June 21st

Meir Dagan required to return diplomatic passport
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
June 19, 2011 - 12:00am


The government demanded that former Mossad chief Meir Dagan turn in his diplomatic passport, an unusual request that follows controversial remarks by Dagan in which he criticized the country's leadership for its treatment of the Iranian threat, Channel 2 reported. Dagan had requested to keep the passport because of a slate of upcoming trips he had planned outside of the country, but his request was denied, according to the report. The diplomatic passport offers, among other benefits, diplomatic immunity.


Obama tells Jewish donors he strongly backs Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Patricia Zengerle - June 20, 2011 - 12:00am


U.S. President Barack Obama reassured Jewish donors on Monday he strongly supports Israel, stressing close ties between the United States and the Jewish state, but also emphasizing that changes in the Middle East will require a fresh look at the region. "Both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes. It's not going to be sufficient for us just to keep on doing the same things," Obama said at the first of two big-ticket fund-raisers where he was speaking on Monday evening.


Salam Fayyad 'will refuse PM post'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 21, 2011 - 12:00am


Salam Fayyad will announce his intention to refuse to head the new unity government if he is offered the post, sources close to the appointed West Bank Prime Minister told Ma'an. Fayyad has publicly said he would accept whatever parties decide in Cairo. Fatah's central committee nominated Fayyad as the party's choice for the position, a party official said following a meeting of the Fatah leadership in Ramallah on June 11. Hamas swiftly rejected the proposal.


Remembering the ‘Altalena’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jerold S. Auerbach - (Opinion) June 20, 2011 - 12:00am


Israel is confronting increasingly virulent worldwide challenges to its legitimacy. An expanding chorus of politicians, journalists and academics relentlessly denounces the Jewish state as a racist, apartheid abomination. The resemblance between their shrill diatribes and the rhetoric of anti-Semitism during the past 2,000 years is not coincidental.


Abbas: UN in place of no other options
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 21, 2011 - 12:00am


The Palestinian leadership will continue its pursuit of support for an appeal to the UN for membership and the recognition of statehood, and Salam Fayyad will head the new unity government, President Mahmoud Abbas told the Lebanese satellite channel LBC on Monday night. In the absence of negotiations with Israel, Abbas said, a move at the UN would be the chosen course of action. If the United States, Israel and Europe have objections to a UN appeal, he continued "they must come up with an alternative."


The morning after the UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) June 21, 2011 - 12:00am


The Palestinian strategy to attain statehood is making significant progress in certain international political circles, but still lacks the necessary coordination and cohesion to bear the desired results. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad have succeeded in unleashing the usual anti-Palestinian arsenal that Israeli hasbara has been using on Palestinian aspirations.


Obama warns of new US tactical spats with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 21, 2011 - 12:00am


US President Barack Obama warned that new "tactical" disagreements loomed between Israel and Washington, but vowed to leverage his administration's "creative powers" in the cause of peace. Obama, who has had a difficult relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke at length on the stalled peace process at a fundraiser for his 2012 re-election campaign with the Democratic friends of Israel group.


The IDF is leading Israel to destruction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) June 21, 2011 - 12:00am


Imagine if hundreds of 18-year-olds were to inform the government and the chief of staff this summer that they will not enlist in the Israel Defense Forces.


June 20th

NEWS: Palestinians cancel national unity negotiations in Cairo, as the disagreement over the next PM continues. Israel approves 2,000 new settler housing units in occupied East Jerusalem. Hamas leaders complain about a feud within the organization’s hierarchy. Israel is the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter. Palestinian unemployment figures increase. Pres. Peres says peace with the Palestinians is urgent. Shaul Mofaz says Israel must prevent a Palestinian UN statehood bid. Anti-Palestinian initiatives are circulating in Congress. Young Palestinian children are routinely arrested by Israeli occupation forces in East Jerusalem. COMMENTARY: Thomas Friedman says the UN should update Resolution 181 and welcome Palestine as a member of the General Assembly. Victor Kattan says states, and not the UN as a body, will determine the status of Palestine. Akiva Eldar says Israelis prefer to forget the massacre at Deir Yassin. Carlo Strenger says the Israeli government is as disconnected from reality as mystics. Adel Safty says PM Netanyahu is sabotaging the peace process. Uri Avnery says Netanyahu’s rhetoric about Israel as a “Jewish state” is a trick to avoid Palestinian statehood. Bradley Burston says Israelis and Palestinians have equal rights to a home. Jackson Diehl claims Pres. Obama is “tough” on Israel but “timid” on Syria. Esther Cepeda says Gaza flotilla participants are not against Israel. Jeff Halper says the PA is making a “historic mistake” by not working enough with civil society.

The PA's historic mistake, and opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Jeff Halper - (Opinion) June 20, 2011 - 12:00am


No one knows the precise plans of the Palestinian Authority vis-a-vis September: Will Mahmoud Abbas declare a Palestinian state within recognized borders and ask that it be admitted as a full member of the UN – or not? Perhaps Abbas himself does not know.



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