Richard Cohen says Hamas is hurting the Palestinian cause. An Israeli court sentences a Palestinian to life in prison. 10 Jordan Valley families are given 24 hours before their homes will be demolished. Palestinian officials seek to build ties with Jewish American leaders. Palestinians say progress on security, borders and settlements are key to direct negotiations. Israeli shelling kills a Palestinian in eastern Gaza. Palestinians launch a shop-two-shop settlement goods boycott campaign. FM Lieberman says there is no chance for a Palestinian state before 2012. The US is reportedly frustrated with Israel's positions at proximity talks. Ha'aretz says the power plant issue shows Hamas does not have Gazan's best interests at heart. The Jerusalem Post profiles the head of the so-called “Islamic movement” in Israel. The Independent profiles a Palestinian man struggling to retain his Jerusalem residency. Emile Hokayem says Lebanon mistreats Palestinian refugees. PLO officials say disbanding the PA is a possibility. Ghassan Khatib and Omar Shaban both say the siege of Gaza must be lifted completely.

History still hurts as Lebanon agonises over Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Emile Hokayem - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Three years ago, Fatah al Islam, a jihadi group based in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al Bared in northern Lebanon, launched a bloody attack on the Lebanese military. In the next three months, most of the camp was destroyed and dozens of civilians, nearly 200 Lebanese soldiers and several hundred fundamentalist militants – most of them not Palestinians – were killed.

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U.S. frustrated with Netanyahu over stalled proximity talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is frustrated by the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the proximity talks with the Palestinians. Mitchell, who is due in Israel on Thursday for another round of talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah, has expressed to Netanyahu his wish to see more progress by Israel on core issues. Netanyahu is due to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in a week.

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Disbanding Palestinian Authority a Possibility- PA Spokesmen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Kifah Zaboun - June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator and official in charge of the negotiations dossier in the PLO, stressed that the option of disbanding the Palestinian Authority [PA] will be put on the table shortly if a two-solution solution is not reached. He however did not set a time frame for dissolving the PA but hinted at the end of this year. In a statement over telephone from New York, where he is currently visiting, he said: "I will not go back on what I said; Israel cannot possibly believe that it will remain the source of power [for the PA] for good."

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Israel must abide by the AMA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

The three-year old Israeli blockade on Gaza has come under intense international scrutiny ever since Israel criminally boarded a flotilla of ships in international waters, killing nine activists coming to show solidarity with Gaza. The closure regime was always much more than "just" collective punishment on 1.5 million Palestinians to pressure Hamas, due either to the capture of Gilad Shalit or rockets fired at Israel.

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The rise of Raed Salah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Lappin - June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

Umm el-Fahm – the heartland of the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch – was on the verge of full scale rioting in the hours after the Gaza flotilla incident. False rumors saying that its head, Sheikh Raed Salah, had died aboard the Mavi Marmara led dozens of masked youths to hurl stones at border policemen in Umm El-Fahm on May 31.

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Sustainable development needs a complete lifting of the siege
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Has there been any tangible change in Gaza since Israel announced an easing of its blockade? Shaban: There is a difference, but the question is how much. Compared to the three weeks before the flotilla, yes, there is a difference. But considering that the entire siege is illegal, there is no difference. bitterlemons: When you say there is a difference, what do you mean?

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MESS Report / Hamas doesn't have Gazans' best interests at heart
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Blog) June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

This story will probably not receive much coverage by the international media. This story is not a matter of black and white, "David versus Goliath" – there aren’t bad Israelis versus good Palestinians. What there is, however, is more proof that the Hamas government doesn’t really have the Gaza residents' best interests at heart, while the Palestinian Authority too cares more about money than Gazans' interests.

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Lieberman: Absolutely no chance for a Palestinian state within next two years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

An independent Palestinian State is not a possibility in the next two years, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said following a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Jerusalem on Tuesday. "There is absolutely no chance of reaching a Palestinian state before the year 2012," Lieberman said, adding that "one can dream and imagine, but we are far from reaching an agreement." An apparent disagreement broke out between Lieberman and Lavrov during their meeting in Jerusalem over Moscow's increased efforts to include Hamas in Mideast peace talks.

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Palestinians launch new campaign of boycotting Israeli settlement products
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad launched on Monday a new campaign of boycotting products made at Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The campaign called "The Legion of National Dignity from Shop to Shop," which was carried out by volunteer students and academics, aimed at persuading store-keepers and owners to stop dealing with products made at Jewish settlements and boycotting their presence in the West Bank.

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