June 13th

To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am I do not need anyone to teach me about the Palestinian Nakba. It is the defining moment of my existence. During the 1948 war, my family had fled our home in Talpiot in southeast Jerusalem and taken shelter in a monastery. We quickly gathered some possessions and climbed down and up the mountain to Bethany, and then to Jericho. We eventually resettled as refugees in East Jerusalem.Because I was a graduating medical student at the American University of Beirut during the war of 1967, I became a double-refugee. » Read more

Jordan presses US to refocus on Israeli-Palestinian conflict before November election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill by Julian Pecquet - June 12, 2012 - 12:00am The Obama administration needs to recommit to helping solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or risk the ire of a whole generation of Arab youth demanding democratic change in the region, Jordan's foreign minister cautioned during a visit to Washington Tuesday. “You don't want to get to the U.S. election without something substantial in motion,” Nasser Judeh said in remarks at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Judeh addressed the think tank after meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday. » Read more

The Case for Deportation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Micah Stein - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am On Monday, Israeli police began rounding up illegal African immigrants as the first step in a campaign of mass arrests and deportations around the country. Earlier this year, the Knesset passed an “anti-infiltration” bill, which allows police to detain illegal immigrants for years without a trial and punishes Israelis who employ, house, or transport illegal immigrants. » Read more

Palestinians enjoy land victory in Israeli courts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Noah Browning - June 12, 2012 - 12:00am More used to enduring eviction orders than enforcing them, Palestinians are relishing the Israeli government's discomfort as it struggles to evacuate five settler buildings in the occupied West Bank. Israel's supreme court upheld a petition by a group of Palestinian landowners last month, mandating a demolition order by July 1 against the apartment blocs that sit on Ulpana Hill above the Palestinian village of Dura al-Qara. » Read more

My Way or the Highway ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Kathleen Peratis - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am If you say that the peace process, like the Wicked Witch, is not merely dead, but really most sincerely dead, no one will argue with you. Israel and the Palestinian Authority have not had a real negotiating session since September 2010, when so-called “talks” collapsed following a so-called settlement “freeze.” The last sign of life in the peace process was even earlier, in September 2008, when Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas came this close to a deal. » Read more

Stand up for West Bank's Freedom theatre ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Howard Brenton - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am What price the freedom to put on plays? The odd bad review in the Daily Telegraph (if you're me)? Or protesters at Shakespeare's Globe (if you're performing in Habima theatre's Israeli version of The Merchant of Venice)? » Read more

Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood on aid visit to Gaza Strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - June 13, 2012 - 12:00am A humanitarian-aid delegation led by Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood is on a weeklong visit to the Gaza Strip, as Palestinians prepared to mark tomorrow's fifth anniversary of Hamas's conquest of the territory. Some 10 tonnes of medical aid arrived in Gaza on Sunday with the delegation of 100 activists from 17 Arab countries, the unofficial Palestinian news agency Maan reported on Monday. » Read more

Bipartisan House letter seeks Pollard’s release ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) June 12, 2012 - 12:00am Congressional Democrats and Republicans are joining forces for the first time in more than a decade in an effort to secure Jonathan Pollard's release. A bipartisan letter is circulating in the U.S. House of Representatives soliciting signatures on a letter to President Obama asking him to commute Pollard's sentence to time served. The "Dear Colleague" letter is signed by veteran House members Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.). » Read more

Israel seeks to block listing church in 'Palestine' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - June 13, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is working to block a bid by the Palestinian Authority to register the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem under the country of Palestine, when the World Heritage Committee meets in Russia from June 24 to July 6. Earlier this month the committee announced that the church, as well as the nearby pilgrimage route, is among 36 sites which it plans to debate during that meeting. The debate marks the first time that the committee has considered registering a World Heritage site under Palestine. » Read more

Despite it all, still committed to peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 12, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas told the French President Francois Hollande that if Israel releases weapons for his security forces and releases Palestinian prisoners he would be willing to meet in public with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. This statement is very peculiar. Both the demands and the promised outcome require a bit of analysis and inquiry. » Read more