June 6th

Israel to consider French Mideast peace bid: PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 5, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would consider a new initiative raised by France to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "I heard the proposal brought by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe," Netanyahu told ministers at the weekly cabinet session. "We very much appreciate our French friends and I will respond to them after we have considered the matters," he said, according to a statement sent to Xinhua. Netanyahu said Israel, while studying the French proposal, would bring up the option with the American interlocutors as well. » Read more

New Egyptian gov't's influence may facilitate Shalit deal: analysts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 6, 2011 - 12:00am Over the weekend local and regional newspapers were once again filled with reports suggesting that the captive Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, may soon be released. According to the reports, Egypt has recently given Israel new offer to which Israel has responded. The Hamas Al-Resalah newspaper, based in the Gaza Strip, reported Sunday that Hamas Damascus-based politburo deputy chief Moussa Abu Marzouq was planning to give the Egyptians a final response on the release of Shalit. » Read more

Palestinians close Gaza border in protest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 6, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian officials closed the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the terminal's director Ayyoub Abu Sha'ar said. Closed out of frustration, Abu Sha'ar said the Egyptian authority's 'mechanism' at the terminal was unclear, citing Egypt's decision to close the crossing on Saturday without coordinating with Palestinian officials. He said said operations had been halted after disagreements about capacity and coordination, and would not resume until officials on both sides came to an agreement on its operation. » Read more

Abbas agrees to peace talks based on 1967 borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 6, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas has told France he is ready to attend a Paris peace conference if Israel accepts talks based on the 1967 borders, an aide told AFP Sunday. Nimr Hammad, a political adviser to Abbas, said the president had told French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe that he agreed officially to a French proposal to host a peace conference in Paris before July. Juppe raised the possibility of the conference during a visit to Israel and the West Bank this week. » Read more

Abbas agrees to peace talks based on 1967 borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm President Mahmoud Abbas has told France he is ready to attend a Paris peace conference if Israel accepts talks based on the 1967 borders, an aide told AFP Sunday. Nimr Hammad, a political adviser to Abbas, said the president had told French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe that he agreed officially to a French proposal to host a peace conference in Paris before July. Juppe raised the possibility of the conference during a visit to Israel and the West Bank this week. » Read more

Abbas agrees to peace talks based on 1967 borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 6, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas has told France he is ready to attend a Paris peace conference if Israel accepts talks based on the 1967 borders, an aide told AFP Sunday. Nimr Hammad, a political adviser to Abbas, said the president had told French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe that he agreed officially to a French proposal to host a peace conference in Paris before July. Juppe raised the possibility of the conference during a visit to Israel and the West Bank this week. » Read more

A Former Spy Chief Questions the Judgment of Israeli Leaders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - June 3, 2011 - 12:00am The man who ran Israel’s Mossad spy agency until January contends that Israel’s top leaders lack judgment and that the anticipated pressures of international isolation as the Palestinians campaign for statehood could lead to rash decisions — like an airstrike on Iran. The former intelligence chief, Meir Dagan, who stepped down after eight years in the post, has made several unusual public appearances and statements in recent weeks. He made headlines a few weeks ago when he asserted at a Hebrew University conference that a military attack on Iran would be “a stupid idea.” » Read more

Israeli Soldiers Shoot at Protesters on Syrian Border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - June 5, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli forces fired at pro-Palestinian protesters on the Syrian frontier on Sunday as they tried to breach the border for the second time in three weeks, reflecting a new mode of popular struggle and deadly confrontation fueled by turmoil in the Arab world and the vacuum of stalled peace talks. » Read more

June 3rd

The real issue is political leadership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by David Pollock - (Opinion) June 1, 2011 - 12:00am Around half of Israelis, Palestinians, and some other key Arab publics, according to various opinion polls taken in the past decade, support something like the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, whose basic concept is peace and Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for Israel's full withdrawal from the territories it captured in the 1967 war. » Read more

Israel accused after Palestinian boys burned by mystery canister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Conal Urquhart - June 3, 2011 - 12:00am The Israeli army has been accused of leaving dangerous munitions near Palestinian homes after two boys were seriously burnt when they picked up a mysterious silver canister which exuded toxic white fumes. A second canister, discovered nearby less than a week later, was destroyed by the army in a controlled explosion » Read more