June 15th

Israel's Real Image Problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s State Comptroller released a remarkably harsh report yesterday regarding the government’s handling of the 2010 aid flotilla to Gaza, and I have one question: Is the issue the people who died – or the way Israel talked about the people who died? » Read more

MK Anastassia Michaeli: Most gay people commit suicide at 40 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ilan Lior, Jonathan Lis - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am MK Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beiteinu ) has angered gay groups and MKs alike by saying "most gay people commit suicide at 40." On Wednesday, speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women, Michaeli accused Channel 10 of encouraging people to become homosexual. » Read more

Obama continues to dither ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Barack Obama has raised great hopes in the Middle East when he was one of only four American presidents to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. But now, almost four years later, he has yet to show any sign of achievement in ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. » Read more

Chronicle of a West Bank murder: Transcripts of the reenactment of Itamar murder revealed for first time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am A year and three months have passed since the murder of the Fogel family in the Itamar settlement near Nablus. Haaretz has obtained the transcripts of both the interrogation of those who were eventually convicted and their reenactment of the murder. On Friday night, March 11, 2011, at about 9 P.M., Amjad and Hakim Awad (the two are not related ) left their West Bank village of Awarta in the direction of nearby Itamar. They passed the settlement fence, broke into two empty houses, and afterward continued to the adjacent house, where the Fogels lived. » Read more

Life in British Mandate Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Jerome Chanes - (Book Review) June 15, 2012 - 12:00am Another book on “the making of Israel”? It was a scant few months ago that Gershom Gorenberg’s provocative and timely book, “The Unmaking of Israel,” was visited on the Jewish body politic. Now comes novelist Hadara Lazar’s book, “Out of Palestine,” whose subtitle, “The Making of Modern Israel,” may gull and lull many a reader, but this reader was coddled out of his sleep after only a few pages. » Read more

Israel arrests ex-soldier living in Bethlehem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 15, 2012 - 12:00am A former Israeli soldier was arrested recently by Palestinian Authority forces after living in a Bethlehem refugee camp for the past three weeks, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. "I wanted to prove that it’s possible to live with Palestinians, as long as you are not coming off as an enemy," Andrey Pshenichnikov, 24, was quoted as saying by Haaretz. Pshenichnikov moved to Bethlehem three months ago and was working as a waiter and construction worker. » Read more

The Prime Minister's Speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Alon Ben-Meir - (Blog) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Having been engaged in the Arab-Israeli conflict as an advocate for peace, interlocutor, a keen observer and a commentator for much of my adult life, I fantasize once in a while about the regional, if not the global, implications of an Arab-Israeli peace. I allow myself to dream what seems to be an impossible dream because I believe in the dynamism and wealth of the human resources and creativity that both Israelis and Palestinians bountifully enjoy. » Read more

Israeli gov't begins fortifying schools along Gaza border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 14, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli government announced a 90-million-shekel (almost 24 million U.S. dollars) project to shield all educational institutions in a 7-to-15 km radius from the Gaza Strip. Some schools beyond that range have already been strengthened against upwards of 10,000 rockets and mortars that have been fired out of the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. Outgoing Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai officially launched the project during a farewell visit to the area on Wednesday, sources at the Defense Ministry told Xinhua on Thursday. » Read more

The flotilla as metaphor ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am Among the most telling aspects of the state comptroller’s report, published Wednesday, which chronicles a slapdash decision-making process inside the Prime Minister's Office in general, and with regard to the Mavi Marmara incident in particular, was Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s official response to it. In the final analysis, Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office, "Israel's citizens are enjoying a level of security that they have not known for years.” » Read more

Jewish settlers won't go quietly as eviction looms ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Maayan Lubell - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am The clock is ticking for 30 Jewish settler families in the occupied West Bank. Israel's Supreme Court has said their homes sit on privately-owned Palestinian land and as an eviction deadline draws near, they say they will not go quietly. "They will have to drag me out of here," said Yoel Fattal, 28, who lives with his wife and three young children in one of the five apartment blocs the government must tear down by July 1, on the Ulpana hill in the settlement of Beit El. » Read more