June 7th

Israel to build 850 homes in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel's plans to build hundreds of new homes in Jewish West Bank settlements have put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at odds again with Washington and the Palestinians, without appeasing settlers furious over the government's plan to dismantle an illegally built enclave.

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U.S. Aides in Israel Give Assurances About Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

President Obama and his senior advisers have said little publicly about Iran since the resumption of negotiations over its nuclear in April, preferring to let the diplomats hash out the issues in the hope that tensions with Tehran can be managed, at least until the election in November.

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When Will the Six-Day War End?
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The Atlantic - June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

This week marks the 45th anniversary of the Six-Day War. It was a war of necessity for Israel -- Egypt and Syria, in particular, had manifested themselves as existential threats to the then-19-year-old Jewish state (Jordan less so) -- and it was a war whose first phase ended in unambiguous victory.

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June 6th

NEWS: Amnesty International says Israel should end “administrative detention” without trial. PM Netanyahu is seeking to relocate an “unauthorized” settlement outpost. The PA says Israeli prison guards attacked and beat Palestinian prisoners. Israel arrests three Gaza fishermen. Palestinians create a new electoral system for the PNC. Two Palestinians are wounded in new Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The Knesset rejects a bill that would “legalize” “unauthorized” Israeli settlements built on privately-owned Palestinian land. Netanyahu says he will personally head a new ministerial committee on settlement affairs. Pres. Obama reportedly says he's concerned about the PA's interest in peace. Pres. Abbas urges Israelis not to turn their backs on peace. Submarine sales to Israel are controversial in Germany. A judo athlete from occupied East Jerusalem will be the first Palestinian to officially compete in the Olympics. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali contemplates the lessons of the Nakba. The New York Times welcomes Netanyahu's decision to abide by the Supreme Court ruling on the Ulpana settlement and says Israel should cease all settlement activity. Miko Peled says his father believed Israel lost a golden opportunity for peace in 1967. Carlo Strenger says Netanyahu's government relies on stereotypes of Arabs. Allison Good says Americans should invest in Palestine.

Germany and Israel's 'special relationship' in spotlight
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Stephen Evans - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

If ever there were two countries with a truly "special relationship", they are Germany and Israel. For obvious reasons of history, they are bound together. The genocidal madness of a previous generation of the one and the suffering of the victims of a previous generation of the other make them intertwined in a way no other two countries are. But is the relationship changing? There are certainly signs that it is being re-examined in Germany. What was taken as a given in the past is now up for questioning.

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Palestinian Athlete Heads to the Olympics, Makes History
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Yossi Eli, Rimon Margia - June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian sports just made history: 28-year-old Maher Abu Ramila from Jerusalem’s Old City, met the Olympic qualifications and earned a trip to compete in the 2012 London Olympic games next month. Thus he has become the first Palestinian athlete to compete in the games on his own merit, and not as a “solidarity gesture” — awarded by the Olympic committee as a mark of identification.

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Abbas to Israelis: Don't turn your backs on peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday called on Israel “not to turn [its] back to the prospects of peace” and cautioned that the chances to achieve peace may not remain for too long.

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Obama worried PA not interested in peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama is worried that Palestinian leadership was no longer as interested in advancing toward peace, he said in a conversation with Orthodox Jewish leaders on Tuesday.

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Learning from the Nakba
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) June 5, 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 war in 1948, my family had already 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.

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A Glimmer?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

There is a plenty of blame to be shared for why peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians are going nowhere. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem are a big part of the problem. There may be some glimmer of hope in Mr. Netanyahu’s decision to support an Israeli Supreme Court order to close an illegal neighborhood, known as Ulpana, in the West Bank settlement of Beit El.

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