New Arafat medical file released in death probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Medical files released for the first time Thursday portray Yasser Arafat as a robust 75-year-old whose sudden health crisis, a month before his mysterious 2004 death, was initially blamed on viral gastroenteritis. The treatment notes by Arafat's Arab doctors who cared for him at his West Bank compound before he was airlifted to France are part of a renewed push to find out what killed the Palestinian leader.

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Occupation can't be erased
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Boaz Okon - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

The Levy Report on legitimizing Israel’s West Bank outposts cannot legitimize Israel’s actions in the territories. One cannot curb millions of Palestinians’ demands for freedom via legal reports. At the end of the day, the report will be shelved, and its main contribution would be the boosting cynicism and suspicions towards judges.

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Israel ignores decades of Occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

The latest news out of Israel will come as a surprise to both students of international law and the world in general: according to Israeli officials, apparently, the illegal occupation of the West Bank is neither illegal, nor an occupation. That appears to be the ludicrous conclusion of the Levy Committee, set-up by the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explore the status of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

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No trade with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

“Our intention is to ensure that the trade agreement with Israel is not being used to smuggle settlement [colony] products,” said Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Villy Soevndal, last May. This is exactly what the controversy over the Agreement on Conformity and Acceptance of Industrial products (ACAA) between the European Union (EU) and Israel is all about.

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Was Arafat poisoned with polonium? If so, by whom?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ely Karmon - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

In an interview with Yaakov Lappin published in The Jerusalem Post on July 5, 2012, I asserted that considering polonium 210’s 138-day halflife, the abnormally high levels of polonium discovered by specialists at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Yasser Arafat’s belongings eight years after his death could mean the polonium was planted much later.

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Will Romney outsource foreign policy?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Earlier in this space I noted how Mitt Romney seems to emulate Groucho Marx’s famous line, “I have my principles, and if you don’t like them, I have others.” That was on display again last week when he was tied in knots contradicting himself and his top advisers on both immigration and Romneycare following two key Supreme Court decisions. Romney may also have a Nixonian trait. No, I’m not saying he’s a crook or paranoid, but he does appear obsessed with secretiveness.

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A Tale of Two Reports
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Raphael Magarik - (Analysis) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

I’ll say this for the Levy report: It filled my inbox. After the Israeli blue-ribbon commission, headed by former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Edmund Levy, concluded that “Israelis have the legal right to settle in Judea and Samaria,” the usual suspects leapt into action. J Street wants me to “Urge US Opposition to Israeli Settlement Report,” Americans for Peace Now wonders whether it is “1984” in Israel.

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Growing Israeli Naval Presence Likely to Upset Turkey Even More
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Milliyet
July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel is preparing to increase its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean to protect its natural gas exploration activities, which have been a source of tension between Israel and Turkey. According to a plan approved by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the chief of staff, Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel will buy four new combat vessels for its navy, assign more troops [to the area] and deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for patrols in the region.

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UN head warns Israeli-Palestinian peace process at 'dangerous standstill'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Examiner
by Rhonda Parker - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israeli Palestinian peace process is at a “dangerous standstill,” according to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. At an Asian and Pacific meeting in support of the peace process, a spokesperson for Ki-moon said the U.N. leader was calling on the international community to help steer the situation towards negotiations and a historic peace process.

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Be grateful Presbyterians voted before the settlements were ‘legalized’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Eric H. Yoffie - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Last week, the Presbyterian Church (USA) rejected a resolution calling for divestment from Israel. This was a victory for supporters of Israel - sort of. The resolution was defeated by a single vote, and another resolution endorsing a boycott of West Bank products was adopted. Divestment advocates have vowed to continue their struggle, and they may win next time around.

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