July 2nd

Abbas: direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations subject to indirect talks' progress ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday told the U.S. mediator that the direct Palestinian- Israeli negotiation is subject to the progress that could be made by the ongoing indirect talks. "We hope that this position is clear to the international community and the U.S. administration" which sponsors the proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, following a meeting here between Abbas and the U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell. » Read more

Israel willing to release 1,000 Palestinians in exchange for Shalit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 1, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli government agrees to free some 1,000 Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons for the release of Israeli captive soldier Gilad Shalit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening. "That's the price I am willing to face to bring Shalit home," local news service Ynet quoted Netanyahu as saying in a speech, by which the premier presented domestic public the government's stance on the prisoners exchange negotiation with the Palestinian Hamas movement. » Read more

Gov't: PA may control Gaza crossings ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz, Tovah Lazaroff - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am The Defense Ministry has begun preparing for the possible transfer to the PA of responsibility for the crossings into the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post has learned. On Wednesday night, Maj.-Gen. Eitan Dangot, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, met with Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority’s minister for civilian affairs. The two men decided to establish a number of joint Israeli-PA teams to coordinate work on two issues – the renovation of the Kerem Shalom crossing and international construction projects in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Decision time for the PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s three-hour-long meeting with reporters from the Hebrew press this week in Ramallah can be seen as an attempt – quite possibly with heavy US encouragement – to reach out to the Israeli public. There was nothing particularly new in what Abbas had to say. » Read more

Israeli PM Netanyahu renews Shalit prisoner swap offer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News July 2, 2010 - 12:00am But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned he would not pay "any price" for the release of Sgt Shalit, seized by militants on the Gaza border in 2006. Talks to free Sgt Shalit broke down last year, after representatives of Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza, failed to agree on a list of prisoners. Hamas wants militants freed who Israel says have "blood on their hands". On Sunday, Sgt Shalit's family began an 11-day cross-country march to the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, where they say they plan to camp until he comes home. » Read more

Gaza siege damages Palestinians' health - study ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Kate Kelland - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian health experts studying the impact of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip say it threatens to cause long-term damage to Palestinians' health, with many children at risk of stunted growth or malnutrition. In a series of studies published in the Lancet medical journal on Friday, researchers also said Israel's attack on the region in early 2009 had a devastating effect, causing injury, displacement and social suffering, particularly among children. » Read more

Methodists vote for settlements boycott ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Karen Burke - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am The Methodist Church voted on Wednesday to boycott products from Israeli settlements recognised as illegal under international law at its annual Conference in Portsmouth. It took the decision following a call from a group of Palestinian Christians, a number of Jewish organisations, both within Israel and worldwide, and the World Council of Churches. » Read more

Methodists vote for settlements boycott ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Karen Burke - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am The Methodist Church voted on Wednesday to boycott products from Israeli settlements recognised as illegal under international law at its annual Conference in Portsmouth. It took the decision following a call from a group of Palestinian Christians, a number of Jewish organisations, both within Israel and worldwide, and the World Council of Churches. » Read more

PA vows to increase public outreach in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 2, 2010 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas met six journalists from Israel's top news outlets in his Ramallah office Wednesday. Two of the reporter,s Aluf Benn and Akiva Eldar, billed the meeting as part of a campaign by Abbas to enlist Israeli public support for a peace settlement based on 1967 borders. The writers noted in the newspaper that the move came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington this week. » Read more

Op-Ed: Overcome denial in Israel advocacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Jeremy Benami, Debra DeLee - (Opinion) July 2, 2010 - 12:00am Some people see the world not as it is but as they would like it to be. Psychologists have a term for this: They call it living in denial. Sadly, denial colors the way too many leaders of established institutions in the American Jewish community look at Israel when it comes to matters of peace and security. Decades of telling and retelling a comfortable narrative in which Israel is always extending its hand in peace, only to have it rejected by the Palestinians, understandably makes it hard to accept when the facts show otherwise. » Read more