NEWS: Hamas says one of its operatives has been assassinated in Damascus and blames Israel. Palestinians are intensifying their efforts to get UNESCO to recognize the Church of the Nativity in occupied Bethlehem as a World Heritage Site in Palestine. Israeli scientists are working on a pre-battlefield treatment for PTSD. Hamas urges Pres. Abbas not to meet with Deputy PM Mofaz next week as planned. Israel allocates $90 million for infrastructure repair in Arab towns inside Israel. Hamas says it intends to broadcast "confessions of collaborators” with Israel. Israeli officials claim they have convinced Russia not to sell missiles to Syria. Two Egyptian men are criminally convicted in a case regarding cheap gas supplies to Israel. An Israeli border patrol officer faces trial for shooting a 10-year-old Palestinian child. Palestinian leaders in Lebanon asked the military to ease its behavior towards certain refugee camps. COMMENTARY: Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel save the murder of a Hamas operative in Syria won't stop the flow of arms to Gaza. Eric Yoffie says the Israeli right cannot comprehend the settlements really are a major obstacle to peace. Giora Eiland says Israel should recognize Gaza as a de facto state. Alon Liel says misleadingly labeling settlement products “made in Israel” demonstrates Israel's self-deception. Diana Moukalled says Israeli television has just provided supporters of Pres. Assad with an undeserved gift. The Jordan Times says more Russian involvement in the Middle East peace process could be very helpful. Ruth Elgash says more Palestinian citizens of Israel are volunteering for National Service. Jonathan Schanzer says Palestinians may be gearing up for another major UN effort. Zafrir Rinat says Israel's policy of uprooting Palestinian olive trees is entirely political. Hamze Awawde says a new generation of young Palestinians is developing their own, independent political identity.

The new Palestinian
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hamze Awawde - (Opinion) June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

I was born in 1990. I experienced a bit of the first intifada; the creation of the Palestinian Authority and what is called Palestinian self-administration; the rounds of negotiation between Israel and Palestine; the second intifada; the failure of the peace process; Hamas in government; the West Bank separating completely from the Gaza strip; and revolutions in the Arab world called the “Arab Spring,” that changed everything in the region. I am only 22 years old.

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Uprooting olive trees: Nature or politics?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zafrir Rinat - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

One of the most complex challenges facing the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is finding the balance between protecting the nature in its reserves and allowing agriculture to flourish. This has become a particularly complicated issue in the Wadi Kana nature reserve in the northern West Bank, where the debate is not only focused on land, nature and the environment, but as is often the case in this country, it has become a question of politics.

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If at First You Don't Succeed…
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Jonathan Schanzer - (Opinion) June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinians may appeal to the United Nations for statehood. Again. That was the message out of Ramallah on Sunday, June 24, when Fatah, the dominant Palestinian faction in the West Bank, concluded a meeting of its congress.

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Young Arab Israelis volunteering for national service
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Ruth Eglash - (Opinion) June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Volunteer Nasim Awadallah’s eyes light up when he begins talking about the soccer team he created and now coaches in his small village of Ein Nekuba, just outside Jerusalem. Each morning he helps teach sports at the local elementary school. Later he takes the most eager students out for soccer training.“When I was young, someone came to the village to teach me how to play football and now I want to teach others,” said the 19-year-old volunteer. “When I see the children each morning, I know I am really helping them.”

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Palestinian leaders ask Lebanon to lift military measures in camps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Local leaders of several Lebanon-based Palestinian factions asked the government Thursday to lift stringent military measures in the refugee camps and cease pursuing residents of the northern camp of Nahr al-Bared following clashes earlier this month. “We thank our brothers in the army’s leadership for facilitating the issue of permits and loosening security measuring until we reach an end to the military situation imposed on the camp,” a statement released by the factions said.

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Israeli officer faces trial for shooting 10-year-old boy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Omri Abu, an officer in Israel's Border Police, was travelling in a bulletproof vehicle four years ago when it came under a barrage of stones thrown by Palestinian demonstrators as it drove through the West Bank village of Na'alin. He opened the door of the SUV and shot twice, striking 10-year-old Ahmed Moussa in the forehead, killing him instantly. What is being decided in an Israeli court is whether Mr Abu is guilty of negligence by firing his weapon.

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Hope for more involvement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

The visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Jordan for talks with His Majesty King Abdullah came at an interesting time in the region. Egypt has a new, Islamist, president, the Arab Spring has swept over some Arab countries and is at the doorstep of others, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still simmering, with no solution in sight, and the situation in Syria is getting from bad to worse.

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Egyptian officials sentenced over Israel gas deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Egypt's former Oil Minister Samih Fahmi and a fugitive businessman, Hussein Salem, have been sentenced to 15 years in prison for their role in a gas export deal to Israel. Ten other former high-ranking oil and gas officials also reportedly received shorter jail sentences. The agreement, which supplied Israel with 40% of its natural gas at below market prices, was scrapped in April. It was backed by the old government, but was widely unpopular in Egypt.

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'Israel persuaded Russia not to sell Syria missiles'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel played a role in influencing Russia to cancel its sale of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria, Army Radio quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying Thursday. Russia suspended the sale of the advanced system to Syria in what could be an outcome of President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Israel earlier this week. Both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres discussed the issue of Syria with the Russian leader during his short stay in Israel.

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