July 20th

Israeli and Palestinian Activists Gloomy Over Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - July 17, 2011 - 12:00am Budapest — On the boat sailing along the Danube River, Israeli and Palestinian peace activists seemed closer than ever. Sipping Hungarian wine on deck and sharing laughs, diplomats, prominent activists and journalists from both sides formed a close pact, joking over their own roles in what is widely known as the peace industry. But while the industry remains vibrant, peace has never seemed further away. » Read more

News Analysis: Gaza Strip may witness more violence between Israel, militant groups: analysts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian observers believe that the Gaza Strip may witness more escalation of violence soon between Israel and Gaza militant groups following around one week of tit-for-tat escalation that the coastal enclave had witnessed between the two sides. During this week, Israeli F-16 war jets carried out a series of intensive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which targeted smuggling tunnels underneath the borders between the enclave and Egypt, where three Palestinians were killed and 25 others, most of them civilians, were wounded. » Read more

Special from Gaza: Building material smuggling triggers construction boom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm by Abeer Ayyoub - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA CITY, Gaza - After marking its inaugural opening on Tuesday, the three-story mall in Gaza City now offers products running the gamut. The supermarket has nearly all possible commodities. Shoe stores with popular brand names, such as Nike, Adidas and Fox, sit next to clothing shops displaying window mannequins with hot miniskirts and vibrantly colored t-shirts. » Read more

AN ISRAELI VIEW Responsibility will rest with the Quartet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) July 18, 2011 - 12:00am The creation of the Quartet by US President George W. Bush was a unique and interesting attempt to develop an effective international mechanism that is not subject to the problematic rules of the game of the United Nations. The new forum was supposed to expand America's wingspan without the burden of the Security Council and the nearly-200 members of the General Assembly. » Read more

Elliott Abrams' Complaint ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Henry Siegman - (Editorial) July 19, 2011 - 12:00am Following President Barack Obama's May 19 speech on the Middle East at the Department of State, The New York Review of Books (NYRB) published a letter that had been presented to the president this past January by a number of prominent, former, senior, U.S. government officials. The signatories to the letter urged the president to present to the parties in the Israel-Palestine conflict clear parameters to frame negotiations for a two-state peace agreement, and it suggested six key components for such a framework. » Read more

Barghouti urges Palestinian march to back U.N. bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Tom Perry - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank, July 20 (Reuters) - Jailed leader Marwan Barghouti has called on Palestinians to stage mass rallies in September in support of a diplomatic bid to gain U.N. membership for a state of Palestine. Barghouti, a figure widely respected among many Palestinians, said taking the statehood quest to the United Nations was part of a new strategy that would open the door to "peaceful, popular resistance". » Read more

It sure looks and smells like apartheid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) July 20, 2011 - 12:00am The Israeli parliament’s vote last week making it a crime to support any boycott of Israel, including products from Israeli settlements in occupied Arab lands, has rightly generated considerable debate about what this means for Israel, Zionism and Israelis. » Read more

More evidence of Israeli racism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Editorial) July 20, 2011 - 12:00am No one should be surprised by the Israeli Knesset's decision to suspend Palestinian Member of Parliament Haneen Zoabi due to her participation in last year's bloody Gaza Flotilla. The Knesset Ethics Committee, which investigated her flotilla participation, is punishing Zoabi for exercising her legitimate right of political activism. Essentially, it is silencing an Arab member for representing her constituency. The bigger picture reveals that it is trying to wipe out any Arab presence in the Israeli government. » Read more

The Syrian-Israeli courtship ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq al-Homayed - (Opinion) July 20, 2011 - 12:00am Confirming what was exclusively reported by Asharq al-Awsat last Friday, the Syrian regime announced the day before yesterday its formal recognition of the Palestinian state. It comes as one of the last Arab states to grant this recognition, and state number 118 internationally. So why has the Syrian regime recognized the Palestinian state now? » Read more

Fayyad: Hebron defies segregation and siege ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 20, 2011 - 12:00am HEBRON (Ma’an) – Palestinian Authority premier Salam Fayyad said Tuesday that Hebron's old city sets an "example for human civilization in all ages, and an ideal for steadfastness and defiance." Residents reject seggregation, 'judaisation,' and siege, and it "is time its people enjoy freedom and independence,” Fayyad said while inaugurating an international conference on historic cities. The conference is part of the celebrations of the 15th anniversary of the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee. It is held in association with Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron. » Read more