June 11th

Interview: Israeli-Palestinian security coordination in low levels: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 10, 2012 - 12:00am A senior Palestinian security official on Sunday told Xinhua in an interview that the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the West Bank has been declining over the past two years. Adnan Damiri, spokesman of the PNA security apparatuses, told Xinhua at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Israel has been attempting to undermine the security coordination in the West Bank with the PNA, adding that "the stalled peace talks are the main reason behind this decline." » Read more

A Palestinian return to a just Intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Stones have always served Palestinians better than rifles and bombs. The First Intifada beginning in 1987 was the first demonstration of mass resistance. Boycotts and strikes were employed, and clashes on the ground were marked by stone-throwing Palestinian youth. Al Aqsa Intifada, from 2000 to 2005, is on the other hand remembered for a spiral of suicide bombings and pitched battles with the Israeli military. » Read more

Israelis unite in call to release jailed spy Pollard ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 10, 2012 - 12:00am In the largest public campaign to date, tens of thousands of Israelis have signed a petition calling on President Shimon Peres to leverage his diplomatic stature in order to secure the freedom of Jonathan Pollard, a former intelligence analyst jailed in a U.S. prison for the past 27 years on charges of spying for Israel. Peres on Saturday night departed on a six-day trip to the United States, where U.S. President Barack Obama will award him later in the week the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the most prestigious civilian honor bestowed by the U.S. administration. » Read more

The state of Gaza: Five years after Hamas took power in the city, how has life changed for its citizens? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Opinion) June 10, 2012 - 12:00am The front office of Kamal Ashour's small family clothing factory in Gaza City opens on to Izzedine al-Qassam Street, named, like Hamas's military wing, in honour of the Islamist mujahid who led the anti-Zionist, anti-Mandate, Black Hand gang and was shot dead by British police in 1935. » Read more

Pro-settler vandals suspected in anti-Arab assaults ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Suspected Israeli pro-settler activists vandalised Palestinian cars in Jerusalem on Monday, their second attack in a week in apparent retribution for plans to move 30 settler families from illegally built homes. Israeli police are concerned there could be further attacks before a July 1 deadline to move the families. » Read more

Israelis, learn Arabic ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yaron Friedman - (Opinion) June 10, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli students are obligated to take English and Hebrew exams, but not Arabic (which is an official language in Israel.) Arabic studies for Hebrew-speaking students are mandatory only until ninth grade, and one can choose to study French or another language instead. Indeed, most Israeli students do not take the Arabic matriculation exam. » Read more

Help us save Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Dor Glick - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am My consciousness was sawed off this week. Ever since the global boycott campaign against the settlements got underway, I objected to it and attempted to persuade my friends to avoid any foreign intervention in our situation. » Read more

Israel to decide on settlement university ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Diaa Hadid - June 9, 2012 - 12:00am In the fraught atmosphere of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an approaching decision on whether to award coveted university status to a college has taken on powerful political overtones. For critics of Israel's policy of settling Jews in the West Bank, the upgrade of the "Ariel University Center of Samaria" into a permanent university would be a strong signal of what they say is creeping annexation of the hilly territory. » Read more

The Nakba is a question of responsibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Hannan Hever - (Opinion) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am On May 23 in these pages, Professor Yehuda Bauer wrote an open letter to Palestinian director and actor Mohammad Bakri in response to Bakri's public assertion that Israel was only created because of the Holocaust. Bakri made his statement at an event marking Nakba ("catastrophe") Day –which Palestinians commemorate annually on the anniversary of Israel's establishment. » Read more

Military: Syria chemical stocks threaten Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Israel's deputy military chief has warned that Syria's large chemical weapons stocks could be trained on Israel. According to Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, Syria has the largest arsenal of chemical weapons in the world. If the Syrians had the chance, he said, they would "treat us the same way they treat their own people." Syria has not declared its chemical weapons stocks so their exact size is not known. Among other things, Israel is worried that such weapons could fall into the hands of anti-Israel militants should the Syrian regime crumble. » Read more