Why Unilateralism Won't Work
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am


Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently warned that if negotiations with the Palestinians do not yield results soon, Israel might consider "unilateral measures" in the occupied West Bank. He didn't specify what those might be, but several others have suggested that Israel create “temporary” or “provisional” unilaterally-imposed new borders in the territory. This idea is simple, superficially appealing and profoundly dangerous. 


Palestinians condemn Israeli unilateral plan to withdraw from some parts of West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - June 1, 2012 - 12:00am


Palestinians yesterday blasted a plan raised by the Israeli defence minister that called for Israel to unilaterally withdraw from parts of the West Bank if peace talks remain stalled. On Wednesday, Ehud Barak told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Israel "cannot afford to tread water" and has to "consider an interim arrangement or even unilateral steps".


Australia giving $90 million to Palestinian refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
May 30, 2012 - 12:00am


Australia is donating $90 million over five years to aid the health and education of Palestinian refugees. Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced the aid package earlier this week, saying he is "very proud" that since 2007 Australia has helped 470,000 Palestinian children attend school.


Australia giving $90 million to Palestinian refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
May 30, 2012 - 12:00am


Australia is donating $90 million over five years to aid the health and education of Palestinian refugees. Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced the aid package earlier this week, saying he is "very proud" that since 2007 Australia has helped 470,000 Palestinian children attend school.


Peres calls for stop to racism and incitement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Greer Fay Cashman - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am


Racism has no place in Judaism, President Shimon Peres declared on Thursday at a swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court, and said that, as president and as a citizen of Israel, he was appalled by revelations of incitement and racism.


Clinton: There's no substitute for direct talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am


Only negotiations will bring about peace, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, rejecting Defense Minister Ehud Barak's statements on a unilateral step in the West Bank. "The United States believes there is no substitute for direct talks between the parties," Clinton told a press conference in Denmark. "It is the only route to achieving what has long been not only a Palestinian goal and an American goal, but an Israeli goal, which are two states living side by side in peace and security."


PA ministry approves new Tawjihi exam system
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 27, 2012 - 12:00am


The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education has approved a new high school exam system, an official told Ma'an on Friday. Basri Salih, undersecretary for planning and development, said that a simplified system for "Tawjihi" exams has been developed after months of consultations and discussions. The new system was prepared by a commission headed by Salih and submitted to the PA education ministry on April 28. As part of the changes, tenth and eleventh graders will be tested on 12 subjects over a two year period.


Israeli officials propose moving outpost to confiscated lands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 1, 2012 - 12:00am


Israeli defense officials are studying a proposal to move residents of a settler outpost to a nearby area confiscated by the Israeli military for an army base, Israeli media reported Friday. Israel's high court ruled in May that the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El settlement, near al-Bireh, must be evacuated by July 1, 2012, after the Israeli government sought an extension to an earlier May deadline.


Israeli war jets strike on southeast Gaza, 3 wounded
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 1, 2012 - 12:00am


An Israeli war jet struck on Friday on a group of militants who were riding on a three-wheel motorcycle east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, medics and eyewitnesses said. Adhamed Abu Silmeya, Gaza emergency spokesman, told reporters that three were wounded -- two of them in critical conditions, adding that the three were taken by an ambulance to the hospital.


Made in Israel? Not a simple question
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am


For decades, Israel has marketed an array of cosmetics and food products manufactured in the occupied West Bank as "Made in Israel," blurring their true origins in Jewish settlements opposed by virtually the entire international community. Now that practice is being challenged with demands that products made in the settlements be labeled accordingly.



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