The New York Times profiles the suffering of the people of Gaza under the blockade. Michael Singh says peace in the Middle East will be difficult, but is a win-win scenario. A Palestinian woman is killed and five others injured by Israeli shelling in Gaza, and a 13-year-old boy is shot. The Knesset revokes key parliamentary privileges of a Palestinian MK. The US expresses concern over Israel's destruction of six Palestinian buildings in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli police are delaying the court-ordered evacuation of settlers in Jerusalem. Bradley Burston says Israelis need a Gandhi of their own. The Jerusalem municipality honors convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Israel tells a Hamas leader to leave Jerusalem or face jail. Nahum Barnea says the ball is now in Pres. Abbas' court, but PM Netanyahu faces grave difficulties. Israel considers allowing Israelis to visit West Bank cities again. The Forward says it's not too late for a two-state solution. Saad bin Tefla says Netanyahu's strategy is succeeding. Ian Buruma says Jewish suffering is no excuse for Israel's behavior. Yossi Alpher says the warmth following the Obama-Netanyahu meeting may be short-lived.

Next Steps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Editorial) July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

All the right words were spoken. Praise was effusive. The handshake made a perfect photo op. The wives had tea. Now that the July 6 summit between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been duly recorded, the true test of its worth will begin. It is clear that, for both political and pragmatic reasons, Obama seriously wants to preside over a peace accord between Israelis and Palestinians. The question is whether Netanyahu and his Palestinian counterparts want it as bad, and are willing to sacrifice for this elusive but necessary goal.

»

Great atmospherics
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama-Netanyahu meeting in Washington last week was an elegant exercise in short-term realpolitik. Very short-term. US President Barack Obama needs urgently to project an image of tranquility, friendship and cooperation in his relationship with Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu. This helps his administration ensure the support of a variety of pro-Israel sectors of American society as mid-term congressional elections approach. It also seeks to correct the impression that Obama has simply mismanaged his relations with Netanyahu and Israel and fumbled the peace process from the start.

»

Jewish suffering is no excuse for Israel's aggression
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ian Buruma - (Opinion) July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel’s decision in May to drop commandoes onto a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists was brutal. The killing of nine civilians by those commandoes was a terrible consequence. Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and occupation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank, not to mention the road blocks, destruction of homes, and other daily torments of the Palestinians, are also a form of institutionalized inhumanity.

»

Netanyahu's Success
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Saad bin Tefla - (Opinion) July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Day after day US President Barack Obama, who is still not a highly seasoned politician, discovers that talk in election campaigns is one thing but political reality is another, and that, as they say, "talk is cheap" during and prior to election campaigns, and even at Cairo University and earlier at the Turkish parliament. However, matching words with deeds is a completely different matter.

»

IDF mulls entry to West Bank cities by Jewish Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The IDF has told the Palestinian Authority it is willing to consider a request to permit Jewish Israelis to visit a number of West Bank cities as part of an effort to strengthen the Palestinian economy, The Jerusalem Post has learned. On Monday, OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi visited Jenin as a guest of the PA’s local security commander. He spent close to four hours there, during which he toured a mall and soccer field, and met with Palestinian security chiefs and local businessmen.

»

The unholy peace trinity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Nahum Barnea - (Opinion) July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Leslie Gelb, who held senior positions in the US Administration and was a New York Times editor, currently, serves as the president emeritus of the US Council on Foreign Relations. Over the weekend, he published a scathing op-ed against President Obama and his team on the Daily Beast website. “Whoever advised President Obama to flay Israel publicly until this week should be fired,” he wrote. “Only advisers with no experience in dealing with Israel could have believed that Israeli leaders like Prime Minister Netanyahu would bow to public attacks.”

»

Court offers Abu-Tir ultimatum: Jail or expulsion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shmulik Grossman - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Senior Hamas official Mohammad Abu-Tir will be expelled from Israel this Sunday, the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court ruled on Wednesday. It still remains unclear to which country he will be deported. Prior to this, Abu-Tir, who lives in the Abu Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem, will be required to deposit NIS 50,000 (about $12,900) with the court. If he fails to do so, he will remain in detention by court order. In addition, he will be required to post NIS 100,000 (about $25,800) self-bail and a third-party bail of NIS 100,000.

»

Jerusalem honors convicted spy Pollard on 9,000th day of incarceration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The Jerusalem municipality will dim lights that illuminate the walls surrounding the old city on Tuesday evening, as a gesture of solidarity with convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, who has been incarcerated in the United States for almost a quarter-century. Pollard was arrested in 1986 as he tried to seek asylum in the Israeli Embassy in Washington. He was convicted of espionage for Israel and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Aspart of Tuesday's event, a special message calling upon U.S. President Barack Obama to release Pollard will be projected onto the darkened city walls.

»

'Police delaying evacuation of settlers from controversial East Jerusalem building'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The police refuse to carry out a court order to evict Jewish residents of the Beit Yonatan building in East Jerusalem, the city's legal advisor, Yosef Havilio, charged on Tuesday. The order was issued two years ago, and five months ago, then-attorney general Menachem Mazuz ordered the police to execute it without delay. But so far, nothing has happened. On Tuesday, Havilio sent an angry letter to Police Commissioner David Cohen. Two weeks ago, he wrote, the city's eviction department asked the Jerusalem police to set a date for the eviction, but the police have yet to do so.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017