June 20th

Israelis and Palestinians have equal right to a home ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) June 20, 2011 - 12:00am I'm going to try to put something into words, something that I've felt with precision for a very long time, but something which, I've found, words tend only to obscure, not to illuminate. Like most attempts at this, it probably won't work. But here goes. People need a home. People need to know where they come from. People need a place where they feel they belong, a place where, for reasons which may elude all understanding, they feel profoundly and uniquely rooted. A part of things, rather than simply and permanently apart. » Read more

Israel as a ‘Jewish state’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) June 19, 2011 - 12:00am I am fed up with all this nonsense about recognizing Israel as the “Jewish State.” It serves many different purposes, almost all of them malign. Benjamin Netanyahu uses it as a trick to obstruct the establishment of the Palestinian state. This week he declared that the conflict just has no solution. Why? Because the Palestinians do not agree to recognize etc. etc. » Read more

Hamas: Mash'al, Zahhar feud 'behind us' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 19, 2011 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A spat between Hamas officials in Gaza and Damascus "is behind our backs," Hamas politburo Osama Hamdan told Ma'an on Thursday. Speaking with Ma'an Radio, the official commented on a slew of comments that went back and forth from Hamas leader in exile Khalid Mash'al and party leader in Gaza Mahmoud Az-Zahhar, over comments the Mash'al made during the signing of a unity accord with Fatah leaders in Egypt on 4 May. » Read more

Congressional initiatives target P.A. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) June 17, 2011 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A number of initiatives are circulating in Congress targeting the Palestinians in the wake of their diplomatic tensions with Israel. » Read more

Hamas: Mash'al, Zahhar feud 'behind us' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 19, 2011 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A spat between Hamas officials in Gaza and Damascus "is behind our backs," Hamas politburo Osama Hamdan told Ma'an on Thursday. Speaking with Ma'an Radio, the official commented on a slew of comments that went back and forth from Hamas leader in exile Khalid Mash'al and party leader in Gaza Mahmoud Az-Zahhar, over comments the Mash'al made during the signing of a unity accord with Fatah leaders in Egypt on 4 May. » Read more

US waits for Israel's Godot ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Adel Safty - (Opinion) June 20, 2011 - 12:00am A few days ago I read an article in the leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz about US President Barack Obama's recent initiative which suggested that Israelis and Palestinians use the 1967 lines as a starting point for a negotiated delineation of borders between Israel and the future Palestinian state. The article pointed out that the Palestinian leadership had accepted the Obama initiative but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had reacted furiously, and publicly rejected Obama's initiative, was somehow expected to give a formal answer. » Read more

Netanyahu and the Mystics of Safed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) June 17, 2011 - 12:00am Future historians looking back at Israel in 2011 will shake their heads with disbelief. They will note that there were voices of reason who called for constructive engagement with the Arab world; that these voices included some of the great luminaries of Israel’s defense establishment like former Shin Bet chiefs Yaakov Peri and Ami Ayalon, former Mossad chief Danny Yatom, former IDF chief Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and General (Res) Amram Mitzna. They will write about their Israeli Peace Initiative of 2011 that basically endorsed the Arab League Initiative. » Read more

Continuing disagreement over interim PM delays new Palestinian government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - June 20, 2011 - 12:00am TEL AVIV //Fatah asked Hamas yesterday to postpone a crucial announcement on the make-up of a unity government amid disagreements over its leadership. The rival Palestinian groups were due to meet tomorrow to publicly announce the formation of the new government, almost two months after they struck a surprising pact aimed at ending their years-long bitter feud. But last week Hamas rejected Fatah's nomination of Salam Fayyad, a respected economist and the current prime minister of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, to serve as the new government's prime minister. » Read more

Israel approves expansion of 2,000 settler homes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 20, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel's Jerusalem municipality approved the expansion of 2,000 homes in the settlement district of Ramat Shlomo in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday, allowing each Israeli home to add an additional room, a council press statement said. The announcement of new settlement activity came as Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told France 24 television that, "there is no real way to announce an end to construction. There's half a million people living there." Palestinian Authority officials were quick to condemn the statement. » Read more

Invite describes Deir Yassin as 'abandoned Arab village' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) June 20, 2011 - 12:00am In the invitation to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Kfar Shaul psychiatric hospital, set up on the remains of the village of Deir Yassin, the Arab village is described as such: "In the outskirts of Jerusalem, hidden from sight, the abandoned Arab village of Deir Yassin stands in isolation; a veritable treasure for the health and welfare services seeking housing for the hundreds who require physical and mental healing." Deir Yassin was the site where members of the Irgun and Lehi paramilitary organizations massacred about 100 villagers. » Read more