July 8th, 2011

Israel expropriates Palestinian land in order to legalize West Bank settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - July 8, 2011 - 12:00am For the first time in three years, the state has confiscated uncultivated land in the West Bank. The land will be used to legalize a nearby settlement outpost. Last week, acting on orders from the government, the Civil Administration declared 189 dunams of land belonging to the Palestinian village of Karyut to be state land, so as to retroactively legalize houses and a road in the Hayovel neighborhood of the settlement of Eli. This would seem to violate Israel's long-standing commitment to the United States not to expropriate Palestinian lands for settlement expansion. » Read more

Cement, weapons, cars – you name it, Gazans will smuggle it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz July 7, 2011 - 12:00am The smuggling business is booming in Gaza. Each week, cement and weapons are transported through tunnels running under the border between the salient and Egypt, and about 200 cars make the underground journey as well. Since Israel first imposed its blockade on the Strip, following the capture in 2006 of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid, smuggling has become perhaps Gaza's main growth industry, enriching the coffers of the tunnel owners and of the Islamist Hamas movement which administers the Strip. » Read more

PM fails to win Bulgarian commitment to oppose PA state bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post July 7, 2011 - 12:00am Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was not able to convince his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov to make a commitment to vote against the Palestinian bid for UN recognition of a state during his visit to Sofia on Thursday. Israel Radio quoted Borisov as saying that Bulgaria is currently conferring with European Union nations on forming a united position on the Palestinian statehood plan. Borisov added that the Palestinians had not yet officially presented an initiative and when they do, Sofia will inform Israel of its position. » Read more

Herzog: Vote 'yes' to Palestinian statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Lahav Harkov - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am In exchange for starting negotiations on borders, Israel should offer to vote in favor of Palestinian statehood in the UN General Assembly in September, Labor MK Isaac Herzog (Labor) suggested on Tuesday. “The government’s attitude, which assumes an Israeli loss, is defeatist and unoriginal,” Herzog told reporters outside a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting. The Labor leadership candidate suggested that Israel take two “controlled and responsible” steps. » Read more

Top official slams UN report backing Israel on flotilla ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am UNITED NATIONS — A UN rapporteur Thursday slammed a highly anticipated UN report said to back a 2010 Israeli commando raid on an aid flotilla aiming to break the Gaza blockade which left nine people dead. "The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Prof. Olivier De Schutter, has received a draft of this report and he firmly opposes its conclusions," De Schutter's office said in an email. He was preparing "a statement where he denounces the conclusions" of the report by a UN commission which the UN chief is expected to release on Friday, it said. » Read more

Jordan calls for rescuing Israeli-Palestinians peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 8, 2011 - 12:00am AMMAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Thursday underlined the need for serious efforts to rescue the peace process and resume peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis, the state- run Petra news agency reported. The peace talks should lead to the creation of an independent, viable and geographically connected Palestinian state at the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said at a meeting with Iceland's Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson Thursday. » Read more

July 7th

What makes for an effective mediator: The case of James Wolfensohn ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Nizar Farsakh - (Blog) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am In 2005, the Quartet appointed James Wolfensohn, former head of the World Bank, as special envoy for the Gaza disengagement. His job was to get the parties to cooperate in the withdrawal process, as well as to revive the Palestinian economy post-withdrawal by harnessing the Quartet's resources, both financial and political. In my opinion, his case is illustrative of the conditions for effective mediation and their demise. » Read more

Panel on water solutions in Middle East gets heated ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Sharon Udasin - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am A panel whose aim was to address “cross-border cooperation in managing water basins” quickly became a political struggle that overpowered participants’ individual ideas toward improving the water situation for the region. During the International Water Symposium on Tuesday, experts from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority discussed the increasingly dangerous situation the region is facing as water sources deplete, a problem they all agreed could only be solved by cooperation between neighbors, despite political differences. » Read more

What do we do with our accumulated experience? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ron Pundak - (Opinion) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am When I think back and analyze the Oslo negotiations with regard to the task of the mediator, I recall three episodes that best describe the mission the Norwegians took upon themselves. The first took place on the first day of our meetings. Following an official event that provided cover for the Israelis and Palestinians to come to Oslo, the Norwegians left us in the room and our host Terje Roed-Larsen said, "We'll return only if you summon us or if we hear you quarreling . . ." » Read more

Mediators matter, and good mediators can broker agreements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Daniel Kurtzer - (Blog) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am Mediators matter, especially in the Arab-Israel conflict, where all parties have looked to the United States to play the role of third party helper. During the more than 30 years of active American mediation, the parties have sometimes defined what they wanted the US to do or to avoid doing, but they have not defined clearly the structure or functioning of the mediator's role. » Read more