July 19th, 2011

GAZA STRIP: Israeli military warns Gazans in leaflet drop
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Rushdi Abu Alouf - July 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets over the Gaza Strip for the first time since the end of a 22-day assault more than two years ago. The leaflets, dropped late Sunday and early Monday, written in Arabic and signed by the "Israel Defense Forces," warned residents not to come near the border with Israel in the northern part of the territory, witnesses said. The leaflets warned citizens against approaching within 300 yards of the border. "Anyone approaching the buffer zone will put himself in danger," one leaflet read.

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Yes Mr. Lieberman, I'm a proud Jewish terrorist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Gazit - (Opinion) July 19, 2011 - 12:00am

In 1942, as a young boy, a high school student in Tel Aviv, I joined the Haganah (the main pre-state underground Jewish militia). The British Mandatory government considered me, and others who did as I did, to be members of an illegal organization. Two years later I enlisted in the Palmach, the elite strike force of the Haganah, and during my period of activity in the framework of the Jewish resistance movement the British government considered me a "terrorist." Afterwards I fought in the War of Independence and spent another 32 years in the Israel Defense Forces as a career soldier.

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Israel's 'equality under law' doesn't apply to Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) July 19, 2011 - 12:00am

West Bank Palestinian minors accused of throwing stones do have a chance of being acquitted; the odds are about one in a thousand. According to a B'Tselem report published yesterday, just one juvenile defendant out of 835 was acquitted of stone-throwing over the past six years. The others were convicted, mostly through plea bargains. About 60 percent of the convicted minors served prison terms of four months or more. Among those who served sentences of a few days and up to two months in prison were 19 defendants who were 12 to 13 years old.

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July 18th

News: Palestinians cannot agree on national unity but will not cancel the process. Over the past five years, Israel has detained more than 800 Palestinian youths for throwing rocks. Some argue green energy can advance Palestinian independence. Two Palestinians are injured in Israeli air attacks on Gaza. The PA economics minister denies allegations of corruption. Israel is looking for builders for more West Bank settlement units. MK Hanin Zuabi is stripped of parliamentary privileges. A Palestinian citizen of Israel fights for Arab women’s rights. A senior Israeli commander says settlers are “terrorizing” Palestinians. The PA has two employees charged with preventing clashes with settlers. Palestinian extremists in Gaza say they are planning attacks against Israel. Time profiles jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti. Palestinians may avoid the UN Security Council in September so as not to provoke a US veto. Commentary: The New York Times says Israel’s boycott law is not befitting a democracy. Carlo Strenger says that “bullshitting” is an inevitable fact of political life but can come to threaten democracy. Ha’aretz looks at why rocket fire from Gaza has resumed. Larry Derfner says it’s good the world is running out of patience with Israel. Jonathan Cook says Israel is suppressing Palestinian nonviolent resistance. The Gulf News says Palestinian statehood must be recognized. Adel Safty says the peace process is crumbling because Palestinian interests are not taken into consideration. The Jordan Times says US inaction is driving the Palestinians towards the UN. Yossi Alpher says the Quartet needs to work with, not fear, the UN track. Ghassan Khatib says the international community simply must intervene in the process.

An urgent need for intervention
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) July 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian politicians and analysts were divided in their understanding and evaluation of last week's Quartet failure to agree on a statement promoting the resumption of a Palestinian-Israeli political process. Some Palestinians expressed disappointment and frustration because disagreements within the Quartet that prevented consensus indicate that the international community is not going to be able to help Palestinians and Israelis move forward towards ending the occupation and realizing peace.

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Why the Quartet fears the UN track
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) July 18, 2011 - 12:00am

The Quartet failed to find a formula for restarting the peace process because it is either unable or unwilling to recognize that both the Israeli and the Palestinian leaderships are uninterested right now. It failed because all four of its component actors--the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia--are either unable or unwilling to exercise the necessary pressure on the two sides to bring about a viable process.

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Ineffective position
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) July 18, 2011 - 12:00am

The recent meeting in Washington of the Quartet, made up of the US, Russia, the EU and the UN, ended without the usual statement calling on the Palestinians and Israelis to resume peace talks. This suggests that there is a rift among the members of the group who are represented by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Only that could explain why such statement was not issued.

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Peace process is crumbling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Adel Saft - (Opinion) July 18, 2011 - 12:00am

The unrealised peace process recently suffered some setbacks. Last week, the members of the Quartet (US, Russia, UN and the EU) — the driving force behind the peace process — met in Washington. They took stock of the growing gap between the parties and the obvious dead-end the parties and the Quartet had reached.

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Palestinians may turn directly to General Assembly to better chances for UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - July 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Wishing to avoid an American veto at the Security Council, the Palestinian Authority is considering turning directly to the United Nations General Assembly in September in order to gain international recognition of Palestinian statehood.

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The Question of Barghouti: Is He a Mandela or an Arafat?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Karl Vick - July 17, 2011 - 12:00am

In France, Marwan Barghouti is called "the Palestinian Nelson Mandela," an imprisoned militant turned bookworm who talks of peace when he gets out. In the West Bank and Gaza, many call him the heir to Yasser Arafat, so popular that polls routinely show him winning the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, even while he remains behind bars. Israelis know him as a mass murderer, serving five life sentences for sending suicide bombers to a Tel Aviv fish market and a Jerusalem mall.

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