July 10th, 2012

Abbas' Iran visit to explore options, not appease Ahmadinejad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will make his first-ever visit to Iran next month, when he attends the Non-Aligned Movement Summit to be held in Tehran. "Historically speaking, this forum and its meetings have been extremely important for the Palestinians during the last 30-40 years," Prof. Bassem Zbeidi of Birzeit University told Xinhua on Monday. "We have plenty of supporters in this organization and Palestinians have a very good record in attending its meeting," he added. » Read more

Former Israeli Premier Is Cleared of Most Corruption Charges ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister of Israel, was acquitted of corruption charges in two matters by a Jerusalem court on Tuesday, but convicted in a third, in a high-profile corruption prosecution that cut short his term in office and changed the course of Israeli politics and diplomacy. Mr. Olmert was convicted of breach of trust, the least serious of the charges he faced, and will be sentenced in September, according to court documents. » Read more

July 9th

The West Bank: If It's Not Occupation, Then What Is It? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Haaretz is reporting that a committee appointed by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to explore the legal status of Jewish settlements on the West Bank, has come to the conclusion that Israel is not an occupying force: » Read more

This conflict in the Holy Land must end – for the children’s sake ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Emanuel Stoakes - (Blog) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am The enduring fact of the failure of peace in the so-called Holy Land is a royal spring of misery from which bitter tensions flow, with mournful consequences for the entire restive middle-east region, already strained by wars and rumours of wars. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, those who are innocent, small, defenceless or vulnerable are common, even inevitable, victims of the promiscuously-brutalising nature of this clash between the claimed descendants of Abraham. » Read more

Israelis, Not MEK, Killed Iranian Scientists, New Book Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Barbara Slavin - (Analysis) July 6, 2012 - 12:00am Israelis, not Iranians working for Israel, killed five Iranian scientists connected to Iran’s nuclear program between 2007 and 2011 according to a new book by veteran US and Israeli journalists. » Read more

The Israelis' quest to poison Yasser Arafat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am For me, there was no surprise. From the very first day, I was convinced that Yasser Arafat had been poisoned by Ariel Sharon. I even wrote about it several times. It was a simple logical conclusion. First, a thorough medical examination in the French military hospital where he died did not find any cause for his sudden collapse and death. No traces of any life-threatening disease were found. » Read more

U.K. slams Israel with stiff upper lip: Not all Palestinian kids are potential terrorists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am "A Palestinian child is a potential terrorist," an IDF prosecutor candidly told a delegation of nine visiting British lawyers. The attorneys, who visited Israel for a week in September 2011, reviewed and analyzed Israeli law and practice regarding the detention and prosecution of Palestinian children. Britain's foreign ministry financed the delegation's visit, which appeared to raise the bar a notch; after both British houses of parliament debated the issue last year, after several British MPs paid visits to the military court next to Ofer prison. » Read more

Israeli settlements can face trade bans, says counsel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am European governments, including Britain's, have received legal opinion from a leading international counsel who argues they would be fully within their rights to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. » Read more

'Abbas not paying friendly visit to Iran' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Attila Somfalvi - July 8, 2012 - 12:00am The Foreign Ministry responded to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement that plans to attend the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran, saying that "it is not a state visit, and is solely aimed at attending the summit, which will take place in Iran." » Read more

New batch of officials to be charged with corruption ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Legal authorities are putting the final touches on a fresh series of indictments of public officials for corruption and misuse of public funds, an informed source told Ma'an on Monday. The defendants in this new batch of corruption cases will now be summoned for interrogation, the source said. A senior official recently tried to travel to Jordan via Jericho, but police prevented his exit and ordered him back to Ramallah for interrogation, Ma'an has learned. » Read more