June 13th

Bright spots and dark horizons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) June 12, 2011 - 12:00am The story was shocking enough, but what really shocked me was the radio host’s line of questioning. » Read more

With Netanyahu, the world is always against us ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) June 13, 2011 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu really is no man's fool. Why should he miss a rare opportunity to remind the people of Israel that the world is against us and that we have to "join hands" in the struggle against delegitimization? » Read more

Under no illusions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jerzy Buzek - (Opinion) June 12, 2011 - 12:00am I am a friend of Israel. These are not cheap words. As a Pole growing up in the shadow of Auschwitz, and as a European, I am all too aware that the fates of Europe and Israel hang together. Europeans have a special responsibility toward Israel: to remember what has gone before, and to act on these memories – to secure the right of existence for Israel at a time of tumultuous change. We take this moral duty very seriously. The European Union – whose citizens are represented in the parliament of which I am president – was created to prevent the recurrence of the nightmare of war. » Read more

Palestinian statehood: What is the U.N.'s role? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Editorial) June 12, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook insists that a vote this fall in the General Assembly cannot be stopped. The Israeli prime minister's recent trip to the United States was a blatant effort to stop the march of history. » Read more

A brown-haired young man ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) June 13, 2011 - 12:00am My hero of the year (for now) is a young brown-haired Palestinian refugee living in Syria called Hassan Hijazi. » Read more

Failed favoritism toward Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Turki al-Faisal - (Opinion) June 10, 2011 - 12:00am President Obama gave a rousing call to action in his controversial speech last month, admonishing Arab governments to embrace democracy and provide freedom to their populations. We in Saudi Arabia, although not cited, took his call seriously. We noted, however, that he conspicuously failed to demand the same rights to self-determination for Palestinians — despite the occupation of their territory by the region’s strongest military power. » Read more

Israel's Best Hope to Thwart Palestinian U.N. Plan May Be Palestinians' Own Strategic Doubts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time by Tony Karon - (Blog) June 13, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's government currently lacks a credible plan for getting it out of a diplomatic tight spot if the Palestinians go ahead with a plan to seek U.N. recognition of a state in September. But don't bet against the Palestinian leadership letting the Israelis off the hook as a result of their own divisions over whether to go the U.N. route. » Read more

Head to Head: Why does France want a peace conference now? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Adar Primor - (Opinion) June 13, 2011 - 12:00am Valerie Hoffenberg, 47, a French Jew and a Zionist of Algerian-Tunisian descent, has for the past two years or so been serving as the French president's special envoy to the Middle East. "Sarkozy's turbo engine" is the term used to describe her. Hoffenberg, a lawyer by training, was asked by the president to help bring about Mideast peace "from the bottom up": to break through by means of the economy, education, culture, commerce and the environment. She is behind numerous regional projects and collaborative efforts, the pinnacle of which is creation of the industrial park in Bethlehem. » Read more

Hamas rejection bodes poorly for unity talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Josef Federman - June 12, 2011 - 12:00am Ceremoniously announced last month, reconciliation between the two rival Palestinian leaderships — the secular Fatah and the Islamist Hamas — hit a serious snag Sunday, another sign that the effort is not going well. In the latest blow, Hamas on Sunday rejected Fatah's proposal that internationally respected economist Salam Fayyad remain prime minister. "Hamas will not agree to grant Salam Fayyad the confidence to run the national unity government," said Salah Bardawil, a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip. » Read more

Israeli, Palestinian businessmen to deepen ties via new arbitration arrangement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 13, 2011 - 12:00am Despite a lingering freeze in the Mideast peace process, Israeli and Palestinian businessmen hope to strengthen working ties via a new forum, Israeli business daily TheMarker reported on Sunday. A draft underlining the terms of establishing a joint Israeli- Palestinian forum to arbitrate business disagreements was signed in Jerusalem last month under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the report said. » Read more