June 16th

10 days, 10 months
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Brian Schaefer - (Opinion) June 16, 2011 - 12:00am

With June comes stifling summer heat and the French. Perhaps even more visible, or audible, is the endless stream of tour buses out of which tumble thousands of young Americans on whirlwind tours of the country. They’re loud, excited, and wielding cameras like weapons. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Taglit-Birthright season in Israel.

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Settler arrested for killing Palestinian
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli forces on Wednesday arrested an Israeli settler for the murder of a Palestinian man near Nablus nearly five months ago, Israel's daily news site Ynet reported. According to the report, Israeli police arrested a man residing in Jerusalem, who admitted to shooting an Iraq Burin shepherd, but claimed he did so in self-defense after stones were thrown. Video footage captured from a nearby military base shows an altercation between the settler and two villagers, although the footage was shot from a distance, the site reported.

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Jordan’s King Abdullah II warns Mideast peace prospects are dim
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joby Warrick - June 16, 2011 - 12:00am

The failure of U.S. and international efforts to rekindle Middle East peace talks last month has all but doomed chances for a breakthrough in the near future, Jordan’s King Abdullah II said in an interview in which he warned that the failure may cause the outbreak of a new armed uprising in the Palestinian territories.

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Godspeed to Jerusalem, Glenn Beck
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) June 15, 2011 - 12:00am

The American Right and Israeli Right have become the closest, most natural of allies. The Glenn Beck rally in Jerusalem for Israel, or at least for everything that’s lousy about Israel, is taking shape. According to Wednesday’s Yediot Aharonot, the rally has a name – “Restoring Courage.” Also a date – August 24. Also a place, or places – the Old City and Teddy Stadium. Also, tentatively, some guests of honor – Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Mike Huckabee.

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And what about statehood?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) June 16, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian strategy to achieve statehood is making significance progress among certain international political circles, but it is still lacking the necessary coordination and cohesion to bear the desired results. President Mahmoud Abbas and his West Bank Prime Minister Salam Fayyad have succeeded in detonating the familiar anti-Palestinian arsenal that Israel's public relations teams have employed against Palestinian aspirations.

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June 15th

NEWS: Palestinians continue to argue over who will be the next prime minister. Pres. Abbas and Hamas leader Mishaal will meet in Cairo to decide the issue. US officials try to resuscitate Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Israel says it expects the new Lebanese government to maintain the border truce. Israel’s navy prepares for the next Gaza flotilla. The head of the European Parliament says East Jerusalem should be the Palestinian capital. Ha’aretz interviews playwright Tony Kushner. A UN report says Syria encouraged border confrontations in the Golan Heights. PM Netanyahu says Palestinians won’t compromise even if their demands are met, and wants to form a block of 30 states at the UN to oppose Palestinian statehood. COMMENTARY: Etgar Keret says Netanyahu does not believe there is any possibility for a peace agreement. Leon Wieseltier says Jews must learn to trust their neighbors. Shaddad Attili says Israel’s water policies are extremely discriminatory against Palestinians. Avi Yesawich and Daniel Nisman say Israel’s 1967 borders are indeed defensible. Chris Gunness says attacks on UNRWA are unfounded. Jesse Rosenfeld and Joseph Dana say Palestinian nonviolence is their version of the “Arab Spring.” The Gulf News says Fayyad has been an excellent prime minister but Palestinian unity should not be derailed by disagreements over individuals. Jerome Segal says the UN should reestablish its Special Committee on Palestine. Immanuel Wallerstein says Israel faces severe diplomatic difficulties coming in September. Hussein Ibish says Arab-Americans should act as Americans of Arab heritage rather than Arabs living in the United States.

The Coming Israeli Tsunami?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Online
by Immanuel Wallerstein - (Opinion) June 15, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinians are pursuing their project of seeking a formal recognition of their statehood by the United Nations when the General Assembly convenes in the fall. They intend to request a statement that the state exists within the boundary lines as they existed in 1967 before the Israeli-Palestinian war. It is almost certain that the vote will be favorable. The only question at the moment is how favorable.

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Israel’s choice vis-à-vis Palestine’s bid for statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Jerome M. Segal - (Opinion) June 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Having despaired of productive negotiations with the Netanyahu government and having lost confidence in the Obama administration, the Palestinians are expected to seek recognition of the State of Palestine from the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September. Attaining recognition from the General Assembly will be easy, but once recognition is attained, they face the hard part: getting Israel to end the occupation, share Jerusalem, and make a meaningful accommodation on refugees.

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Some Arab-Americans need more of the American
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) June 14, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab-American community continues to suffer from the debilitating condition of operating primarily within an Arab rather than an American framework, and of approaching its political mission based on a set of imported imperatives, rivalries and grievances. Far too many prominent people and organizations are driven largely by a derivative agenda, looking for guidance and direction from groups, individuals and governments in the Middle East, thereby rendering themselves woefully ineffective and marginal in their own country.

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Hamas, Fatah should look at bigger picture
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Editorial) June 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Continuing reconciliation between the two Palestinian parties of Fatah and Hamas is vital. The slow momentum which has built up since they signed a reconciliation pact on May 4 must not be allowed to stop. An agreed interim government is their main priority, since without such an agreement the Palestinians will not be able to go to the United Nations in September and seek recognition as a state, nor will they be able to seek UN support to end the blockade of Gaza.

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