June 20th

Jericho business park aims to inch Palestine towards sustainability ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Liz Ford - June 18, 2012 - 12:00am On a slab of dusty land near the city of Jericho, rows of solar panels are being installed and tested. Eventually, there will be 2,600 of them in the 11.5 hectare (28 acre) area, providing around 300kW a day to help power the Jericho Agro-Industrial Park (Jaip), a public-private enterprise designed to boost the economic fortunes of the Palestinian territories. » Read more

The next Middle East war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) June 19, 2012 - 12:00am Will there be a war in the Middle East this summer? It is a question that is frequently asked by pundits and laymen alike this time of the year, every year. » Read more

'Israel in a unique place to make peace with Arabs' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post June 20, 2012 - 12:00am Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan asserted that the Arab Spring and changes taking place in the region could have a positive effect on Israel's chances to improve its relations with Arab states, speaking on a panel at the Presidential Concerence in Jerusalem Wednesday. "The radicals in the Arab League are no longer there and a range of mutual interests that require regional cooperation provide an incredible opportunity for fostering peaceful relations," Dagan said. » Read more

Peter David, Journalist and Middle East Thinker ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Norman Ornstein - (Opinion) June 20, 2012 - 12:00am I last saw Peter David a couple of months before he died, when we had lunch at Vidalia, a downtown Washington restaurant on a holiday Monday. Because it was a holiday, we did not have to shout over the lunchtime crowds or rush to get through and move on to the next appointment. Instead, it was a perfect opportunity to have an extended and great conversation with one of the most informed, deep, witty and experienced people I have ever known. We talked about British politics, American politics, both societies, the global economy, and even a little about the Middle East. » Read more

National-religious messianism is endangering Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am Every month I drive to Bar-Ilan University to tape four or five discussions with national-Religious Rabbi Uri Sherki  that are posted under the title “The Rabbi and the Professor” (unfortunately there are no English subtitles so far). I do this because I believe that there is desperate need for dialogue between Israel’s liberals and the national-religious. We have come to the point where we live in universes so different that it is becoming questionable how these groups can ever cooperate fruitfully for a common future. » Read more

Three years since Netanyahu's Bar-Ilan speech: Was it for real? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) June 19, 2012 - 12:00am Few noticed that last Thursday, June 14, was the third anniversary of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at Bar-Ilan University during which he declared, for the first time, his willingness to accept "a demilitarized Palestinian state side by side with the Jewish state." » Read more

Forced Move Raises Anger in West Bank Villages ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - June 19, 2012 - 12:00am A Palestinian walked through a mosque in the West Bank town of Jabaa, near Ramallah, that was burned and vandalized on Tuesday. » Read more

Shimon Peres says: Two states for two peoples ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Shimon Peres - (Opinion) June 20, 2012 - 12:00am The Middle East is ailing. The malady stems from pervasive violence, shortages of food, water and educational opportunities, discrimination against women and — the most virulent cause of all — the absence of freedom. There can be no peace without freedom. Economic growth is impossible without integration in the free global economy. Tragically, this simple logic eludes us in the Middle East. » Read more

No light at end of Egyptian tunnel for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Crispian Balmer - (Analysis) June 19, 2012 - 12:00am Egypt's political upheaval is by no means over, but its uneasy neighbour Israel is not waiting for the outcome. Desert defences are being strengthened and strategy revised as a once stable relationship splinters. Shortly after the Muslim Brotherhood claimed victory in Egypt's presidential vote on Monday, unidentified gunmen crossed the Sinai border and killed an Israeli worker. » Read more

Palestinian anti-corruption court secures conviction but raises questions of bias ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karin Brulliard - June 20, 2012 - 12:00am A two-year-old Palestinian court charged with combating corruption handed down its first major conviction this month, ruling that a man widely considered a pretty big fish — the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s former economic adviser — had embezzled millions of dollars. » Read more