June 29th

Erekat: Meeting between Abbas, Mofaz is not a renewal of peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) June 29, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH - A meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz scheduled for Sunday does not signal a renewal of stalled negotiations, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has said. The two are to meet at Abbas' Ramallah headquarters. On Thursday, Erekat told Voice of Palestine Radio the meeting did not mean a renewal of the stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. "I do not know what Mofaz will bring with him," he said. "But it is not going to be negotiations." » Read more

Donald Macintyre: Nothing resonates like the mistreatment of minors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Opinion) June 27, 2012 - 12:00am The charge that Israel violates international law in its treatment of Palestinian prisoners in general and child prisoners in particular is hardly new. » Read more

Women with disabilities face dual discrimination ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 29, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Women with disabilities face a dual discrimination in Palestinian society and their families and the government are failing to protect them, experts say. Legal researcher for the rights group Al-Haq Issam Abdeen and Zaid Amro, an adviser to the PA Ministry of Social Affairs, appeared on Ma'an TV's talk show "You" to discuss issues facing women with disabilities. » Read more

Bibi's Shell Game in the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Jessica Montell - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The United States isn't the only country where the highest court in the land is making its voice heard on the thorniest political issues. In Israel, the whole country has been gripped by the fate of five apartment buildings in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled last year that these buildings, which were built on privately owned Palestinian land without the owner's permission, must be removed by July 1. » Read more

Group: 25 prisoners start hunger strike in Israel jail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 28, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Two dozen prisoners in an Israeli detention facility in the occupied West Bank have launched a hunger strike against their living conditions, the Palestinian prisoners society said Thursday. The 25 detainees in the Etzion detention facility near Bethlehem started refusing food over two weeks ago, said Jaclyn Fararjeh, a lawyer for the prisoners rights group. » Read more

Hamas airs video confessions of Israel's informers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 29, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The Hamas interior ministry on Thursday aired recorded confessions for what it called veteran informers and collaborators of Israel in the Gaza Strip. The video, produced by the Hamas internal security, showed several agents with shadowed faces, who admitted help Israel acquire information that led to the death of senior leaders of the Islamic movement and other armed groups. » Read more

J14 V. The Occupation: Why Talking About The Occupation Will Only Prolong It ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Ami Kaufman - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am When I was a teenager back in the 80’s, there was an ad on Israel’s only TV channel about road safety. It urged drivers to use their heads rather than simply rely on driving legally. The catchy slogan was “On the road, don’t be right—be smart!” » Read more

The creeping annexation of Judea and Samaria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jay Bushinsky - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am One of the most effective ways for an expansionist state to annex territory conquered by its armed forces is to populate it with its own people. That is what Israel seems to be doing in the West Bank: Performing a demographic fait accompli in which the number of Jewish inhabitants eventually may equal or even outnumber the Palestinians there. » Read more

National service proposal riles Israeli Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press June 29, 2012 - 12:00am NAZARETH, Israel — Israel's plan to overhaul its military draft has veered into turbulent new territory with the government's abrupt proposal to mobilize the country's Arab minority for civilian national service. » Read more

Want to forget the occupation? End it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Mira Sucharov - (Opinion) June 29, 2012 - 12:00am It’s easy to forget the occupation. It’s easy not to notice it, when grasping the tip of the iceberg means arranging to have Lior Amihai, one of the talented and committed staff members at Peace Now’s Settlement Watch, drive me through the northern West Bank in the organization’s white Hyundai, painstakingly explaining the criss-crossed landscape of state appropriation amidst the interminable status quo. » Read more