June 1st

NEWS: Two American tourists kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula are released. A Palestinian militant and an Israeli soldier are killed in a clash near the Gaza border. International consumers and states have difficulty distinguishing products made in Israel from those made in Israeli settlements. 3 Palestinians are wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Israel is reportedly considering moving settlers from an “unauthorized” outpost to land in the occupied West Bank confiscated for a military base. The PA education Ministry approves a new high school qualification exam. Sec. Clinton tells Israel that there is no substitute for negotiations. Pres. Peres calls for an end to incitement and racism in Israeli society. Australia pledges $90 million for Palestinian refugees. Palestinians condemn proposed Israeli unilateral actions in the occupied West Bank, suggested by DM Barak. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish and Emily Hauser separately explain why Israeli unilateralism won't work. Adam Gonn says many Israeli officials are unimpressed with Barak's idea about Israeli unilateral measures in the occupied West Bank. Yossi Verter says Israeli unilateralism is a real possibility given the new coalition. Ha'aretz interviews Shlomo Sand. Danny Rubinstein says Israel's blockade in Gaza is actually strengthening Hamas politically and economically. Stephen Robert says PM Netanyahu needs to explain his vision of the future. Lara Friedman says it's laughable and disturbing that a Senate Committee would try to legislate the Palestinian refugee issue. Saleh Al-Naami says Palestinian reconciliation is being stymied by mutual mistrust and international pressures.

Crisis of confidence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram
by Saleh Al-Naami - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Suddenly the sound of laughter broke the silence on a bus transporting dozens of students from the centre of the Gaza Strip to the district where university campuses are located in southern Al-Rimal in Gaza City. One student had mentioned that delegates from Hamas and Fatah were in Cairo again to finalise details about a consensus government as stipulated in the Doha Declaration.

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Legislating the Refugee Problem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am

You have to laugh, or it would make you cry. That is, if you are someone who genuinely cares about Israel and believes that the two-state solution is the only thing that can save Israel as a democracy and a Jewish state, and that can end the occupation and permit the Palestinians to live, finally, as a free people with dignity and self-determination.

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Come Clean, Mr. Prime Minister
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Stephen Robert - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced this week that he favors unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank. But who will ultimately determine when and where—and if—the Palestinians are to be granted a state? 

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Gaza Bustling Under Hamas Despite Economic Isolation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist
by Danny Rubenstein - (Opinion) May 29, 2012 - 12:00am

The isolation policy applied by Israel, separating the Gaza Strip from the West Bank both economically and socially, is designed to weaken and possibly even bring down the Hamas government.

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Author of 'The Invention of the Jewish People' vents again
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Dalia Karpel - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am

The concept of homeland is one of the most amazing and also, perhaps, one of the most ruinous of the modern era, says Prof. Shlomo Sand. In his new book, “When and How Was the Land of Israel Invented?” ‏(Kineret, Zmora-Bitan Dvir, Hebrew‏), Sand examines the attitude of the Zionist movement toward that territory since its inception. More particularly, he is out to discover how Zionism adopted the idea...


Now that Netanyahu is surrounded by veteran unilateral withdrawers, is a surprise in store?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am

For many long minutes on Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak stood at the podium at Tel Aviv's Institute for National Security Studies. He spoke lucidly about everything - Iran, the Palestinians, Syria, the budget, the Tal Law, party primaries. His main message related to the Iranian threat. "You can't sleep quietly at night with a sword hanging over your neck," he declared.


Israeli gov't unimpressed by defense minister's unilateral withdrawal pitch
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday said that while it is important that Israel tries to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, should these attempts fail Israel might have to act on its own. "If it turns out not to be possible, we need to think about an interim agreement, or even unilateral steps. Israel does not have the luxury to remain in a stalemate," said Barak, according to The Jerusalem Post.

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What You Need to Know About Unilateralism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

In a speech at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak floated the idea, as if it were a new one, that if two-state negotiations with the Palestinians fail, Israel “must consider an interim arrangement or even a unilateral move."

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Why Unilateralism Won't Work
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently warned that if negotiations with the Palestinians do not yield results soon, Israel might consider "unilateral measures" in the occupied West Bank. He didn't specify what those might be, but several others have suggested that Israel create “temporary” or “provisional” unilaterally-imposed new borders in the territory. This idea is simple, superficially appealing and profoundly dangerous. 

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