Palestinians: US refugee bill may delay peace
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Jerusalem Post - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian advocates are warning that a new US Senate amendment dictating a reporting requirement on the issue of Palestinian refugees could set back efforts to reach a peace deal. The amendment to a bill, recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, mandates that the secretary of state must report how many of the Palestinians serviced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency fled or left homes in Israel during the War of Independence and how many are only their descendants.

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Palestinians: US refugee bill may delay peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian advocates are warning that a new US Senate amendment dictating a reporting requirement on the issue of Palestinian refugees could set back efforts to reach a peace deal. The amendment to a bill, recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, mandates that the secretary of state must report how many of the Palestinians serviced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency fled or left homes in Israel during the War of Independence and how many are only their descendants.

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NEWS: PM Netanyahu vows to take a hard line against African migrants. FM Lieberman condemns attacks on migrants. Refugee advocates say draconian Israeli measures won't stop African migrants coming to the country. Israel is searching the email accounts of vistors, mainly of Arab or Muslim heritage. Palestinians say a new US bill on Palestinian refugees could harm peace efforts. The PA is conducting a law-and-order crackdown in the Jenin area. No men are allowed at a women-only coffee shop in Ramallah. The owner of a destroyed dairy factory in Gaza says he will sue Israel. A Palestinian man is shot after stabbing an Israeli soldier. Fatah and Hamas say they will hold talks soon on who should serve as PM in a possible new government. Pres. Obama once again invokes the waiver against moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Palestinians mark Naksa Day, mourning the defeat in the 1967 war. Pres. Abbas says Palestinians don't want a state without its capital in Jerusalem. COMMENTARY: Moshe Arens says Israeli military figures turned politicians are too quick to resort to unilateralism. Amira Hass says Palestinian villagers live in fear of armed settlers. Daniel Levy says European diplomacy on Israel and Palestine has been intensified in three crucial ways. David Newman looks at property rights and land ownership for Bedouins in the Negev. Gershon Baskin says a Palestinian state must be prepared to treat Jewish citizens equally. Ben Sales asks if DM Barak's talk of Israeli "unilateral actions" in the occupied Palestinian territories was a trial balloon. The National says Khaled Meshaal seems to have consolidated power within Hamas. Elisheva Goldberg says the ideology of Kahanism dominated a recent pro-Israel rally New York. Jeffrey Goldberg says Israel can defeat itself by pursuing aggressive settlement policies or secure the gains of the 1967 war by beginning to remove outlying settlements unilaterally. Crispian Balmer says both Netanyahu and Abbas would like to see Ahmed Shafiq win the Egyptian presidential election.

EU diplomacy on Israel/Palestine shifts up a gear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from EU Observer
by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Few issues of diplomatic conversation today have quite the same ability to generate a rolling of the eyes and turning of the page as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Stuck is an understatement. Israel’s government argues with its Supreme Court over re-locating a few dozen families from an illegal outpost to an illegal settlement, ignoring the bigger picture, whereby one in ten Jewish Israelis now reside in the Occupied Palestinian territories.

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Egyptian status quo ends for Israelis, Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Crispian Balmer - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Far apart on so many issues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas almost certainly see eye to eye on the Egyptian presidential election. Both would like Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force chief who served as Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, beat the Muslim Brotherhood's anointed candidate, Mohamed Mursi, in the June 16-17 ballot.

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How Israel Can Finally Win the Six-Day War
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Opinion) June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Tuesday marks the 45th anniversary of the Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the question remains: Which side will win? Yes, many people are under the impression that Israel already won. It’s true that the first phase of the war -- which began with Israeli strikes on the Egyptian air force and ended with Israel in possession of the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip -- represented an unambiguous military triumph.

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A Concert of Kahanists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Elisheva Goldberg - (Opinion) June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Yesterday, for the nineteenth year running, in a concert in Central Park, American Orthodox Jewry and the Israeli right unapologetically laid claim to the Whole Land of Israel.

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Meshaal returns to take a firmer hold on Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas's political bureau, has reversed his decision to step down. Whether this is a genuine change of heart or the springing of a slick political trap, it is best understood as good news for the Palestinians and the cause of peace.

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Was Barak’s call for unilateral action with the Palestinians a trial balloon?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ben Sales - (Opinion) June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Was Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's recent suggestion that Israel take “unilateral action” to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a hint at a policy under discussion or just an off-the-cuff remark?  And how will the response of others -- such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- shape the country’s fate in the coming months?

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The future Jewish citizens of Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

There are three possible solutions for dealing with the issue of settlers in a genuine peace agreement with the Palestinians. Option 1: settlers wishing to do so can be repatriated to the State of Israel proper – within the “green line” borders. Option 2: settlers wishing to remain in Judea or Samaria rather than returning to the borders inside of the “green line” can remain or resettle in those areas that will be annexed to the State of Israel by agreement with the Palestinians.

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