June 27th

Israel’s Soviet Political Party ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Liam Hoare - (Opinion) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am Yisrael Beiteinu is widely understood to be the party of Russian Jewry, that population of nearly one million Jews who arrived in Israel after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Twelve years since its founding, it has become the third largest party in the Knesset, on a radical anti-clerical and staunchly nationalist platform. » Read more

Peres's Conference, Netanyahu's Challenge ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am Tel Aviv — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rose to address the 4,000 delegates at the close of Shimon Peres’s Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem on June 23, he beamed like a film student accepting an Oscar. » Read more

Europe's responsibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am BRUSSELS - Last week I met with more than a dozen European officials who closely follow Israel and its dispute with its neighbors. Some wondered how it could be that Israel's defense minister warns about a "tsunami," while the country's public os focused on cottage cheese. Some asked whether I had a clue as to what my prime minister wants. Are all statements made by Benjamin Netanyahu about negotiations, they asked, aimed at giving the settlers another year or two, and also at scuttling any prospect of dividing the country? » Read more

Let the flotilla go ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am The term "flotilla" is understood in Israel as a declaration of war. This is the case with respect to the latest Gaza-bound flotilla, just as it was with the one that set off from Turkey in May 2010. Furthermore, due to unstable relations with Turkey, Israel is still feeling the repercussions of its deadly raid on that maritime convoy. » Read more

Fayyad nomination is final, Fatah says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Nasouh Nazzal - June 27, 2011 - 12:00am Ramallah: The Fatah party Sunday said the nomination of Dr Salam Fayyad to lead the Palestinian unity government is final. It said if Hamas did not agree with the nomination in the next couple of days, the current caretaker government under Fayyad will remain in place. "If agreement on the nomination of Dr Fayyad is not reached within the coming couple of days, it is highly possible that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas assigns Dr Fayyad to reshuffle his cabinet and preserve the status quo," Ameen Maqboul, who heads the Revolutionary Council at Fatah, told Gulf News in an interview. » Read more

Exploding the myths: UNRWA, UNHCR and the Palestine refugees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Opinion) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- As Palestinian leaders prepare to seek UN recognition of statehood in September, there is increasing talk in the US, Israel and elsewhere of disbanding the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the UN Relief and Works Agency, and handing responsibility for Palestinian refugees to the UN High Commission for Refugees. Some argue UNHCR would resettle the refugees, robbing them of their right to return to their homes. » Read more

Building Boom in Gaza’s Ruins Belies Misery That Remains ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - June 25, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA — Two luxury hotels are opening in Gaza this month. Thousands of new cars are plying the roads. A second shopping mall — with escalators imported from Israel — will open next month. Hundreds of homes and two dozen schools are about to go up. A Hamas-run farm where Jewish settlements once stood is producing enough fruit that Israeli imports are tapering off. » Read more

Peaceful protesters of Bil'in say struggle is far from over ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - June 27, 2011 - 12:00am BIL'IN, WEST BANK // A dedicated supporter of his village's weekly demonstrations against Israel's separation barrier, Ahmed Abu Rahme, 38, turned up to Friday's protest in a solemn mood. Two days earlier, Israel's military began re-routing a 3-kilometre segment of the massive barrier that severed his community of 1,800 people from an estimated two thirds of its farmland. » Read more

Getting on board with peace in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Hagit Borer - (Opinion) June 26, 2011 - 12:00am Later this month an American ship, the Audacity of Hope, will leave Greece on a journey to the Gaza Strip to attempt to break Israel's blockade. It will join an expected nine other ships flying numerous flags and carrying hundreds of passengers from around the world. I will be one of those passengers. » Read more

'Hamas will not work with German mediator again' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post June 27, 2011 - 12:00am The deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, told London-based al-Hayat on Monday that his organization would not work with German mediator Gerhard Konrad again after he failed to secure a prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel in negotiations for the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit. The last time talks broke down with the German mediator, Abu Marzouk said that while Konrad's role in the negotiations had ended, Hamas would "not oppose his return if the Israeli government wants it." » Read more