NEWS: Two more rockets are fired into southern Israel from Gaza, without causing any damage or injuries. Pres. Peres says Israelis and Palestinians must learn to forget the past in order to achieve peace. A Fatah official vows Palestinians will not turn their issue into a domestic Lebanese dispute and that “foreign powers” are inciting violence. After another West Bank mosque is torched, a synagogue is vandalized with graffiti. Israeli veterans describe serving in the occupied territories. Two Hamas militants die inspecting a bombed tunnel in Gaza. Palestinian officials say Israel must choose between peace and settlements. Mitt Romney says he would do the “opposite” of Pres. Obama on Israel. Palestinians and Israelis are closely watching developments in Egypt. COMMENTARY: Ha'aretz interviews former negotiator Itamar Rabinovich and Deputy PM Ya'alon. Richard Haass thinks American dominance over the Mideast peace process is ending. Jon Donnison says Hamas was flexing its muscles in a recent exchange of rocket fire with Israel. The National says Hamas' violence undermines real Palestinian resistance. Patrick Seale looks at the Norwegian role in the Middle East. Paul Salem says Hezbollah is deeply concerned about current trends in the Middle East. Alex Fishman says the Hamas-Israel escalation in Gaza has explosive potential. Shaul Arieli looks at the potential negative consequences of Israeli unilateralism in the occupied West Bank. Saleh Al-Naami says Deputy PM Mofaz's peace initiatives are merely designed to buy time.

The game of buying time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram
by Saleh Al-Naami - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

It is difficult to keep track of how many media interviews Shaul Mofaz, acting Israeli prime minister, was given to publicise a political initiative aiming at reviving negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA). In order to make his initiative seem serious, Mofaz declared that re-launching talks will be based on 1967 borders, and that he will seek to meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas to present the proposal to him.

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The minuses of unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) June 19, 2012 - 12:00am

The stalemate in negotiations with the Palestinians and the assumption that it's impossible at present to reach a final-status solution have revived the idea of evacuating part of the West Bank unilaterally. Supporters of this idea believe that current trends, especially the expansion of the settlement enterprise, must be stopped before taking a decision that will anchor the two-state solution. A unilateral evacuation, they believe, will create a two-state reality that will make it easier to implement a final-status agreement.

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Israel-Hamas Escalation in Gaza Has Explosive Potential
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth
by Alex Fishman - (Opinion) June 21, 2012 - 12:00am

Something different, with hugely volatile potential, has been happening in the last few days in the Gaza Strip. Over the course of an entire year, Hamas didn’t take responsibility for violent acts from the Strip against Israel, nor did it actually carry out any such acts. It didn’t even take part in the last significant round of fire this past March. But now, in the last day, not only has Hamas fired Qassam rockets at Israeli communities, it has also rushed to take loud and clear responsibility for doing so.

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Nasrallah fears the Arab Spring, and an Israeli winter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Paul Salem - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Three years ago, regional opinion polls showed that the Middle East’s most popular leaders were Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. People at the time appreciated that they were standing up to Israel in Lebanon and Gaza, and pushing back against aggressive American policies in the region.

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The Palestinians’ best friend
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

No western statesman has done more to promote the cause of Palestinian statehood than the charismatic Foreign Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store, a Labour politician who enjoys unrivalled popularity in his own country. Yet all his efforts over the past several years in favour of the Palestinians have ended in failure. He has been defeated by Israeli intransigence, by US President Barack Obama’s collapse under Israeli pressure, and by Palestinian disunity.

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Israelis, Palestinians Closely Watch Egypt Turmoil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America
by Scott Bobb - June 20, 2012 - 12:00am

The political face-off in Egypt between the military and Islamists following the presidential election is being closely watched by Egypt's neighbors in Israel and the Palestinian territories. And as with many issues the viewpoints vary considerably. Opinions are divided among Israelis and Palestinian groups over future relations with Egypt although all agree those relations will continue to be important.

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Hamas violence undermines the real resistance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

The violence that has plagued Gaza over the past four days may be ended by a truce offered to Israel by the military wing of Hamas. But the group is using tactics from an outdated playbook. The occupation of Palestinian lands must be fought in political, public and legal arenas, where Israel is weak. The battlefield plays to its strengths.

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Romney says he will do the ‘opposite’ of Obama on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
June 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Mitt Romney told an audience of Christian conservatives that he would do the “opposite” of what President Obama has done when it comes to Israel. “I think, by and large, you can just look at the things the president has done and do the opposite,” Romney said Saturday in an address by video to a conference of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and the all but certain Republican presidential nominee, was campaigning in Pennsylvania when the conference took place in Washington.

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Erekat: Israel must choose - peace or settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel must choose between peace and settlements and release Palestinian prisoners, Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat was quoted Thursday as saying.

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