Why Shakespeare is … Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Amir Nizar Zuabi - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am It is a well-known fact that Shakespeare is a Palestinian. And when I say "is" I do mean "is", not "was". The man might have been born in Stratford-upon-Avon four centuries ago, but he is alive and well today in Aida refugee camp, not far from the church of the nativity in Bethlehem. Shakespeare scholars may dispute this. But the reason I say this with such conviction (and even dare, sometimes, to believe it) is that, reading his plays, I have a sense of familiarity that can only come from compatriots. » Read more

An Emerging One-State Israel-Palestine Reality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Journal by John Rosove - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am A resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not look promising, though it is still possible. The window for a two-state solution is rapidly closing, and conversation is shifting to consider the meaning of an emerging one-state reality. Though polls show that both Israelis and Palestinians still favor a two-state solution, facts on the ground and politics are allowing the status-quo to take root, and the status-quo supports a one-state reality. This will be good for no one! » Read more

Hard Questions, Tough Answers with Yossi Alpher ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now (Interview) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Yossi Alpher visited the Peace Now offices in DC last week, as Israel marked 45 years since the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem were captured in the Six-Day War.  » Read more

Romney's Israel Brand ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am When I joined the strategy consulting firm Monitor (now Monitor Group) in the spring of 1992, the first party its directors, my new colleagues, invited me to was at Mitt Romney's mansion in Belmont. Romney was at the time still with Bain Capital; Monitor’s founders had been Bainies before launching out on their own and remained his friends. Romney’s political ambitions were already clear. » Read more

Ariel versus Academia ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Dov Waxman - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli academia is about to suffer a major blow. Within the next few weeks, Israel’s Council for Higher Education, which oversees Israeli universities and colleges, is expected to approve the upgrade of Ariel College to full university status. This would be a big victory for right-wing political pressure and for the settlement enterprise in the West Bank, and it would greatly damage higher education in Israel. » Read more

Why Israel should help Syrians during this crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Eli Epstein, Ghanem M. Nuseibeh - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s regional and global image continues to sink to new lows. The political peace process continues to be stalemated. As internal and external factors allow Israel to keep indulging in self-perpetuating isolationism, the anti-Israel camp finds no difficulty in recruiting sympathizers, further causing Israelis to recoil from the compromises needed to advance toward a final settlement. » Read more

Palestinian inhibition in the walled city of Bethlehem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Leila Sansour - (Opinion) June 12, 2012 - 12:00am It is 45 years since Israel invaded the West Bank, including my hometown of Bethlehem; practically the whole of my lifetime. I have not known my city under any state except Israeli occupation. A year ago, looking at a photo album of an old friend and neighbor, I became acutely aware of how alien his experience of Middle Eastern geography was to me. In the mid-Fifties, he would spend Saturday nights jitterbugging at the Everest, a restaurant coolly positioned on top of the highest hill in Bethlehem, and, at dawn, would drive to Beirut to continue the party. » Read more

Abbas looking to break deadlock in negotiations with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas said he might be willing to hold talks with Israel, if it frees Palestinian prisoners and allows for weapons to be transferred to Palestinian security forces. Abbas said that, since Israel has rejected both his previous demand to halt settlement construction on the West Bank or accept the cease-fire lines that existed prior to the 1967 war as the borders for a Palestinian state, he might be willing to attend talks if the new demands were meet. » Read more

The warning - and the responsibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's problematic attitude toward the National Security Council was at the center of the complaints voiced against him by former NSC head Uzi Arad. This attitude was also discussed in a State Comptroller's Report that is due to be released shortly. » Read more

Quarter of Palestinians suffer from Poverty, says Statistics Bureau ATFP World Press Roundup Article from WAFA June 12, 2012 - 12:00am Around 25.8% of Palestinians suffered from poverty in the Palestinian Territory in 2011, said a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on Monday. It showed that slightly more than one out of four individuals was living below poverty line in 2011, 17.8% in the West Bank and 38.8% in Gaza Strip. Similarly about 12.9% of individuals were living below the deep poverty line in 2011, 7.8% in the West Bank and 21.1% in Gaza Strip. » Read more