June 7th

After the flotilla attack, it's time for a new, kinder Israeli narrative ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Daniel Kurtzer - (Opinion) June 7, 2010 - 12:00am Of the many confounding aspects of Monday's flotilla fiasco, one of the most curious is the monotone quality of Israel's response. Within hours of the Israeli assault on an aid ship bound for Gaza, while the dead and wounded were still being evacuated from the scene, Israel's deputy foreign minister delivered a verbal broadside that became his nation's public line: The flotilla organizers are terrorist sympathizers, they ambushed Israeli forces, and they are responsible for what followed. » Read more

ATFP Senior Fellow on All Things Considered: Israeli Raid Presents Opportunity For Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR) by Hussein Ibish - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am Full transcript below: GUY RAZ, host:Now, the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, is proud of its reputation as one of the most powerful advocacy groups in Washington, D.C. » Read more

The hijacking of the truth: Film evidence 'destroyed' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - June 6, 2010 - 12:00am Jamal Elshayyal, a journalist with al-Jazeera, woke with a start to the opening salvos of an Israeli assault that would transform the decks of the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish vessel bound for Gaza, into a bloodbath. From the ship's position deep in international waters, satellite images of Israeli speedboats and helicopters approaching the vessel were beamed across the globe before communications were abruptly cut off, leaving the events on the Marmara to unfold away from the eyes of the world. » Read more

Israel's restrictions haven't weakened Hamas's grip over Gaza, analysts say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am Three years after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in a bloody battle with its secular rival, Israel's efforts to undercut the Islamist movement's rule through a policy of isolation have largely failed, according to analysts and residents here. Hamas's security forces remain strong and in full control, while more extreme Islamist challengers are gaining influence because of an Israeli embargo that has done more to frustrate the population than to weaken Hamas's grip, analysts say. » Read more

The Leadership of the Palestinian Cause between Turkey and Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am Out of the Israeli brutality against civilians on board the flotilla in international waters, new realities emerged that may lead to radical solutions if the major players in the International Quartet acted wisely and boldly, and if the regional powers led by Egypt and Turkey understood well the opportunity to support Palestine without one-upmanship. Israel has lost its mind in recent times as it is under extreme pressure that has shaken its confidence in its ability to plan strategies and draw in American support for them, as usual. » Read more

Israel and Outremer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ross Douthat - June 6, 2010 - 12:00am Watching the Israeli government’s botched, bloody attempt to enforce its blockade of Gaza, I kept thinking about Outremer. That’s the name — French for “beyond the sea” — given to the states that the Crusaders established in the Holy Land during the High Middle Ages: the principality of Antioch, the counties of Edessa and Tripoli, and the kingdom of Jerusalem. » Read more

Erdogan and Nasrallah…And Pulling the Rug? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - June 6, 2010 - 12:00am A while ago my father asked me about the role of Iran and Turkey in the region, and the Iranian nuclear file, and I began to explain this in detail, however my father interrupted me saying "the issue is simpler than this, my son!" I asked him "how?" He answered "for years the game has been the same game, however the ability of the two players is in decline." » Read more

The Ballgame and the Sideshow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) June 7, 2010 - 12:00am When I covered the 1982 Lebanon war, I learned something surprising about wars: they attract all kinds of spectators, meddlers, do-gooders and do-badders. They use the conflict and the attention it generates to play out their own identity issues, passions and biases. My favorite in Beirut was a gentleman who showed up in August 1982 as the Palestinian guerrillas were sailing out of Beirut harbor. » Read more

Israel must clarify Palestine's status ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Hussein Ibish - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am While world attention has been heavily focused on efforts to break the siege of Gaza, Palestinians in the West Bank are pursuing a series of new, nonviolent, strategies challenging the Israeli occupation. What they are primarily seeking, and what the Israeli government is desperately trying to avoid, is clarity about the status of the occupied territories. » Read more

Washington Asks: What to Do About Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Helene Cooper - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am Some topics are so inflammatory that they are never discussed without first inserting a number of caveats. And so, when Anthony Cordesman, a foreign policy dignitary in this town’s think tank circuit, dropped an article on Wednesday headlined “Israel as a Strategic Liability,” he made sure to open with a plethora of qualifications. » Read more