June 6th

Ministry: Fishermen detained off Gaza coast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces arrested three fishermen off the coast of the Rafah beach near the Palestinian-Egyptian border, the local ministry of agriculture said Wednesday. The workers were on a fishing boat when Israeli navy forces detained them and took them to an unknown location, the fisheries directorate within the ministry said in a statement. The fishermen were identified as Mohammad Ali Sultan, Ismael Ali Sultan and Sami al-Naddi from Rafah.

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Invest in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Allison Good - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel's top brass made much ado about the peace process during the International Institute for Security Studies conference last week. “This is an opportunity to advance the peace process, an opportunity which may not repeat itself, in my opinion, in the next ten years,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said about his 94-member Knesset coalition. Netanyahu can invoke historic conditions all he wants, but the numbers are in, and a Palestinian state, if declared in the near future, would be economically unsustainable.

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Israeli guards attack Palestinian prisoners: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Israeli prison guards attacked Palestinians held at Ramon prison in southern Israel Wednesday, leaving several detainees with bruises and difficulties in breathing, a Palestinian official said. Eissa Qaraqe', the Palestinian minister of prisoners affairs, said the Israeli forces broke into the fourth section of the prison, where 120 prisoners are held.

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Israeli parliament rejects attempt to save outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - June 6, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel's parliament has rejected an attempt by hardline lawmakers to prevent the demolition of an illegal West Bank outpost. The vote could set the stage for a showdown between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hardline Jewish settlers and their supporters in his government.

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Amnesty tells Israel: End detentions without trial
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ian Deitch - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Amnesty International has appealed to Israel to end the practice of imprisoning Palestinians suspected of militant activity without trial, calling in a report issued Tuesday for the release of hundreds of detainees. The London-based rights group claimed that the prisoners are mistreated and that Israel is violating international law with its practice, known as "administrative detention," which Israel says is vital to prevent attacks.

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June 5th

Palestinians: US refugee bill may delay peace
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Jerusalem Post - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian advocates are warning that a new US Senate amendment dictating a reporting requirement on the issue of Palestinian refugees could set back efforts to reach a peace deal. The amendment to a bill, recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, mandates that the secretary of state must report how many of the Palestinians serviced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency fled or left homes in Israel during the War of Independence and how many are only their descendants.

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Palestinians: US refugee bill may delay peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian advocates are warning that a new US Senate amendment dictating a reporting requirement on the issue of Palestinian refugees could set back efforts to reach a peace deal. The amendment to a bill, recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, mandates that the secretary of state must report how many of the Palestinians serviced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency fled or left homes in Israel during the War of Independence and how many are only their descendants.

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NEWS: PM Netanyahu vows to take a hard line against African migrants. FM Lieberman condemns attacks on migrants. Refugee advocates say draconian Israeli measures won't stop African migrants coming to the country. Israel is searching the email accounts of vistors, mainly of Arab or Muslim heritage. Palestinians say a new US bill on Palestinian refugees could harm peace efforts. The PA is conducting a law-and-order crackdown in the Jenin area. No men are allowed at a women-only coffee shop in Ramallah. The owner of a destroyed dairy factory in Gaza says he will sue Israel. A Palestinian man is shot after stabbing an Israeli soldier. Fatah and Hamas say they will hold talks soon on who should serve as PM in a possible new government. Pres. Obama once again invokes the waiver against moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Palestinians mark Naksa Day, mourning the defeat in the 1967 war. Pres. Abbas says Palestinians don't want a state without its capital in Jerusalem. COMMENTARY: Moshe Arens says Israeli military figures turned politicians are too quick to resort to unilateralism. Amira Hass says Palestinian villagers live in fear of armed settlers. Daniel Levy says European diplomacy on Israel and Palestine has been intensified in three crucial ways. David Newman looks at property rights and land ownership for Bedouins in the Negev. Gershon Baskin says a Palestinian state must be prepared to treat Jewish citizens equally. Ben Sales asks if DM Barak's talk of Israeli "unilateral actions" in the occupied Palestinian territories was a trial balloon. The National says Khaled Meshaal seems to have consolidated power within Hamas. Elisheva Goldberg says the ideology of Kahanism dominated a recent pro-Israel rally New York. Jeffrey Goldberg says Israel can defeat itself by pursuing aggressive settlement policies or secure the gains of the 1967 war by beginning to remove outlying settlements unilaterally. Crispian Balmer says both Netanyahu and Abbas would like to see Ahmed Shafiq win the Egyptian presidential election.

EU diplomacy on Israel/Palestine shifts up a gear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from EU Observer
by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Few issues of diplomatic conversation today have quite the same ability to generate a rolling of the eyes and turning of the page as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Stuck is an understatement. Israel’s government argues with its Supreme Court over re-locating a few dozen families from an illegal outpost to an illegal settlement, ignoring the bigger picture, whereby one in ten Jewish Israelis now reside in the Occupied Palestinian territories.

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Egyptian status quo ends for Israelis, Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Crispian Balmer - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Far apart on so many issues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas almost certainly see eye to eye on the Egyptian presidential election. Both would like Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force chief who served as Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, beat the Muslim Brotherhood's anointed candidate, Mohamed Mursi, in the June 16-17 ballot.

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