June 9th

Palestinian youth long for freedom and unity in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Tim Whewell - June 9, 2011 - 12:00am In the front room of a house in the tightly-packed concrete slum that is Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp, they are learning to dance. A group of young teenage girls are stepping high in the air, hands on hips, as they practice the debka. Traditionally, it was performed by boys and girls together. But since the Islamist movement Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, mixed dancing has been stopped. » Read more

The French connection ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) June 8, 2011 - 12:00am Mahmoud Abbas has a penchant for climbing out on limbs and expecting others to get him down. The first time wasn’t all his fault. When newly minted President Barack Obama demanded Israel freeze settlements as a path to the peace table, Abbas, who had never set such conditions previously, could not agree to less. Trouble is, Israel rejected it and Obama soon walked away, leaving Abbas hanging. » Read more

Hamas, Fatah to meet next week in Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 8, 2011 - 12:00am Delegates from rival Palestinian factions will meet in Cairo next week for more talks after they have agreed to reconcile, an official said Wednesday. The representatives of Hamas and Fatah will talk next Tuesday about the formation of a technocratic government in accordance with the Egypt-brokered agreement that was signed early last month, said Azzam Al-Ahmad, an official from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. "The meeting will look into starting steps to implement the agreement," Al-Ahmad told Xinhua. » Read more

AP Exclusive: Hamas considers hands-off approach ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 9, 2011 - 12:00am After four years of turbulent rule in the Gaza Strip, the Islamic militant group Hamas is weighing a new strategy of not directly participating in future governments even if it wins elections — an approach aimed at avoiding isolation by the world community and allowing for continued economic aid. » Read more

Dagan was right about the Palestinians but wrong about Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) June 9, 2011 - 12:00am My gut feeling is that Meir Dagan is mistaken about Iran. The former Mossad chief recently said it would be stupid for Israel to attack Iran. For three years there was great tension in the international community over the possibility that Israel would launch a surprise attack. But then just last year, the tension subsided. The success of the clandestine struggle against Iran and of economic sanctions against the regime have put off the moment of truth. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are not as crazy as some tend to present them. » Read more

Between warm and fuzzy, and dangerous in the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Olivia Snaije - (Analysis) June 7, 2011 - 12:00am We left Jenin early on our first day of cycling through Palestine. After an inaugural hill, we crossed a main thoroughfare where the terrain flattened, and whizzed along under a brilliant sun, the road lined with olive trees as well as multicolored fields of thistles, poppies, marigolds and daisies. Our guide, Nidal, drove ahead slowly, as if he were a Tour de France team car. At one point he stopped as a tortoise ambled across the road. Several other times during the week he would stop to pick some of us up when the rolling hills started to seem like mountains. » Read more

Syrian slaughter and Israeli restraint ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime is slaughtering dozens of unarmed Syrian demonstrators every day. In Israel we cluck our tongues in shock and say he is "slaughtering his own people," but when the Israel Defense Forces killed 23 unarmed Syrian demonstrators in one day, we boasted that the IDF "acted with restraint." » Read more

Hamas: Netanyahu responsible for swap deal delay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 9, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, for what he said was a delay in the release of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners in a swap deal. Citing Netanyahu's "intransigence," the official said the leader bore "full responsibility" for the continued confinement of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as well as thousands of Palestinians considered prisoners of war. » Read more

June 8th

UN says West Bank economy not flourishing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) June 8, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Claims that the economy in the West Bank is flourishing overlook rising unemployment and a jump in inflation that has decreased purchasing power, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. In recent months, observers and officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have described the West Bank's economy as booming, calling it a sign of positive momentum under Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. » Read more

Ahead of Palestinian U.N. gambit, Europe is in play ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - June 7, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (JTA) – It was a sign that ties between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations remain strong despite the apparent tensions two weeks ago when the two leaders met at the White House. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shot down a French proposal for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that had put the Israeli leader in a quandary. » Read more