June 29th

Heated diplomacy behind Palestinian statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Barbara Plett - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am

For the next two months, a lot of diplomatic capital will be spent on dealing with a Palestinian bid for an international recognition of statehood that appears to be almost certain to fail. The Palestinian Authority, which governs the Palestinian controlled parts of the West Bank, formally announced on Monday its intention to apply for full membership of the United Nations, arguing it can no longer wait for a paralysed peace process to bestow independence on the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

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Islamic Movement leader in Israel arrested in London
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 29, 2011 - 12:00am

Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel has been arrested in London, his lawyer told Xinhua early Wednesday. According to Zahi Nugedat, the lawyer, London Police arrested Salah overnight Tuesday after a warrant for his deportation was issued. Salah had given a lecture in Leicester and was due to deliver another address as a guest of the Palestinian British solidarity.

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Gaza flotilla renews debate on Israel's blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am

A year ago, deadly clashes between Israeli soldiers and pro-Palestinian activists on a Gaza-bound flotilla of aid forced Israel to relax its blockade on the Gaza Strip and lift a ban on consumer goods such as chocolate – giving the local economy a boost for the first time in years. But as a second flotilla gathers in the Mediterranean to test Israel’s maritime closure of Gaza, land restrictions on Gaza trade are also still a bone of contention. The scaled-back blockade is still an economic drag, with tight restrictions on exports and imported building materials.

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Israel ramps up campaign against Gaza aid flotilla
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — As organizers of a flotilla seeking to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip prepare to embark on their voyage, Israeli officials are mounting an increasingly vocal campaign to discredit the activists, depicting them as planning violence against troops preparing to intercept the ships.

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A Bountiful Harvest, Rooted in a Former Settlement’s Soil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Fares Akram, Ethan Bronner - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am

GAZA — Hundreds of acres of watermelons, orange saplings and grapevines stretch in orderly rows out to the horizon. Irrigation hoses run along the sand, dripping quietly. Apple trees are starting to blossom nearby. Avocados and mangoes are on their way.

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AP Interview: Palestinian PM skeptical of UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state would largely be a symbolic victory and would not change the reality of Israeli occupation, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday. Fayyad's skepticism, voiced in an interview with The Associated Press, set him apart from the rest of the Palestinian leadership. Earlier this week, President Mahmoud Abbas and top officials in his Fatah movement formally decided to seek U.N. membership for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

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June 28th

Israel trumps the Arab world
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Peninsula
June 25, 2011 - 12:00am

There is no doubt that Israel is superior to all Arab countries in the sphere of Information Technology, a comparative study between Arab nations and Israel on ‘Scientific Research and Patent Rights Compared’ conducted by Dr Khalid Said Rubaia, a Palestinian researcher at American Arab University in Palestine, says. Israel spends 4.7 percent of its total GDP on scientific research, which is the highest in the world. However, Arab states are spending 0.2 percent of their total incomes and Asian Arab countries around 0.5 percent of their incomes on research, said the report.

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NEWS: Israel reverses its warning it would ban foreign journalists who board the next Gaza flotilla. Israeli lobbying stalls the boats in Greece. Hamas blames Fatah for a delay in unity talks. PLO officials say they are optimistic about a UN statehood bid. FM Lieberman says flotilla activists seek “blood,” but organizers dismiss the claims. Israel says it’s preparing for an outbreak of violence in September. Israel bans teaching Palestinian prisoners. The US is funding a study of Israeli and Palestinian textbooks. Experts say Israel far outstrips Arab states in technology. COMMENTARY: Walter Rodgers says Israel and Evangelicals need to understand that the book of Genesis is not a policy guide. Ma’an says Palestinian leaders should be clear about their national liberation policy. Moshe Arens says Egypt should now be responsible for Gaza. Akiva Eldar says PM Netanyahu is playing with fire by relying on a US veto at the UN. Gershon Baskin says whatever happens in September, the two-state solution must be preserved. The Arab News says the world should support Palestinian statehood in September. Yossi Alpher says Israel is mishandling the Gilad Shalit issue. Ghassan Khatib says the prisoner issue generally is crucial to peace. Hussein Ibish says Palestinian nonviolent resistance will be a crucial component to national liberation.

Egypt should now be responsible for Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Moshe Arens - (Opinion) June 28, 2011 - 12:00am

It may well turn out that one of the positive outcomes of the mass disturbances against the Mubarak government in Tahrir Square will be the change in the policy of the new government in Cairo toward the Gaza Strip.

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Netanyahu playing with fire in bid to win EU backing against Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) June 28, 2011 - 12:00am

After the Palestinian Authority leadership announced its (final? ) decision on Sunday to ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state in the June 1967 borders, it appears United States President Barack Obama will have to grapple with a challenging dilemma. The formulation of the resolution that is emerging from Ramallah will be a "cut and paste" job of lines from the president's speech on May 19, in which he presented the formula of the 1967 lines with mutually agreed border adjustments. The White House will have to decide whether to order U.S.

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