July 15th

Palestinians in Lebanon deserve better
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Joseph A. Kechichian - (Opinion) July 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Once again, the fate that befell 450,000 plus Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has preoccupied that hapless country's leaders. Like other neighbouring states, Lebanon warmly welcomed Palestinians expelled from Israel over the years, providing them with relative security even if weak governments failed to regularise their presence. After the hugely mistaken 1969 Cairo Accords, which allowed refugees to arm themselves — ostensibly to attack Israel — Lebanon compounded the Palestinian tragedy by authorising a new battlefront on its own territory.

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Jerusalem home demolition leaves mother, four children homeless
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) July 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Dalal Rajabi, a mother of four children, came home Tuesday to find that her modest two-room house that has sheltered her family for two years had been razed. A team of Jerusalem municipal workers protected by a large police force came to the Rajabis' 200-square-foot home in Beit Hanina, an East Jerusalem Arab neighborhood, broke down the main door, took the furniture out and proceeded to demolish it. Dalal Rajabi was not home at the time. She had left the house to take her son to see a doctor when the workers and a bulldozer arrived.

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July 14th

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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