July 12th

Time is on whose side? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Doron S. Ben-Atar - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am The secular Palestinian national movement is at a crossroad. Since 2000, it has rejected three proposals of territorial compromise, thinking that a better offer will be forthcoming. The Palestinians believe time is on their side; that demographic trends, western strategic considerations, and the collective economic power of the Arab world will force Israel to yield to their demands. Recent developments prove the folly of these assumptions. » Read more

Reform! The end is at hand! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am There is a well-documented phenomenon in societies as they reach the final stages of a deeply rooted, bloody conflict. I call it “digging in the heels against the current.” During this final phase, some societies show their ugliest face. I am talking about the stronger side, the one required to make truly hard concessions on real assets such as land. Such societies face a growing sense that the world fails to see the justice on their side. Indeed, the world usually supports the side perceived as the “underdog,” even when that side uses terrorism to support its cause. » Read more

An extremist minority is paralyzing Israel's leadership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amir Oren - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am Of all the countries in the world, only two have not yet reconciled themselves to Israel's existence in the 1967 borders, with minor, mutually agreed adjustments: Iran and Israel. » Read more

What can we expect of the international community? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Ali Halimeh - (Analysis) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am It is no longer possible, in a time of the major changes in the 21st century, to leave the Middle East a hostage to the crisis management approach or of U.S. election agendas. It is, rather, in urgent need of radical solutions, especially for the Palestinian issue, on the basis of international legitimacy which has already coalesced around the two-state solution to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. » Read more

July 11th

Bad Borders, Good Neighbors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ephraim Sneh - (Opinion) July 10, 2011 - 12:00am TODAY, as American, European, Russian and United Nations officials meet in Washington to discuss the future of the Middle East peace process, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, remains adamant that a peace deal premised on returning to Israel’s pre-1967 borders poses an unacceptable risk to its security. » Read more

End Gaza blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) July 10, 2011 - 12:00am THE collective punishment Israel is inflicting on Palestinian citizens continues. Tel Aviv is currently preventing a gathering of foreigners invited by Palestinian activists to fly into Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport and then travel to the West Bank for a week in a “Welcome to Palestine” initiative. It is doing so by blocking, deterring and preventing mainly European activists from boarding flights to Israel on foreign airlines. » Read more

Israel is out to thwart foreign Gaza activists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Editorial) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am There is no end to the arrogance of Israel. Authorities in the Jewish state have arrested more than 100 citizens of foreign countries at its airport simply because those foreigners hold beliefs which are contrary to those prevailing in Israel. Some 124 foreign citizens holding passports from France, the United States, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Spain were arrested as they tried to land at Tel Aviv airport off different flights. All are ready to participate, the Israelis believe, in pro-Palestinian campaigns coinciding with the second international flotilla to Gaza. » Read more

Israeli-instilled memory replaces the real ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) July 10, 2011 - 12:00am For several weeks now, our army and navy have been in a state of high alert, bravely facing a deadly threat to our very existence: 10 little boats trying to reach Gaza. These vessels are carrying a dangerous gang of vicious terrorists, in the form of elderly veterans of peace campaigns. Benjamin Netanyahu has affirmed our unshakable determination to defend our country: We shall not let anyone break the blockade to smuggle rockets to the terrorists in Gaza, who will then launch them to kill our innocent children. » Read more

The “Syrian Spring” an Israeli Spring ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Mostafa Zein - (Opinion) July 9, 2011 - 12:00am The band of the Likud and its philosophers were the stars of the carnival staged by part of the Syrian opposition in Paris. Calling for the festivities was Bernard-Henri Lévy, who is – for those who do not know him – one of those who used to be called the “New Philosophers” in France, a group that also include his colleague André Glucksmann. Both abandoned philosophy a long time ago. » Read more

Israel 1967 Borders Are Central in Mideast Talks Restart Effort ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Nicole Gaouette, Bill Varner - July 11, 2011 - 12:00am President Barack Obama’s proposal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by starting with the 1967 borders will likely be adopted by the international group trying to find a peace agreement. The meeting today in Washington by the “Quartet” -- the U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia -- has taken on added urgency as Palestinians plan to ask the UN to recognize their state in a September vote. Israel and the U.S. oppose the move, which would raise political and legal questions. » Read more