July 6th

WEST BANK: A tit for tat or just a new policy? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) July 6, 2010 - 12:00am Hundreds of Palestinian dairy and meat producers demonstrated Monday outside the Palestinian Authority prime minister’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, demanding that Israel cancel an order banning the sale of their products in East Jerusalem markets. The demonstration took place only hours before Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority was scheduled to meet Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem to discuss such matters and many more that directly affect Palestinian living conditions. » Read more

Israelis, Palestinians, Americans produce 24 hours of "theater": analyst ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by David Harris - July 6, 2010 - 12:00am The diplomatic activities in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Washington on Monday and Tuesday is nothing more than theater, according to an analyst. The political science professor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ira Sharkansky, was highly dismissive of the meeting on Monday in Jerusalem between Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Likewise, Sharkansky expected little more than showmanship when United States President Barack Obama hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Tuesday. » Read more

On Netanyahu's map of concerns there is no room for neighbors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - July 6, 2010 - 12:00am Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog was quoted in these pages over three months ago as saying: "The diplomatic issue is the main thing keeping us in the government, because we have a genuine wish to reach a breakthrough with the Palestinians and the Syrians." ("What is the Labor Party still doing in a right-wing government?" March 22 ). "And we see the possibility of ending this partnership if there is no change of direction in the coming months," Herzog, one of the top members of the Labor Party, added assertively during that interview given to Aluf Benn. » Read more

Obama, Netanyahu meet again ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Anne E. Kornblut - July 6, 2010 - 12:00am Two months after a tense meeting at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Obama are set to meet on Tuesday with a deceptively simple mission: getting their picture taken together. The public show of unity matters for the delicate Middle East peace process and for domestic political consumption on both sides. Of immediate concern to the Democratic Party is the effect a perceived rift could have on the midterm elections, as Republicans angle to use any perceived rupture with Netanyahu to argue that Obama is insufficiently committed to Israel. » Read more

PA wraps up store-to-store campaign ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 6, 2010 - 12:00am After visiting most of the shops in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority Minister of the Economy Hassan Abu Lubda said the "store-to-store" campaign promoting the boycott of settlement goods had come to an end. A statement announced the end of the project, which saw hundreds of volunteers coordinated by government and bodies to go to shops - mostly food and mini-markets - with lists of goods produced in settlements and promoting the government-led boycott. » Read more

Israel Details Easing of Its Gaza Blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - July 6, 2010 - 12:00am Israel on Monday announced details of the easing of its blockade of Gaza, and the Israeli defense minister held a rare face-to-face meeting here with the Palestinian prime minister in a flurry of activity apparently intended to show diplomatic momentum ahead of the Israeli prime minister’s meeting with President Obama, scheduled for Tuesday in Washington. » Read more

Gazans: We were used as 'human shields' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews July 6, 2010 - 12:00am A series of testimonies in a report probing Operation Cast Lead suggest that IDF soldiers used Gazans as human shields. The report – exclusively obtained by Ynet – was compiled by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and focuses mainly on violation of Palestinian prisoners' rights by the Israeli military during the Gaza war. » Read more

B'Tselem: Settlements must be evacuated ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 6, 2010 - 12:00am Forty-two percent of the West Bank is governed by settlement councils, Israeli rights organization B'Tselem revealed in a new settlements study, published Tuesday. Released as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington, the report By Hook and by Crook: Israel's Settlement Policy in the West Bank, uses government reports, Civil Administration maps and military documents to compile a picture of "the mechanisms used to gain Israeli control of land in the West Bank." » Read more

Palestinian state now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Orly Azoulay - July 6, 2010 - 12:00am The prime minister will undergo a corrective experience in the White House Tuesday: President Obama will shake his hand before the cameras, utter a few polite words of encouragement, and later serve the PM a strictly kosher lunch. It won’t be like Netanyahu’s previous visit, which was held far away from the cameras, almost in hiding, amid a sour atmosphere and bearing the characteristics of a military hazing ceremony. » Read more

Israel's rocky friendship with Barack Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jeremy Bowen - (Opinion) July 6, 2010 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu does not have a great history with the occupants of the Oval Office. He got off to a bad start with Bill Clinton during his first term as Israel's prime minister in the 1990s. After he lectured Mr Clinton about the Arab-Israeli conflict the president was not happy. "Who the heck does he think he is?" he expostulated. "Who's the hecking superpower here?" Only according to the witness, a diplomat called Aaron Miller, he did not say "heck". It is safe to say that Mr Netanyahu's relations with President Obama have been disastrous. » Read more