NEWS: Occupation forces kill a Palestinian man near Nablus. FM Al-Maliki says Palestinians won’t press a UN initiative if talks resume. The unemployment rate for Palestinian graduates is slowly improving. Palestinians say the US bears some responsibility for Israeli policies. US officials defend US aid to the PA and urge more Arab support. The new Israeli anti-boycott law will be challenged in court. Haaretz interviews Palestinian UN ambassador Riad Mansour. Hamas reiterates it will not accept the continuation of PM Fayyad in office. The Quartet reportedly failed to agree on a joint statement over the issue of Israel as a “Jewish state.” An Israeli policeman will not face prosecution over the death of a Palestinian girl. Jewish-American groups of all orientations are criticizing the boycott law. Palestinians in Bethlehem face severe water shortages. COMMENTARY: Yitzhak Laor says Israelis and Palestinians must unite to end the occupation. Bradley Burston says Israel’s new boycott law is creeping fascism. Daniel Ben Simon says he voted against the boycott law because it is a threat to peace. Deputy FM Ayalon says Israel’s “new foreign policy” is bearing fruit. Roger Hercz looks at discrimination against Palestinians in Israel. Michael Weiss calls the boycott law “stupid and self-defeating.” Jennifer Aaronson says she supports Israel by working for peace with APN and ATFP’s joint internship program. Mahdi Abdul Hadi says whatever happens in September, Palestinians need to secure their sovereignty on the ground. Steve Clemons says Israel has undermined its own democracy. Hussein Ibish says the boycott law delegitimizes Israel by conflating it with the occupation. Jeffery Goldberg says he is totally against boycotts of Israel but understands why Palestinians and others would want to boycott settlements.

A Self-Defeating Boycott Bill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Opinion) July 13, 2011 - 12:00am


Supporters of Israel's settlement movement want to criminalize calls for boycotts, not only of Israel, but of products made in the settlements. The way to fight calls to boycott Israel itself is through argument; the way to fight calls to boycott settlements is to bring about the creation of a Palestinian state, and let the settlers become part of Palestine, or encourage them to come home to Israel proper. About the boycott-Israel movement I have no mixed feelings at all; it is a type of anti-Jewish discrimination campaign (as are these awful flotillas).


Knesset of Fools
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Hussein Ibish - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am


In the latest of a series of extraordinarily self-defeating moves, Israel's legislature, the Knesset, has just adopted the so-called "Boycott Bill," penalizing any call within Israel to boycott Israel or its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The new law allows for civil suits against boycott supporters, denies them state benefits, and prevents the Israeli government from doing business with them.


Israel Kicks Down its own Democratic Hill?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Steve Clemons - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am


Part of the annual foreign policy ritual in Washington is that the US President, Vice President, and leading Members of Congress make major campaign and fundraising speeches, sign on to resolutions, and pledge unconditional support to Israel, often referring to it as "the only genuine democracy in the Middle East." But will it remain so? The Israel Knesset just passed 47-38 a bill outlawing its citizens from supporting any anti-Israel boycotts.


A Palestinian View: September needs Israel's awakening and not politicians' bluffs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Mahdi Abdul Hadi - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am


The proposal made by Yossi Alpher and several other Israelis of "Buying into Palestinian Statehood" (New York Times, June 24, 2011) is based on several wishful assumptions for the "day after".


I support Israel by working for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now
by Jennifer Aaronson - (Blog) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am


A few years ago I was walking down the streets of San Francisco wearing an old t-shirt that said pro-peace, pro-Israel. A man yelled back at me that I could not believe in both. I was so shocked by his outburst that I didn't know how to respond-so I chose to ignore him. I was only fifteen at the time so that was probably for the best; however, that encounter has been ingrained in my mind ever since.


Israel's stupid and self-defeating new law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph
by Michael Weiss - (Blog) July 13, 2011 - 12:00am


One of the more elegant ways pro-Israel activists used to be able to confront the absurdities of anti-Israeli activists was by referring to the tolerance and patience that Israel has for its many critics and enemies. An Islamist cleric whose answer to the Jewish Question is straight out of Torquemada? We’ll let him become mayor of an Arab village. A sinister campaign for the economic and cultural boycott of Israel? We’ll let the head campaigner work toward his doctorate at Tel Aviv University, where his oral defence will no doubt be an attack on his own academic viability.


No Arab renters: Right-wing Judaism and minority inclusion in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm
by Roger Hercz - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am


JAFFA - As a student at a college in Safed, a small city of 30,000 residents, Yusuf checked apartment after apartment, hoping to find a home close to his academic institution. Never did the 19-year old anticipate the reaction from Rabbi Schmuel Eliyahu, the local town rabbi.


Solid diplomatic foundations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Danny Ayalon - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am


Last week could have proven very difficult for Israel. Our enemies and their provocateur partners were trying once again to damage our image and goad Israel into a confrontation. Thankfully, diligent behind-the-scenes work with our partners in Europe and beyond saw to it that a collision was averted. This is no simple task; individuals and small organizations are far more nimble than vast government infrastructures, and are extremely difficult to outmaneuver.


Killing chance for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Daniel Ben Simon - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am


In the final moments of the vote on the Boycott Law, when it was clear that my opposition colleagues and myself are again about to be defeated, my thoughts wandered to the founders of this state. These well-known and unknown heroes who left their countries of birth, left families behind, and moved to the Land of Israel in order to build one of the 20th Century’s most ambitious projects.



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