NEWS: FM Lieberman threatens a tough response to a Palestinian UN initiative. Greece cooperation is the key to Israel thwarting the new Gaza flotilla. The PA cabinet vows to resolve a fiscal crisis. Extremist rabbis are increasingly in conflict with the Israeli state. PM Netanyahu orders the disruption of a pro-Palestinian "fly-in." The UN Security Council will discuss Palestinian UN membership at its July 26 meeting. The UN says Israel used unnecessary force against Nakba Day protesters. The Palestinian prisoner issue sparks heated debate. A new poll shows continuing Jewish American support for Pres. Obama. A new study details the plight of nonregistered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. COMMENTARY: Shaul Arieli says Israel must not let itself become a theocracy. Eitan Haber says Israeli decision-making is in deep trouble. Nahum Barnea says military rabbis are bringing Soviet-style indoctrination to the Israeli army. Adam Shapiro says Gaza flotillas have had an impact. Osama Al Sharif says the "Arab Spring" will transform the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Reuters says the flotilla dispute foreshadows coming diplomatic tensions. Christopher Hitchens poses pointed questions to flotilla activists. Richard Falk says the flotilla is about the occupation. Bitterlemons interviews PLO official Hanna Amireh about a possible UN initiative.

Study: Nonregistered Palestinian refugees are impoverished, marginalized and vulnerable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Simona Sikimic - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am

U.N. service provision to the 17,000 estimated nonregistered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has improved in recent years but too many of the “most vulnerable of the already vulnerable” continue to suffer from poor and patchy service provision, according to a report released Tuesday. The Danish Refugee Council study, “Incomplete Entitlement,” reveals that despite 80 percent of non-registered refugees reporting access to at least one U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) service, the average adult lives on $2.7 a day.

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A Palestinian View: The consensus was positive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) July 4, 2011 - 12:00am

an interview with Hanna Amireh bitterlemons: When the Palestine Liberation Organization decided last week to go ahead with its plan to seek statehood at the United Nations, was there great discussion about the issue? Amireh: The meeting decided on a general direction of seeking recognition of the Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, first at the Security Council and also at the General Assembly. Of course, there was a discussion and different positions presented, but the general consensus was to support the move. bitterlemons: Was there a discussion of the risks involved?

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Jewish approval of Obama unaffected by Israel tensions, poll shows
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
July 5, 2011 - 12:00am

President Obama's status among American Jews remains unaffected despite recent tensions with Israel's government, according to a Gallup Poll. Obama's approval rating among U.S. Jews was 60 percent in June, the polling company said, consistent both with earlier months. Also, Jews still consistently approved of the president's performance at an average of 14 percentage points above the general public, Gallup said in its release Tuesday. Obama's overall approval rating in June was 46 percent.

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Heated debate over Palestinian prisoners in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Yolande Knell - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am

The entrance to the Abu Jihad Museum for the Prisoners' Movement closely resembles a jail. Step inside the revolving steel door topped by barbed wire and you stand behind bars that surround the ticket desk. Exhibits at the site, in the West Bank town of Abu Dis near Jerusalem, tell the stories of Palestinian political prisoners from the British Mandate period to modern-day Israel. Palestinians have come to view their experience of detention, for actions that oppose the occupation of their land, as part of their national identity.

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Sabotaging Freedom Flotilla II
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
by Richard Falk - (Opinion) July 2, 2011 - 12:00am

The reports that two of the foreign flagged ships planning to be part of the ten vessel Freedom Flotilla II experienced similar forms of disabling sabotage creates strong circumstantial evidence of Israeli responsibility.

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UN: Israel used unnecessary force against protesters on Nakba Day
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am

A new report of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is highly critical of Israel for its handling of incidents on the border with Lebanon on May 15 - Nakba Day. It concludes that the Israeli soldiers used disproportionate force against Lebanese demonstrators, which resulted in seven deaths. In Israel there is great anger at the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Michael Williams, who authored the report, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry is cutting contact with him until further notice.

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Boat People
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Slate
by Christopher Hitchens - (Opinion) July 4, 2011 - 12:00am

The tale of the Gaza "flotilla" seems set to become a regular summer feature, bobbing along happily on the inside pages with an occasional update. A nice sidebar for reporters covering the Greek debt crisis: a built-in mild tension of "will they, won't they?"; a cast of not very colorful characters but one we almost begin to feel we know personally. Such cheery and breezy slogans—"the audacity of hope" and "free Gaza"—and such an easy storyline that it practically writes itself.

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Palestine UN membership a debate for Council in July
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Megan Davies - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am

The U.N. Security Council plans to discuss in July the possibility of Palestine becoming a United Nations member state, the Security Council president said on Tuesday. The Arab League has said it would request U.N. membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital at the U.N. General Assembly in September. An open debate on the Middle East has been scheduled for July 26 according to a provisional calendar for the Security Council for July.

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Analysis: Gaza flotilla a foretaste of future diplomatic furor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Crispian Balmer - (Analysis) July 5, 2011 - 12:00am

The diplomatic maneuvering that snarled the Gaza initiative pales in comparison with the behind-the-scenes tussles surrounding a unilateral drive by the Palestinians to secure United Nations' recognition of statehood this September. While Israel has won this first round, the stakes will be much higher in the months ahead, with the possibility of chaos in the Palestinian Territories if politicians mess it up.

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