This year’s marking of the anniversaries of Al-Nakba, the birth of Israel on usurped Palestinian land, and Al-Naksa, the Six-Day War which resulted in the occupation of the remainder of historical Palestine by Israel, have underlined one clear fact; that 63 years since the creation of Israel and 44 years after the fall of Jerusalem and other territories, the Palestinians have not given up on their rights. It’s an important element in the ever-evolving conflict which remains unresolved to this day.


Netanyahu distorts the refugee problem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) June 8, 2011 - 12:00am


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed his great deception skills again on Sunday. He stated that the clashes on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights that day proved that the Palestinians were not interested in a solution based on 1967 borders, but rather sought a solution based on 1948 borders. For once there was a nugget of truth in his comments, because he correctly mentioned the importance of 1948 in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.


Rafah crossing re-opens
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 8, 2011 - 12:00am


GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was re-opened Wednesday morning after a four-day closure. The decision to open was made after Palestinian and Egyptian officials agreed on a set of mechanisms for the passage of Palestinian travelers. From Wednesday onward, Rafah will open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and allow an average of 550 passengers per day to cross.


Israel-Iran behind the door dealings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Khalaf Al Habtoor - (Opinion) June 8, 2011 - 12:00am


A scandal that has recently erupted in Israel concerning a private Israeli shipping and transport group — Ofer Brothers — that sold a tanker to Iran via a well-known Iranian front company and has been transporting petroleum products to and from Iran for a decade, heightens my suspicions that nothing is what it seems in the dirty world of geopolitics.


The Palestinians: The single currency for crises
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq al-Homayed - (Opinion) June 8, 2011 - 12:00am


Lately, many people came out to say "no to Palestinians being exploited in the crises of some Arab regimes." This was after demonstrations broke out at the Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp in Syria in protest at the Syrian regime sending Palestinian youth to the occupied Golan Heights, which led to them being killed at the hands of the Israeli army.



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