June 21st

Middle East peace needs fresh thinking ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Khalaf Al Habtoor - (Opinion) June 21, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion tried to reassure Israelis that Palestinians would never return to their homes. "We must do everything to ensure they never do return… The old will die and the young will forget," he said. He was wrong; the word ‘forget' isn't in the Palestinians' lexicon. For 63 long years, they've borne hardships, suffered humiliation and fought for freedom with nothing but stones and bare hands. But, sadly, they not only face a cruel adversary, their own leaders have let them down. » Read more

Ashkenazi: Palestine is inevitable, UN state bid is not ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post June 20, 2011 - 12:00am Former IDF chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said that a Palestinian state is "inevitable," and that Israel must take an active stance in seeking to reengage the Palestinian leadership in order to avoid a unilaterally declared Palestine in the UN this September, Army Radio reported Monday. Speaking at an event in Toronto, Ashkenazi said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government could still avoid the UN Palestinian state bid if Israel opened up negotiations again with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Meir Dagan required to return diplomatic passport ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post June 19, 2011 - 12:00am The government demanded that former Mossad chief Meir Dagan turn in his diplomatic passport, an unusual request that follows controversial remarks by Dagan in which he criticized the country's leadership for its treatment of the Iranian threat, Channel 2 reported. Dagan had requested to keep the passport because of a slate of upcoming trips he had planned outside of the country, but his request was denied, according to the report. The diplomatic passport offers, among other benefits, diplomatic immunity. » Read more

Obama tells Jewish donors he strongly backs Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Patricia Zengerle - June 20, 2011 - 12:00am U.S. President Barack Obama reassured Jewish donors on Monday he strongly supports Israel, stressing close ties between the United States and the Jewish state, but also emphasizing that changes in the Middle East will require a fresh look at the region. "Both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes. It's not going to be sufficient for us just to keep on doing the same things," Obama said at the first of two big-ticket fund-raisers where he was speaking on Monday evening. » Read more

Salam Fayyad 'will refuse PM post' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 21, 2011 - 12:00am Salam Fayyad will announce his intention to refuse to head the new unity government if he is offered the post, sources close to the appointed West Bank Prime Minister told Ma'an. Fayyad has publicly said he would accept whatever parties decide in Cairo. Fatah's central committee nominated Fayyad as the party's choice for the position, a party official said following a meeting of the Fatah leadership in Ramallah on June 11. Hamas swiftly rejected the proposal. » Read more

Remembering the ‘Altalena’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jerold S. Auerbach - (Opinion) June 20, 2011 - 12:00am Israel is confronting increasingly virulent worldwide challenges to its legitimacy. An expanding chorus of politicians, journalists and academics relentlessly denounces the Jewish state as a racist, apartheid abomination. The resemblance between their shrill diatribes and the rhetoric of anti-Semitism during the past 2,000 years is not coincidental. » Read more

Abbas: UN in place of no other options ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 21, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian leadership will continue its pursuit of support for an appeal to the UN for membership and the recognition of statehood, and Salam Fayyad will head the new unity government, President Mahmoud Abbas told the Lebanese satellite channel LBC on Monday night. In the absence of negotiations with Israel, Abbas said, a move at the UN would be the chosen course of action. If the United States, Israel and Europe have objections to a UN appeal, he continued "they must come up with an alternative." » Read more

The morning after the UN vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) June 21, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian strategy to attain statehood is making significant progress in certain international political circles, but still lacks the necessary coordination and cohesion to bear the desired results. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad have succeeded in unleashing the usual anti-Palestinian arsenal that Israeli hasbara has been using on Palestinian aspirations. » Read more

Obama warns of new US tactical spats with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 21, 2011 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama warned that new "tactical" disagreements loomed between Israel and Washington, but vowed to leverage his administration's "creative powers" in the cause of peace. Obama, who has had a difficult relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke at length on the stalled peace process at a fundraiser for his 2012 re-election campaign with the Democratic friends of Israel group. » Read more

The IDF is leading Israel to destruction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) June 21, 2011 - 12:00am Imagine if hundreds of 18-year-olds were to inform the government and the chief of staff this summer that they will not enlist in the Israel Defense Forces. » Read more