June 19th

NEWS: A hunger-striking Palestinian soccer player is released in a deal with Israeli authorities. Hamas welcomes Muslim Brotherhood claims of victory in the Egyptian presidential election. Two Palestinians are killed in a refugee camp in Lebanon. The death toll on Israel's Egypt and Gaza borders rises to seven. PM Netanyahu condemns an attack by extremist settlers on a mosque near Ramallah. Israelis and Palestinians cooperate in stopping the spread of deadly bacteria. Israel says Hamas, in a rare move, is firing rockets into southern Israel, and reports say Hamas is taking “credit” for the attacks. No Palestinian citizens of Israel will be in that country's upcoming Olympic delegation. Former Palestinian prisoners describe life after being released. Palestinians are seeking full representation at the Rio+20 sustainable development summit. COMMENTARY: Shaul Arieli says unilateral Israeli moves may not advance the peace process. Carlo Strenger says messianism is endangering Israel. Yaakov Katz says Israel can't deal with it security concerns In Sinai and elsewhere, and it needs Egyptian cooperation. Nachman Shai asks if it's really a good idea for Israel to surround itself with barriers. Gerson Baskin says national unity talks between Fatah and Hamas have broken down completely. The National says the MRSA bacteria scare in Gaza is one more affliction the people there don't need. Aaron David Miller looks at what he identifies as five myths about the US-Israel relationship. Yael Gvirtz says Israeli society needs to count the costs of the settlement project. Lara Friedman says Israeli unilateralism won't work.

The Siren Call of Israeli Unilateralism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

With Israeli-Palestinian efforts at an impasse and immediate-term hopes for progress toward any agreement fading, the appeal of new ideas is understandable. This is no doubt why discussion of Israeli unilateral options—generally in terms of unilateral “withdrawals” from the West Bank—is in the air.

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The Real Cost of Israel's Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth
by Yael Gvirtz - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am

The only difference between the hate crime perpetrated at Neve Shalom ("Oasis of Peace," a cooperative village jointly established by Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel as a model of coexistence) and others is that the target this time around was an Israeli village.

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Five Myths About the US-Israeli Relationship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Urban legends, fantasies, misconceptions abound in life. But nowhere do they seem to be more pronounced and durable than in the discussion of America's relationship with the State of Israel. Some are simply a result of fuzzy thinking; others flow from the willful propaganda efforts of both the pro and anti-Israeli advocates and the battles they wage for the hearts and minds of the committed and the not-so-committed.

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Palestinians seek full representation at Rio+20
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economic Times
June 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinians are pushing for full representation as a state at the UN Rio+20 summit on sustainable development, but the issue will have to be decided by world leaders, according to officials. "We expect full-status participation because we already have it in UNESCO and we have ties with Brazil (the host country which recognizes the Palestinian state) and with more than 130 countries," Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Alzeben told AFP.

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MRSA scare in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) June 19, 2012 - 12:00am

MRSA is an all-too-real monster. A bacterium that can resist most antibiotics, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus can be fatal. It spreads easily and quickly, and is particularly dangerous to patients in hospitals and nursing homes, where it is increasingly found. And now a strain of this microbe has been found in Gaza City, Haaretz reports. The danger of this fast-moving, hard-to-treat and potentially deadly germ must now be added to the list of tribulations afflicting people in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on Earth.

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Encountering Peace: Unity, disunity and peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

From what I hear around the area, once again the reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas have re-entered the freezer. Just last week the parties announced that on June 20, Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal would be announcing a new transitional government supported by both movements without any direct or representatives of either. The task of the transitional government was to prepare new elections for president of the Palestinian Authority, the PA Legislative Council and the Palestinian National Council of the PLO.

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Former Palestinian Prisoners Describe Life on the Outside
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from As-Safir
by Amjad Semhan - June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

After 20 to 30 years of detention, how does a released Palestinian prisoner live his life? What kind of psychological situation does he face? After all those years, does he believe that he still has a future?

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The good fence?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Nachman Shai - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Afew days ago, Israel marked the 30th anniversary of the outbreak of the war initially “Operation Peace for the Galilee,” now known as the “First Lebanon War,” since it was recently followed by another one. With the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, the concept of the “Good Fence,” through which Israel had tried to good relations with Lebanon, collapsed.

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No Arabs in Israeli Olympic Delegation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth
by Erin Lahav - June 14, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israeli delegation to the Olympics in London will not include even one Arab athlete. Not that it’s been any better in previous years; only two Arabs have represented the country in Olympic Games to date. The Arab sector is convinced that this is due to discrimination, but the athletic establishment denies the accusations.

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