June 20th, 2011

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

Palestinian statehood: Individual nations, not the U.N., will have the final say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Editorial) June 17, 2011 - 12:00am In their Op-Ed articles on Palestinian statehood, Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook and John R. Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, both misunderstood the nature and function of U.N. recognition in international law. Bolton's claim that President Obama is "the most anti-Israel president since 1948" was particularly galling. Was it not the president of the administration in which Bolton served who claimed to have had a "vision" of an Israeli and a Palestinian state "living side by side in peace and security," exactly as Obama wants? » Read more

Palestinian Children Targeted as Israel Crushes Unrest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Mel Frykber - June 16, 2011 - 12:00am "Father please help me! Don’t let them take me away," screamed 12-year-old Ahmed Siyam as approximately 50 heavily armed Israeli soldiers and police dragged the handcuffed and blindfolded boy away. Last month Ahmed was pulled out of his bed at 4am by Israeli security forces led by Shin Bet agents from Israel’s domestic intelligence agency. He was taken to the Russian Compound police station in West Jerusalem where he was accused of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and police during clashes with Palestinian youth in the volatile neighbourhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem. » Read more

Divided on Premier, Palestinians Cancel Meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - June 19, 2011 - 12:00am GAZA — In a blow to Palestinian unity efforts, a meeting in Cairo planned for this week so that the leaders of the two main factions could announce a new government has been called off for lack of agreement on a prime minister, Palestinian officials said Sunday. The meeting had been set for Tuesday with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and Khaled Meshal of Hamas. Mr. Abbas’s Fatah faction announced the cancellation in the West Bank, and Hamas officials here confirmed it. » Read more

What to Do With Lemons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) June 18, 2011 - 12:00am While President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have gotten a lot of things right on foreign policy, they’ve made quite a mess in Israeli-Palestinian relations, where they’ve alienated all sides and generated zero progress. They’ve been inconsistent — demanding a settlements freeze then backing down — unimaginative and politically wimpy. » Read more

June 17th

Lieberman: Palestinian UN bid undoes Oslo Accords ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 17, 2011 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Israeli foreign minister said Friday there was zero chance of talks resuming and all past agreements could be broken if Palestinians go to the UN, Israeli press reported. Avigdor Lieberman made the comments at a breakfast with European foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, as she began a day of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials in a bid to revive peace talks between the two sides. » Read more

Netanyahu and the Arab spring ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram by Abdel-Moneim Said - (Opinion) June 15, 2011 - 12:00am Two regionally and globally crucial spectacles have been unfolding in the Arab world this year. The first is the wave of "revolutions", or "uprisings", or whatever they might be called that have variously overthrown regimes, striven to overthrow others, and made yet others so uncomfortable that not a day goes by without them announcing various reforms. » Read more

Negotiator: UN bid with or without negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 17, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (AFP) -- Palestinians will seek UN recognition and membership regardless of whether there is a resumption of peace talks, negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said on Thursday. His comments were made as the international community pushes a raft of new peace initiatives in a bid to head off the Palestinian push for UN membership. But Shtayeh said the Palestinians were determined to seek recognition and that talks could proceed alongside their bid. » Read more