June 12th

Memorial Vandalized
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 11, 2012 - 12:00am


Vandals spray-painted graffiti overnight Monday on the walls of Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, with messages attacking Zionism and blaming Zionists for the Holocaust. Nearly a dozen messages were scrawled around the Warsaw Ghetto Square monument and other parts of the campus.


Israel admits it revoked residency rights of a quarter million Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - June 12, 2012 - 12:00am


Israel stripped more than 100,000 residents of Gaza and some 140,000 residents of the West Bank of their residency rights during the 27 years between its conquest of the territories in 1967 and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. As a result, close to 250,000 Palestinians who left the territories were barred from ever returning.


June 11th

NEWS: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meet to explore the possibility of resuming talks. Israel's military says it fears that Syrian chemical weapons might be targeted at Israel. Israeli officials will soon decide whether to recognize the "Ariel University Center of Samaria," a school set up by settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories, as an official Israeli “university.” Suspected pro-settlement extremists vandalize Palestinian-owned cars in occupied East Jerusalem. Israelis, including Pres. Peres, are pushing for the release of convicted spy Pollard. A senior Palestinian official says Palestinian-Israeli security coordination has been declining over the past two years. Hamas leaders say Israel could be isolated by the results of the upcoming Egyptian presidential election. The head of the Palestine Monetary Authority says the PA has reached its maximum level of borrowing from Palestinian banks. Israeli experts warn that settlement expansion could lead to a third intifada. Pres. Abbas says he "would accept” nonmember state status at the UN. Bedouins in Israel are struggling against government plans to relocate tens of thousands of them. Rear Adm. Paul Bushong is will serve as the new U. security coordinator for Israel-Palestinian Authority. COMMENTARY: Oudeh Basharat says military defeat in 1967 was an important wake-up call to the Arab world, but Hanan Ashrawi says it was a disaster for Israelis and Arabs alike. Hannan Hever says Israel needs to recognize it bears a heavy responsibility for the Palestinian Nakba. Dor Glick says the world should help Israel by boycotting settlement products. Yaron Friedman says Jewish Israelis should study Arabic. Donald McIntyre looks at conditions in Gaza, five years after Hamas took over. The National says Palestinian resistance to occupation must be characterized by nonviolence. Uri Avnery remembers Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 as a “war of lies.” Hussein Ibish says it's incorrect to think Abbas is politically weak and incapable of acting. Amal Daraghmeh Masri says the Palestinian economy is ready for independence. Elliott Abrams says few Middle East actors really want Israeli-Palestinian peace. Dan Ephron says PM Netanyahu now has to political clout to take on the settler movement, but he won't.

Democracy in Arabia
In Print by Hussein Ibish - Bookforum.com - June 11, 2012 - 12:00am

If anybody asked me, particularly in a plaintive tone of desperation, for a comprehensive backgrounder on the uprisings that have convulsed much of the Arab world since December 2010, I’d have no hesitation in pointing them to The Battle for the Arab Spring.


Navy announces new flag officer assignments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Navy Times
by Jacqueline Klimas - June 8, 2012 - 12:00am


Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Friday that the President Obama has made the following nominations: • Rear Adm. Paul Bushong, who has been nominated for promotion to vice admiral, will be U.S. security coordinator, Israel-Palestinian Authority. He is currently serving as commander, Navy Region Marianas/U.S. Pacific Command Representative, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau/commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Marianas, Guam.


Bedouin are ‘squatters’ on their own land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - June 11, 2012 - 12:00am


Nuri Al Okbi’s home is an archive of his futile campaign to prove to Israel that he owns land he says has been in his family for centuries. Tucked away in boxes and stacked on bookshelves are maps and land deeds dating back to the Ottoman Empire. The collection, he says, is evidence of the Okbi clan’s ownership of land in the Al Araqib area of Israel’s Negev desert.


Outpost Nation: Why Bibi Won’t Break With Israel’s Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Dan Ephron - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am


A battle over several homes in the West Bank has opened a rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a constituency he usually counts on for support: the hundreds of thousands of Jews who live in settlements across the Israeli-occupied area.


Palestinian President Abbas 'would accept' UN upgrade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
June 8, 2012 - 12:00am


Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says he is ready to accept "non-member state" status at the United Nations, if Israel does not resume peace talks. He made the comments as French President Francois Hollande lent his support to Palestinian aims for UN state recognition. Last September the Palestinian bid for full member status fell apart when the United States said it would veto it. Security Council backing is required for bids for full UN membership.


Processing Delay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Elliott Abrams - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am


Summer 2012. Israel's elections have been delayed until late next year by the formation of a new coalition government. The "Arab Spring" is producing Muslim Brotherhood victories, Salafi gains, chaos in Syria, disorder in Egypt, tremors in Jordan. Iran's nuclear program moves steadily forward despite tougher sanctions and ongoing negotiations between Iran and the world's major powers. In the United States,


Israel's settlement policy could trigger a third intifada, experts warn Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amir Oren - June 10, 2012 - 12:00am


Mideast experts warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week that construction policies in the settlements or the burning of a major mosque by extremists could help trigger a violent uprising in the West Bank. The meeting with Netanyahu, which lasted about 90 minutes, took place Tuesday evening.



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