Heated diplomacy behind Palestinian statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Barbara Plett - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am For the next two months, a lot of diplomatic capital will be spent on dealing with a Palestinian bid for an international recognition of statehood that appears to be almost certain to fail. The Palestinian Authority, which governs the Palestinian controlled parts of the West Bank, formally announced on Monday its intention to apply for full membership of the United Nations, arguing it can no longer wait for a paralysed peace process to bestow independence on the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. » Read more

Islamic Movement leader in Israel arrested in London ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 29, 2011 - 12:00am Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel has been arrested in London, his lawyer told Xinhua early Wednesday. According to Zahi Nugedat, the lawyer, London Police arrested Salah overnight Tuesday after a warrant for his deportation was issued. Salah had given a lecture in Leicester and was due to deliver another address as a guest of the Palestinian British solidarity. » Read more

Gaza flotilla renews debate on Israel's blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am A year ago, deadly clashes between Israeli soldiers and pro-Palestinian activists on a Gaza-bound flotilla of aid forced Israel to relax its blockade on the Gaza Strip and lift a ban on consumer goods such as chocolate – giving the local economy a boost for the first time in years. But as a second flotilla gathers in the Mediterranean to test Israel’s maritime closure of Gaza, land restrictions on Gaza trade are also still a bone of contention. The scaled-back blockade is still an economic drag, with tight restrictions on exports and imported building materials. » Read more

Israel ramps up campaign against Gaza aid flotilla ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — As organizers of a flotilla seeking to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip prepare to embark on their voyage, Israeli officials are mounting an increasingly vocal campaign to discredit the activists, depicting them as planning violence against troops preparing to intercept the ships. » Read more

A Bountiful Harvest, Rooted in a Former Settlement’s Soil ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram, Ethan Bronner - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA — Hundreds of acres of watermelons, orange saplings and grapevines stretch in orderly rows out to the horizon. Irrigation hoses run along the sand, dripping quietly. Apple trees are starting to blossom nearby. Avocados and mangoes are on their way. » Read more

AP Interview: Palestinian PM skeptical of UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Karin Laub - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state would largely be a symbolic victory and would not change the reality of Israeli occupation, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday. Fayyad's skepticism, voiced in an interview with The Associated Press, set him apart from the rest of the Palestinian leadership. Earlier this week, President Mahmoud Abbas and top officials in his Fatah movement formally decided to seek U.N. membership for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. » Read more