June 28th

What does Fayyad's ultimatum mean? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Editorial) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am Prime Minister in Ramallah Salam Fayyad said in Bil'in on Friday that Israel "should either give Palestinians freedom or the right to vote." Does this mean the two-state solution is history? For economic, security, and social considerations the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank alone is not possible. The West Bank has no geographic contiguity with the Gaza Strip, and the capital Jerusalem has been encircled with a 15-meter cement wall. » Read more

A guide to September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am The PLO leadership has made its decision. In September it will ask the United Nations to recognize the State of Palestine in the pre-June 4, 1967 borders and grant it membership. After submitting an official letter to the secretary-general in which they will request to become a member state of the UN, the representatives of Palestine will declare that they will adhere to the UN Charter and that they are a peace-loving state. » Read more

A message for Israel and Evangelicals: Genesis isn’t a policy guide ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Walter Rodgers - (Opinion) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am I recently passed a local evangelical church here in rural New England with a sign that read: “We Love You Israel. Hold God’s Land.” » Read more

All eyes on UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian decision to approach the United Nations seeking formal approval for their state appears to have set cat among the pigeons. Although Israel and its powerful backers in the United States initially dismissed the Palestinian move with contempt, there’s increasing signs of nervousness, if not panic, over the possible fallout of such a proposal getting the go-ahead by the world body. » Read more

Faulty strategic calculations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Blog) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am If I were Gilad Shalit's father, I would do everything he is doing, and more if possible, to persuade the Netanyahu government to meet Hamas' demands for a prisoner exchange and obtain Gilad's release. If I were Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, I would refuse the deal for fear of the consequences of releasing so many truly vile terrorists back into society. » Read more

Let the suffering end ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Blog) June 27, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinians, especially prisoners' families, are following with a great deal of interest (and sometimes jealousy) the relatively successful public relations and media campaign by family and friends to obtain the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. When hearing the sincere expressions and words of his family, especially his father and mother, many Palestinians can easily identify with them. They wonder, though, whether his mother understands that in the same instant, thousands of Palestinian mothers are having the same feelings. » Read more

Nonviolence, a Palestinian path to liberation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) June 28, 2011 - 12:00am At the end of last week in the West Bank village of Bilin, an important principle was decisively demonstrated: Palestinian nonviolence can achieve real results in resisting the Israeli occupation. After almost a decade, Bilin protests against Israel’s gruesome West Bank separation barrier has finally produced a substantial rerouting of the wall, giving villagers access to a significant portion of their confiscated land. The greater part remains seized or inaccessible, and protesters vow that their struggle is far from over. » Read more

U.S. Funding Rigorous Study of Palestinian and Israeli Textbook Incitement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward by Naomi Zeveloff - June 27, 2011 - 12:00am In an effort to settle one of the longest-running disputes in the Middle East peace process, American, Israeli and Palestinian researchers are conducting what purports to be the first scientific study of incitement in Palestinian and Israeli textbooks. » Read more

Palestinian Inmates Put Down Their Textbooks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Miller - June 27, 2011 - 12:00am Weeks before Israeli Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu declared he was putting an end to college-level studies by Palestinian prisoners, the inmates had already stopped making notations in textbooks on Islamic history and studying for final examinations in international relations. But both the students and their teachers are angry and perplexed by the decisions. » Read more

Gaza flotilla organizer: We have no intention of attacking IDF soldiers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Barak Ravid - June 28, 2011 - 12:00am The organizer of the Gaza-bound flotilla dismissed Tuesday Israeli allegations that extremists aboard the ships plan to harm Israeli soldiers who would be dispatched to stop them. Dror Feiler says the hundreds of people planning to sail soon in a bid to break Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory have signed a declaration of nonviolence. Feiler told Army Radio on Tuesday that if Israel has information about specific suspects, it should pass it along to flotilla's organizers. » Read more