Israel's Lieberman won't quit on apology to Turkey
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - July 24, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, July 24 (Reuters) - Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday he would not quit the coalition government if it decides to apologise to Turkey for killing nine Turks aboard a pro-Palestinian activist ship last year. Lieberman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's most powerful and hawkish partner, has scorned meeting Ankara's demand that Israel atone for storming the Mavi Marmara as it tried to breach the blockade on the Gaza Strip at the head of an aid flotilla.

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A political baksheesh everyone needs to pay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) July 24, 2011 - 12:00am

A Riddle: Which fleet did not reach its destination but fulfilled its mission? Well, it’s this year’s Gaza solidarity flotilla. It could be said, of course, that last year’s “little fleet” — that’s what the word means in Spanish, much as “guerrilla” means “little war” — is also a reasonable candidate. It never reached Gaza, but the commander of the Israeli navy could well repeat the words of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, whose victory over the Romans was so costly that he is said to have exclaimed: “Another such victory, and I am lost!”

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Palestinians face a dangerous U.N. clash on statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am

A potentially dangerous confrontation looms in September over the question of Palestinian statehood, one that threatens significant negative consequences for all parties. It is in the interests of all constructive actors to find a compromise that avoids such a confrontation.

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The Incoherence of the Slogans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Is it recognition of the Palestinian state or recognition of Israel?

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Palestinians face a dangerous U.N. clash on statehood
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Washington Post (Opinion) - July 21, 2011 - 12:00am

A potentially dangerous confrontation looms in September over the question of Palestinian statehood, one that threatens significant negative consequences for all parties. It is in the interests of all constructive actors to find a compromise that avoids such a confrontation.

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EU 'disappointed' in settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
July 20, 2011 - 12:00am

The European Union on Tuesday expressed "great disappointment" in a tender issued by the Construction and Housing Ministry this week for the construction of 6,900 housing units, including some 300 units in the settlements of Beitar Illit and Karnei Shomron. Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for the EU's foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, said that such acts go against the international community's ongoing efforts to form a peaceful solution which will maintain Israel's safety and the Palestinians' right for an independent state.

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For Refugees, a Frustrating Feeling of Permanence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Rana F. Sweis - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am

AMMAN — When Iraqi militias threatened Ghasswan Al Taee, 36, in 2006, he fled to Jordan. Five years later and with three children born here, his state of limbo has become a constant. Since 2003 an estimated four million Iraqis have fled their homes, the largest exodus since Israel’s creation in 1948. Deepening violence and sectarian strife have led to the internal displacement of many Iraqis and have driven others out of the country, largely to Syria and Jordan, but also to Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and the Gulf.

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The Syrian-Israeli courtship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq al-Homayed - (Opinion) July 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Confirming what was exclusively reported by Asharq al-Awsat last Friday, the Syrian regime announced the day before yesterday its formal recognition of the Palestinian state. It comes as one of the last Arab states to grant this recognition, and state number 118 internationally. So why has the Syrian regime recognized the Palestinian state now?

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Amid Murdoch scandal, Israel backers worry about muting of pro-Israel media voice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - July 19, 2011 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Pro-Israel leaders in the United States, Britain and Australia are warily watching the unfolding of the phone-hacking scandal that is threatening to engulf the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, founder of News Corp.

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Peace: So far and yet so close
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Michael Felsen - (Opinion) July 19, 2011 - 12:00am

The Quartet – the US, Russia, the EU, and the U.N. – this week announced that it hasn’t yet found the way to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. And according to Haaretz, Israeli and Palestinian sources concur that intensive US efforts to create an agreed outline for renewed negotiations have failed.

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