NEWS: Turkey says it may indict senior Israeli military officers regarding the deadly flotilla incident. Israeli peace activists launch an online university. Hamas leader Hanniyeh says the results of the Egyptian election will define the future of the Palestinian cause. PM Netanyahu postpones voting on a Knesset bill that would bypass a Supreme Court order to demolish a large settlement outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land. Israeli authorities are preparing for more violent confrontations aimed at African migrants. Amnesty International says PA security forces “abuse detainees with impunity”, but also slams Israel for the Gaza blockade and settlement activity. An Israeli court rules that Palestinian towns in northern Israel are being discriminated against by not being given the same tax breaks as adjacent Jewish ones. Pres. Abbas reportedly says he's considering renewed UN initiatives. The Israeli occupation is increasingly the focus of “citizen journalism.” Palestinian fishermen in Gaza are being severely restricted by the Israeli blockade. The Senate Appropriations Committee will vote today on a bill that would redefine how the United States, but not the UN, defines who is a Palestinian refugee. COMMENTARY: Adam Ibrahim, an African migrant in Israel, pleads for decent treatment. Gideon Levy says a settlement goods boycott is fully justified. Tzipi Livni says Israel needs statesmanship, not crass politics. Douglas Bloomfield asks if Hamas and Fatah cannot make peace with each other, how can they make peace with Israel? Samia Hathroubi and Sarah Blum say people must take the lead in building peace. Abraham Rabinovich says Israel's conquest of occupied East Jerusalem was an "unintended consequence" of the 1967 war. Joyce Karam interviews Dennis Ross. Peter Beinart says it's ridiculous for Israelis to call South African demands to label settlement goods “racist.” David Makovsky and Olivia Holt-Ivry say Israeli military decisions regarding Iran will be made by politicians, not officers.

Command and Control
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Olivia Holt-Ivry, David Makovsky - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am


This week, the world's major powers resumed negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Should they fail, the specter of a possible Israeli strike looms large, seeming to grow more likely as Tehran's nuclear program advances. 


Who's Racist?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am


Even if you’re not a Zionist of South African parentage (not everyone can be so fortunate), it’s worth grabbing your biltong (don’t worry, it’s kosher now) and tuning into the political brawl currently underway between Israel and South Africa.


Dennis Ross: Political Solution Still Possible with Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Joyce Karam - (Interview) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am


As world powers make their way to Baghdad for another meeting with Iran in an attempt to resolve the nuclear standoff, former US negotiator Dennis Ross tells Al-Hayat that a political solution is still possible on the issue.


Adopting a shared perspective on Arab-Jewish relations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Samia Hathroubi - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am


For a while now, the both of us, two French citizens, a Muslim and a Jew, having strong ties with Tunisia and Israel respectively, realized that it is high time we speak out. We have both committed to YaLa-Young Leaders in France, in Tunisia and in the Middle-East, and saw Toulouse and Montauban’s attacks as a national tragedy that challenged our beliefs. It revealed and highlighted issues concerning Muslim and Jewish dialogue in France and in the world. This piece, which we wrote together, points out the necessity to stand united beyond hatred and division and calls for peace.


Palestinian irreconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am


Fatah and Hamas signed another power sharing agreement this weekend in Cairo, but if experience is any guide it is doubtful this one will be any more successful than the previous attempts at reconciliation between the rival Palestinian factions. The new pact calls for voter registration in Gaza and consultations on formation of an interim government of technocrats to begin May 27. The new cabinet, to be agreed upon within 10 days, would operate for six months, during which time it would set a date for presidential and parliamentary elections, probably sometime next year.


Not All Israeli Citizens Are Equal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Yousef Munayyer - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am


I’M a Palestinian who was born in the Israeli town of Lod, and thus I am an Israeli citizen. My wife is not; she is a Palestinian from Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Despite our towns being just 30 miles apart, we met almost 6,000 miles away in Massachusetts, where we attended neighboring colleges.


Israel's politics of nothing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Tzipi Livni - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am


Espouse the vacuous, the hollow slogan; appropriate the show, the gestures. Lose the content, the vision and the values. Do not let a position or an opinion stand in your way, pick-pocket the opinions of others before they take your idea first. Conduct public opinion polls and tell the masses what they want to hear. Do nothing, because in any case it is unnecessary.


Boycotting the settlements is justified
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am


I don't buy merchandise that comes from the settlements and I never will. To my way of thinking, those are stolen goods and, like any other goods that have been stolen, I try not to buy them. Now perhaps the South Africans and the Danes also will not buy them; meanwhile their governments have merely requested that products from the settlements be marked so as not to deceive their customers. Just as there was no need in the past to label merchandise from the British colonies as British products, so there is no need to mark products from Israel's colonies as Israeli.


An African migrant's plea for a few basic rights
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Adam Ibrahim - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am


I live in the Shapira neighborhood in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, what is currently happening in the neighborhood is intolerable. I have a friend who was told last Friday by two individuals that they were police officers in civilian clothing, who then proceeded to push him and steal 700 shekels from him. The police, of course, did not even deal with it. I think the Israelis do not treat us well, and then due to their guilt they come complaining about us.



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