June 10th, 2011

Palestinians grapple with opposition to UN plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Faced with opposition from the United States, a number of top Palestinian officials are quietly advising President Mahmoud Abbas to drop plans to seek recognition for a state of Palestine at the United Nations this fall. Top officials say Abbas remains committed to his plan — a result of the widespread sense among Palestinians that two decades of on-and-off negotiations with Israel have run their course, and that the current Israeli leadership is not a partner for peace. » Read more

Israel, the masses are coming ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Alex Fishman - (Opinion) June 8, 2011 - 12:00am There were days when we mocked the “Hatzatzit,” the stone-throwing vehicle developed by the IDF to respond to the first Intifada’s mass demonstrations. How could it be, we wondered, that the great, wise IDF goes back to the Stone Age and confronts civilians so primitively? » Read more

Israel rocket victims fail in bid to sue Al Jazeera ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet by Basil Katz - June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Victims of 2006 rocket strikes on Israel cannot sue Al Jazeera on grounds the broadcaster intentionally helped Hezbollah attack civilians by reporting the sites of explosions, a U.S. judge ruled this week. The Israeli plaintiffs, who were asking for $1.2 billion in damages from Al Jazeera, said the Qatar-based news network helped Hezbollah militants target their rockets more accurately during the 34-day war with Israel. Their lawsuit, filed a year ago, argued that a Manhattan court had jurisdiction over the case because U.S. citizens had been harmed. » Read more

Israel's rightists are living in a colonial past ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Blog) June 10, 2011 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu has one great upside and one great downside: the upside is that he is predictable. The downside is that, when it comes to foreign policy, he is utterly one-sided, uncreative and devoid of initiative, as Meir Dagan has recently pointed out. » Read more

Medics: Gaza hospitals at crisis point ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 10, 2011 - 12:00am Hospitals in Gaza are at crisis point due to shortages of supplies, medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said Thursday. Warehouses have run out of over 178 types of medicine, the spokesman said, adding that over 190 types of medical equipment needed for surgery had either run out or were in short supply. Abu Salmiya said doctors in Gaza had been forced to postpone surgeries due to the shortages, and working hours were reduced in many hospitals. The official urged countries in the region to intervene urgently to avert the crisis in Gaza. » Read more

Moussa 'committed' to Palestinian statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 10, 2011 - 12:00am The Arab League's outgoing chief and Egyptian presidential candidate Amr Moussa told French television on Thursday that he wants to work for peace between Israel and Palestinians but not at any price. "Egypt's position will have to get back to a position of influence in the region and to follow the right policy, which is to establish peace, not at any price," he told France 24 during a visit to Paris. "Not just to move around, joining meetings and so on, but to work diligently and seriously to establish peace. This is what I intend to do if I'm elected," he said. » Read more

June 9th

Hamas: Netanyahu responsible for swap deal delay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, for what he said was a delay in the release of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners in a swap deal. Citing Netanyahu's "intransigence," the official said the leader bore "full responsibility" for the continued confinement of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as well as thousands of Palestinians considered prisoners of war. » Read more

Erekat: Settlement freeze a must ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - June 9, 2011 - 12:00am A settlement construction freeze is still a precondition for Palestinian talks with Israel, senior Fatah official Saeb Erekat told Ynet Wednesday. Erekat denied an earlier Washington Post report whereby the Palestinian Authority is willing to renounce the building freeze demand. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat backs Mideast policy speech given by Barack Obama, which urges return to 1967 borders with land exchanges, but in a new twist says nothing of halting West Bank settlement activity » Read more

The conflict's new players ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Naksa Day, 11 am. Tensions are already palpable near the Qalandiya checkpoint. IDF soldiers equipped with crowd dispersal means are confronted by dozens of Palestinians including a small group of youngsters with gas masks and Palestinian flags. Two tall European-loking girls suddenly emerge from the crowd and approach the photographers standing in between the parties. Behind them, and unknown to the two, two Palestinians emerge and hurl bottles full of foul-smelling material at the soldiers and escape. The soldiers respond by firing shock grenades. The conflict begins. » Read more

Countering Israeli propaganda ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have had a point when he claimed that Syria allowed Palestinian youth to jump the border fence separating northern Israel from Syria's Golan Heights — occupied by Israel after the 1967 war — in a bid to deflect attention from the bloody demonstrations against President Bashar Al Assad. As things turned out, the world's attention ended up being focused on Israel's lethal response — it gunned down two dozen unarmed Palestinian youths climbing the border fence that Israel built 44 years ago after occupying the Golan Heights. » Read more