Quartet envoys meet amid Palestinian criticism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) June 15, 2012 - 12:00am Envoys from the Middle East Quartet met in Brussels on Friday amid calls from the Palestinians to step up action to halt continuing Israeli settlement activity. Officials from the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia gathered "to consult as they routinely do over the phone as well", said a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. » Read more

Palestinians say Israel should not host football tournament ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News June 15, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is due to host the European Under-21 championship in 2013. PFA President Jibril Rajoub wrote to Uefa to express concern about three Palestinian players who are being held in Israel without charge. One of them, midfielder Mahmoud al-Sarsak, is on hunger strike. Mr Sarsak, 25, is one of a handful of Palestinian prisoners who have rejected a deal that ended a mass hunger strike on 14 May. » Read more

Assimilating Awad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Sahar Segal - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Mira Anwar Awad, an Arab-Israeli, will be singing at a festival in Nazareth, a predominantly Arab-Israeli city on Saturday. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), based in Ramallah, demanded the mayor cancel her appearance. Why? Because Awad represented Israel in the 2009 Eurovision song contest. » Read more

Palestinians See Positive Boost From Putin’s Upcoming Visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - June 14, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinians are hoping for a boost to their diplomatic stature when they host Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month. At a time when the attempts to restart peace negotiations with the Israelis have floundered as each side accuses the other of intransigence, the Palestinians see Putin’s visit as a solid message of support. » Read more

PA advised against bid for Bethlehem church ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am The secretariat of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has come out against a bid by the Palestinian Authority to use an emergency procedure to register Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity under the country of “Palestine” as a World Heritage site. “At the UN, where the General Assembly each year adopts more resolutions criticizing Israel than on the rest of the world combined, this is a spectacle as rare as Halley’s Comet,” UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said. » Read more

A New Solution for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Rafael Frankel - (Opinion) June 15, 2012 - 12:00am An Israeli settlement in the West Bank.Seven years after Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip, and twelve years after the same move from southern Lebanon, Israeli policy makers are once again debating the merits of another unilateral withdrawal—this time from parts of the West Bank east of the security barrier. » Read more

Most Israelis think Romney would be 'friendlier' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am The fact that Israelis have conflicted attitudes toward US President Barack Obama came out loud and clear in a poll released on Thursday. The survey – commissioned by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, the Bar-Ilan University Center for International Communication and the Anti-Defamation League – found that while 51 percent of Israeli Jews believe Obama is “friendly” or “very friendly” toward Israel, more people think the expected Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, would better promote Israel’s interests. » Read more

Israel's Real Image Problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s State Comptroller released a remarkably harsh report yesterday regarding the government’s handling of the 2010 aid flotilla to Gaza, and I have one question: Is the issue the people who died – or the way Israel talked about the people who died? » Read more

MK Anastassia Michaeli: Most gay people commit suicide at 40 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ilan Lior, Jonathan Lis - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am MK Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beiteinu ) has angered gay groups and MKs alike by saying "most gay people commit suicide at 40." On Wednesday, speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women, Michaeli accused Channel 10 of encouraging people to become homosexual. » Read more

Obama continues to dither ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Barack Obama has raised great hopes in the Middle East when he was one of only four American presidents to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. But now, almost four years later, he has yet to show any sign of achievement in ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. » Read more