June 8th

Majority of Israeli Arabs Prefer to Live in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - June 8, 2012 - 12:00am The vast majority of Israeli Arabs are reconciled with the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and even exhibit a degree of patriotism, according to a poll released Thursday. The survey by Haifa University found that nearly one in seven (68.3%) preferred to live in Israel than anywhere else, even a future Palestinian state. It found that 57.7% are reconciled with Israel as a Jewish democratic state whose day of rest is the Sabbath on Saturday and Hebrew is the main language. » Read more

Rashid: Corruption conviction is political ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 8, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A former aide to the late President Yasser Arafat convicted of corruption on Thursday dismissed the charge as politically-motivated. A Palestinian Authority corruption court on Thursday sentenced Mohammad Rashid and two other businessmen in absentia to 15 years in jail and ordered them to return $33.5 million in funds stolen during Arafat's rule. » Read more

UN envoy: All settlements contrary to international law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 8, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process on Thursday reiterated the international community's view that settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegitimate. In a statement, Robert Serry said that Israel's settlements were contrary to international law "whether on private Palestinian land or elsewhere in occupied Palestinian territory." » Read more

UK, France, Germany condemn Israeli settlement plans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 8, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The UK on Friday condemned Israel's decision to authorize 851 new housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel on Wednesday announced the new homes after upholding a High Court ruling to evacuate five families from the illegal Ulpana outpost. "The decision to move settlers from an illegal outpost by creating housing units in settlements elsewhere across the Green Line sets a dangerous precedent," UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement. » Read more

Israel court clears deporting South Sudan migrants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Omri Efraim - June 8, 2012 - 12:00am The Administrative Court in Jerusalem rejected on Thursday an appeal filed by human rights groups against Interior Minister Eli Yishai's decision to lift the "collective protection" previously afforded to asylum seekers from South Sudan. » Read more

Israel offers cash to African migrants to leave ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ian Deitch - June 8, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — African migrants who entered Israel illegally will be given cash incentives if they leave on their own soon, or they will face expulsion, the Interior Ministry said Friday. A tent city is being built to hold other migrants, the vast majority, who can stay for now, the ministry said. About 60,000 Africans have trekked through Egypt and other Muslim countries to reach Israel over the past few years. Many are looking for work, while others are seeking political asylum. » Read more

Israel police probe hate graffiti in peace village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press June 8, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israeli police are investigating hate graffiti and vandalism in an Israeli community built especially for Jews and Arabs to coexist peacefully. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Friday that "death to Arabs" was sprayed on buildings, and car tires were slashed in Neve Shalom near Jerusalem. The village was founded in the 1970s to show that Jews and Arabs can live together in peace. » Read more

June 7th

Israeli PM stronger after parliament rejects settlement legalization bill ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Dave Bender, Adam Gonn - (Analysis) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new unity government on Wednesday successfully navigated the first major test of its stability, since its inauguration last month. The country's Knesset members killed a bill that would have legalized disputed Jewish construction in a West Bank settlement that the Supreme Court recently ruled as illegal. The court said five three-story apartment buildings in the Ulpana neighborhood of Bet El near Ramallah were build on private Palestinian land, and ordered the government to remove them by July 1. » Read more

The Netanyahu Paradox ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Vanity Fair by David Margolick - (Opinion) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am At one point or another for an entire week last November, most of the Israeli establishment showed up at the Bauhaus home in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem: members of the Cabinet and Knesset, security officials, rabbis, businessmen, journalists, supplicants of all stripes, “everyone who didn’t want to get in any trouble,” as one participant put it. They stood solemnly around the small stone courtyard with a tent on top, officially mourning, but also studying who else was there, who was whispering to whom. » Read more

Rethinking Rage in the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Wray Herbet - (Blog) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am In September of last year, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas petitioned the United Nations for full membership in the world body. For many Palestinians this event was a potent and long-overdue symbol of their statehood, a cause for celebration. For many Jewish Israelis, the Palestinians' bid was a betrayal of the spirit of ongoing peace negotiations in the region. For many others around the world, it was just one more flash point in the seemingly endless and intractable conflict between Israel and Palestine. » Read more