July 8th

Time for a different conversation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Douglas Noll - (Opinion) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am The recent Middle East events in Washington, starting with the resignation of George Mitchell as President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East and ending with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's address to the US Congress, have created a moment in which a different conversation about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict might be useful. » Read more

Who is 'delegitimizing' whom? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Henry Siegman - (Opinion) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am Shlomo Avineri, a leading Israeli intellectual and politically very much a centrist, is to be commended for dismissing Israeli fears that outside criticism of their country's occupation policies is an effort to challenge Israel's very right to exist. Writing in Ha'aretz, Avineri notes there is not a single country in the world that maintains diplomatic ties with Israel that has ever questioned the legitimacy of Israel's existence. » Read more

A Palestinian architect designs the foundation for a state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ruth Eglash, Tovah Lazaroff - July 8, 2011 - 12:00am Khaldun Bshara’s eyes light up as he points out some of the intricate designs and structural elements of the ornate Arabesque building that houses the RIWAQ Center for Architectural Conservation. “It was built in 1932, but the person who designed it only slept here for one night,” says Bshara, who officially became the organization’s director last January. “It’s a hybrid between modern and traditional architecture, but has a clear Ottoman style.” » Read more

'US made a really concerted effort to support Israel' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - July 8, 2011 - 12:00am The unimpaired view of the Mediterranean from the ambassador’s expansive office in the US Embassy in Tel Aviv is stunning. And it is a view that James Cunningham, the outgoing US envoy, will give up for the view from Kabul. Cunningham, a career diplomat who took up his post in Israel under the Bush administration three years ago, will be leaving within days to take up his post as the deputy ambassador in Afghanistan. Talk about moving from a storm to a tempest. » Read more

Gaza fly-in organizers thank Bibi for PR ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Boaz Fyler - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am Left wing activists and the organizers of the planned pro-Palestinian fly-in to Ben Gurion Airport thanked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch for the extensive publicity their endeavor has been garnering in the global media. "We should be thanking Netanyahu because without him this wouldn’t have worked," one of the fly-in organizers said Thursday. "If we would have paid thousands of shekels in PR it would not have worked our so well," he added. » Read more

Gaza fly-in gains momentum ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews July 7, 2011 - 12:00am Security forces gear for potential disruptions at BG Airport after relatively quiet morning. Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists arrive in Israel despite foreign airlines' efforts to follow passenger blacklist; more than 30 detained by police Security forces were on high alert at Ben Gurion International Airport Friday afternoon, ahead of the potentially volatile second wave of Gaza fly-in arrivals. » Read more

Israel expropriates Palestinian land in order to legalize West Bank settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - July 8, 2011 - 12:00am For the first time in three years, the state has confiscated uncultivated land in the West Bank. The land will be used to legalize a nearby settlement outpost. Last week, acting on orders from the government, the Civil Administration declared 189 dunams of land belonging to the Palestinian village of Karyut to be state land, so as to retroactively legalize houses and a road in the Hayovel neighborhood of the settlement of Eli. This would seem to violate Israel's long-standing commitment to the United States not to expropriate Palestinian lands for settlement expansion. » Read more

Cement, weapons, cars – you name it, Gazans will smuggle it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz July 7, 2011 - 12:00am The smuggling business is booming in Gaza. Each week, cement and weapons are transported through tunnels running under the border between the salient and Egypt, and about 200 cars make the underground journey as well. Since Israel first imposed its blockade on the Strip, following the capture in 2006 of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid, smuggling has become perhaps Gaza's main growth industry, enriching the coffers of the tunnel owners and of the Islamist Hamas movement which administers the Strip. » Read more

PM fails to win Bulgarian commitment to oppose PA state bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post July 7, 2011 - 12:00am Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was not able to convince his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov to make a commitment to vote against the Palestinian bid for UN recognition of a state during his visit to Sofia on Thursday. Israel Radio quoted Borisov as saying that Bulgaria is currently conferring with European Union nations on forming a united position on the Palestinian statehood plan. Borisov added that the Palestinians had not yet officially presented an initiative and when they do, Sofia will inform Israel of its position. » Read more

Herzog: Vote 'yes' to Palestinian statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Lahav Harkov - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am In exchange for starting negotiations on borders, Israel should offer to vote in favor of Palestinian statehood in the UN General Assembly in September, Labor MK Isaac Herzog (Labor) suggested on Tuesday. “The government’s attitude, which assumes an Israeli loss, is defeatist and unoriginal,” Herzog told reporters outside a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting. The Labor leadership candidate suggested that Israel take two “controlled and responsible” steps. » Read more