July 17th

Hamas executes three Gaza men for murder
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Three men convicted of murder were hanged in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the territory's interior ministry said. A total of 14 Palestinians have now been executed since the Islamist group Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in 2007 from Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. No details of the murder cases were given and the Hamas-run ministry identified the executed men only by their initials.

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Romney, Condi, and the meme that pro-Israel must be anti-peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Studies have shown that among American voters, Israel as an issue does not figure significantly in decision-making at the ballot box – even for Jews. It shouldn't matter, but it could. One step down the wrong slippery slope - a cross-border war, perhaps, or a spiral of civilian deaths in terrorism and air strikes, or, in the nightmare scenario, a conflagration involving Iran – and Israel could become very much an American campaign issue.

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Peace Talks Must Resume, Clinton Says in Israel Visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Visiting Israel for the first time in nearly two years, with the Palestinian peace process seemingly on perpetual hold, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that “the status quo is unsustainable” and urged leaders from both sides back to negotiations.

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Five Reasons Why the Two-State Solution Just Won't Die
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

By all accounts it's time to say a kaddish -- the traditional Jewish prayer for the dead -- over the idea of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel.

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July 16th

NEWS: Hamas is hoping for a new Gaza policy from Egypt. A Palestinian investigator falls off a third floor building while in police custody. Backtracking on a public promise, Israel is planning more subsidies for a controversial settlement. Some Palestinians from Gaza are allowed to visit relatives jailed in Israel for the first time in five years. PM Fayyad will meet Sec. Clinton in Jerusalem. Pres. Abbas asks the Arab League for a date to revive the Palestinian UN bid, and help in establishing an international inquiry into the death of the late Pres. Arafat. A Palestinian intelligence officer accuses “Palestinian figures” of being responsible for Arafat's death. Israel considers sanctions against OCHA for “illegal activities.” Abbas and Fayyad welcome a $100 million donation to the PA by Saudi Arabia. Settlers continue a pattern of uprooting trees in Palestinian villages. Jewish American leaders send a letter to PM Netanyahu saying recommendations in a recent report promote the delegitimization of Israel. Israel accuses Hezbollah and Iran of plotting terrorist attacks in Cyprus. Palestinian women are building businesses in the West Bank. COMMENTARY: Scott Wilson provides a narrative of how Pres. Obama “failed on forging Middle East peace.” Harriet Sherwood says the rise of ultra-Orthodox religious soldiers in Israel raises the prospect of mutiny. Mel Levine says Obama has fulfilled his pledge to defend Israel. Leonard Fein suggests that, rather than boycotts, opponents of Israeli policy should seek to end US tax deductions for funds for settlements. George Hale says gaining UNESCO recognition for heritage sites doesn't constitute a Palestinian strategy. Peter Beinart says J Street's Washington strategy meant that it couldn't support the Presbyterian Church boycott effort. Aaron David Miller looks at Clinton's visit to Israel.

Palestinians to request Arab support in Arafat's probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 15, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian delegation to the Arab League (AL) will demand support for an international investigation into the death of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Palestinian officials said on Sunday. PLO senior official Saeb Erekat said he will use the emergency meeting next Tuesday to discuss new facts suggesting that Arafat was poisoned. The meeting was requested by Tunisia following an investigative program on the Arabic news channel al-Jazeera, aired on July 3. The AL is meeting in Doha, Qatar next Sunday.

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Hillary Tends the Garden in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) July 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Former secretary of state George Shultz used to compare diplomacy to tending a garden. If you wanted results, you had to keep up with it. As the secretary of state lands in Israel this week, she will see a lot more weeds than flowers. And no amount of watering and weeding is going to make this garden grow, whether on the peace process, Iran or the Bibi-Obama relationship. Rarely has a secretary of state been more boxed in and had less leverage to press an American agenda on the two most important issues: Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

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Palestinian women breaking into business
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 15, 2012 - 12:00am

From corner fruit stalls in Hebron to chic Ramallah ballet studios, Palestinian women are making their mark in business, some out of necessity and others looking to break the gender mould and pursue a dream. For Shyrine Ziadeh, a 24-year-old Birzeit University graduate, that dream was to open a dance studio.

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You Gotta do What You Gotta Do
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

J Street, long assaulted by the right, is suddenly under attack from the left. Ever since its staunch—and perhaps decisive—opposition to a divestment initiative under consideration by the Presbyterian Church, some of J Street’s ideological allies have been slamming it for being on the wrong side of the anti-occupation struggle.

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PM blames Iran for thwarted Cyprus terror attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blamed Iran on for what he described as an attempted Hezbollah attack against Israeli targets in Cyprus, the second time this month he has pointed a finger at Tehran for attempted terrorist attacks against Israelis abroad.

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