June 7th

Israeli PM stronger after parliament rejects settlement legalization bill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Dave Bender, Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new unity government on Wednesday successfully navigated the first major test of its stability, since its inauguration last month. The country's Knesset members killed a bill that would have legalized disputed Jewish construction in a West Bank settlement that the Supreme Court recently ruled as illegal. The court said five three-story apartment buildings in the Ulpana neighborhood of Bet El near Ramallah were build on private Palestinian land, and ordered the government to remove them by July 1.

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NEWS: Current and former US officials are reportedly assuring Israel that the United States is prepared to use force against Iran if necessary. Israel announces 850 more new settler housing units in the occupied West Bank, and plans to "legalize" 13 outposts it says were not built on privately-owned Palestinian land. The US says the new settlement plans "undermine peace efforts.” Fatah and Hamas officials reportedly agree on the makeup of the new Palestinian government. Palestinian officials say the White House has denied press reports that Pres. Obama expressed doubts about Palestinian intentions regarding peace. Doctors say a hunger striking Palestinian prisoner is near death, as Israel releases another hunger striker. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis attack an elderly Palestinian in Jerusalem. Palestinian Monetary Authority Chairman Al-Wazir warns about an escalation in the PA financial crisis. Denmark joins South Africa in banning the label “made in Israel” on settlement products. A Palestinian court has sentenced a former aide to the late Pres. Arafat to 15 years in prison on corruption charges. COMMENTARY: Adam Gonn and Dave Bender say PM Netanyahu is stronger than ever after the defeat of a bill on settlement outposts. Ghassan Olayan asks if the world has room for the threatened village of Battir in the occupied West Bank. Ha'aretz says, in spite of his settlement bill victory, Netanyahu is still basically "bowing and scraping" to settlers through a raft of other measures. Muhammad Shtayyeh says Israel and the Palestinians are facing a last-chance moment to prevent "an apartheid future." Donniel Hartman says settlers are trying to train other Israelis to believe that settlement evacuation is impossible. Rachel Shabi looks at growing similarities and alliances between the extreme right in Israel and Europe. Rubik Rosenthal says Israel's wars in Lebanon backfired. Wray Herbert describes a new study looking at rage and opinion related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. David Margolick profiles Netanyahu.

The Netanyahu Paradox
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Vanity Fair
by David Margolick - (Opinion) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

At one point or another for an entire week last November, most of the Israeli establishment showed up at the Bauhaus home in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem: members of the Cabinet and Knesset, security officials, rabbis, businessmen, journalists, supplicants of all stripes, “everyone who didn’t want to get in any trouble,” as one participant put it. They stood solemnly around the small stone courtyard with a tent on top, officially mourning, but also studying who else was there, who was whispering to whom.

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Rethinking Rage in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Wray Herbet - (Blog) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

In September of last year, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas petitioned the United Nations for full membership in the world body. For many Palestinians this event was a potent and long-overdue symbol of their statehood, a cause for celebration. For many Jewish Israelis, the Palestinians' bid was a betrayal of the spirit of ongoing peace negotiations in the region. For many others around the world, it was just one more flash point in the seemingly endless and intractable conflict between Israel and Palestine.

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The Lebanon Wars Backfired on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Rubik Rosenthal - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the start of the Lebanon War. For more than half of Israel’s citizens, that war is a part of history, mixed in with the wars that preceded it. The Second Lebanon War brought the first one back into relevance, but we’d rather repress that war, too. It is this distance that allows us to look back at the first Lebanon War to see what can be learned from it for the sake of future generations.

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Far-right Europeans and Israelis: this toxic alliance spells trouble
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rachel Shabi - (Opinion) June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Last month, demonstrations against African refugees in Tel Aviv turned violent. Protesters looted shops, broke windows and firebombed buildings, including a nursery. Days ago, arsonists torched the home of 10 African migrants in Jerusalem, injuring four, and leaving the unequivocal graffiti: "Get out of the neighbourhood."

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Will settlers win the war?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Donniel Hartman - (Opinion) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

For weeks now, our prime minister, government, judicial system and press have been spending an inordinate amount of time discussing the future of six buildings, called Ulpana Hill, in Beit El. The Supreme Court, after years of the issue moving through the courts, ruled that they must be removed, for they were built on privately owned property, a fact that violates both international law and Israel’s own policy regarding settlements in Judea and Samaria, a policy which views settlements only on public land as legal.

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Last chance for two states, as apartheid beckons
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Muhammad Shtayyeh - (Opinion) June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Almost two decades ago, the world celebrated the beginning of a process that was supposed to lead to a just and peaceful resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict within five years. The Oslo Accords was designed to be the means to an end: an end already defined by international law, which would fulfill the Palestinians’ natural and legal right to self-determination, see the return of the Palestinian Territory occupied in 1967 (OPT) to its rightful owners, and a just and agreed on solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees.

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A display of leadership with a price
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  prevented Israel's law books from being stained on Wednesday by the retroactive legalization of thefts of land from its Palestinian owners, for the sake of building settlements. Netanyahu forced his cabinet to oppose a bill that would do just that, and his threat to fire anyone who voted for it indeed deterred those ministers and deputy ministers who sympathized with the settlers' struggle.

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Does the world have room for Battir village?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Ghassan Olayan - (Opinion) June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Battir, a Palestinian village south west of Jerusalem, has a charming, rural landscape which was recently recognized by UNESCO with the Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes. Battir also has had a unique agreement with Israel since 1949. The Rhodes Armistice Agreements, signed during the period of Jordanian rule over the West Bank, was implemented by Israeli military leader Moshe Dayan, Hassan Mustafa and six others from Battir village.

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