Questions For One-Staters
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Daily Beast (Opinion) - June 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Supporters of the two-state solution are often told that this vision is unrealistic and has become unachievable. Young, idealistic seekers of justice and equality are increasingly offering what they claim is a more "realistic" solution: a single state for all Israelis and Palestinians, including refugees. Here are ten questions that might help these single-staters think through the feasibility of the project they have in mind:

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NEWS: Israeli settlers begin evacuating a tiny “unauthorized” outpost. Pres. Putin visits the West Bank. Israel arrests 3 ultra-Orthodox Jewish suspects in a vandalism attack on its Holocaust Memorial. Pres. Abbas reiterates that negotiations are the only path to peace with Israel. Mohammed Morsy's presidential victory in Egypt causes alarm in Israel, and Hamas claims it will help win them international recognition. Senior Fatah leaders in Gaza resign. Sami Michael, head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, says it is “the most racist state in the developed world.” Palestinian road accident victims are caught between competing authorities in “Area C.” Israel demolishes a Bedouin village for the 39th time. Palestinians say Israel is preventing some 300 couples split between Gaza and the West Bank from reuniting. The New York Times looks at the threatened West Bank village of Battir. COMMENTARY: ATFP Executive Director Ghaith Al-Omari asks what “pro-Palestinian” American activists, totally alienated from their country's political system, have achieved. Adam Gonn says Israel is not a priority for Egypt's new Islamist president. Eric Yoffie says Israel's settlement project is undermining its relationship with Jewish Americans. Tom Segev profiles David Ben-Gurion. Uri Pasovsky says Israel could be a big loser in the emerging new global order. Bernard Avishai asks why, if Israel is really interested in creating the basis for a Palestinian state, it continues to prevent Palestinians educated in major Western universities from returning to the occupied territories. Elisheva Goldberg looks at left and right wing state party votes in the United States that undermine a two-state solution. Karin Laub and Ibrahim Barzak say the Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt's presidential election offers no quick fixes for Gaza or Hamas. Brian Levin says Jewish Americans should repudiate Islamophobia.

Jews Must Repudiate All Hatred, Especially From One of Their Own
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Brian Levin - (Blog) June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

Pamela Geller, an outspoken Islamophobe who spins wild hateful conspiracy theories about Muslims, as well as President Obama, had a speaking event entitled "Islamic Jew Hatred: The Root Cause of the Failure to Achieve Peace" cancelled in Los Angeles over the weekend following condemnation by a number of local advocacy groups. The speech sponsored by the Zionist Organization of America was terminated after the venue owner, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, intervened to prevent its tenant from hosting the controversial speaker.

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A Palestinian Village Tries to Protect a Terraced Ancient Wonder of Agriculture
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

BATTIR, West Bank — In this scenic Palestinian village in the West Bank hills near Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, a week is said to last eight days, not seven. That is because Battir’s eight extended families take daily turns watering their crops from the natural springs that feed their ancient agricultural terraces, a practice they say has wor

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For Gaza, Egypt’s Islamist victory no quick fix
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak, Karin Laub - (Opinion) June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

Gaza’s euphoria over the election of a Muslim Brotherhood leader as Egypt’s first Islamist president seemed a bit premature as reality set in the Monday.

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Resolved: This is Not the Road to a Two-State Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Elisheva Goldberg - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Earlier this week North Carolina’s Democratic Party considered a resolution that sought to end “Israel’s illegal occupation.” And that’s not all it said: It also called for a “nuclear free zone in the Middle East” i.e.

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Israel denies 300 Palestinian couples from uniting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Nasouh Nazzal - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Ramallah: Hassan Mansour, a resident of the city of Nablus on the West Bank, has dedicated his recent life to bringing his Gazan wife Rinad to live with him, but Israeli authorities have rejected all requests from both husband and wife. For the past two years the couple have attempted to unite, but have not been granted permission by Israel. They have approached legal and human rights organisations and lodged several complaints with various courts, but have not achieved success.

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No Partner For Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

Ever since Benjamin Netanyahu’s Bar Ilan speech in 2009, in which he declared himself ready to work toward a demilitarized Palestinian state, his defenders in the United States have justified the collapse of any dialogue with the Palestinians in terms of Israel’s understandable caution. “There is no partner for peace,” we hear again and again, which suggests a number of things at once.

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Israel demolishes Bedouin village for 39th time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

NEGEV (Ma'an) -- Israeli bulldozers demolished Bedouin village al-Araqib for the 39th time on Monday, a lawyer said. Ayman Odeh, who witnessed the demolition, told Ma'an that demolishing people's homes should not be a routine for Israel. Israel considers al-Araqib and all Bedouin villages in the Negev illegal, while Bedouins say it is their ancestral land.


West Bank's route 60 a 'road of death' for Palestinian children
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Phoebe Greenwood - June 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Manar Juwali's five-year-old daughter Miri is lying in a drug-induced coma after suffering burns to 75% of her body. The 32-year-old Palestinian woman holds her pregnant belly as she talks about the accident. Four months on, it is still difficult for her – and for all the parents whose children were killed or injured in the inferno on the West Bank's route 60 – to identify who is to blame.

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