Netanyahu heads to Washington in effort to mend U.S. ties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - July 5, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to Washington on Monday evening to meet with President Barack Obama for the fifth time since the two leaders took office. A senior source in Jerusalem said that Netanyahu hoped the meeting would enable him to regain Obama's trust after months of tension regarding West Bank settlement construction. Netanyahu was planning to present Obama with a number of proposals for coordinating progress in the Middle East peace process, said the source.

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Israel's anti-boycott belligerence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Miri Weingarten - (Opinion) June 30, 2010 - 12:00am

A new "anti-boycott bill", the third in a series of proposed laws that aim to curtail the ability of civil society to criticise Israeli government policy, will punish Israelis or foreign nationals who initiate or promote a boycott of Israel. The bill not only prohibits boycotts of legal Israeli institutions, but also of settlement activities and products. It seeks to impose fines on Israelis who "promote boycotts" and transfer the fines to boycotted organisations.

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We won't relinquish the enemy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

The Americans are once again disturbing our peace with their "peace process," and are already talking about continuing the settlement construction freeze. Everything was so simple with the three "no"s of Khartoum from September 1967: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization's armed conflict did cost us lives, but there's need to talk peace with terrorists. When the Arabs refused to recognize us it was 10 times more convenient to settle, to annex and to assassinate.

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Israeli inquiry into Gaza flotilla raid opens
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Joseph Nasr - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's prime minister and defence chief will be called to testify in an investigation into a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, the leader of an Israeli commission of inquiry said in an opening statement on Monday. An international observer on the commission said everyone involved was determined it would be rigorous. Turkey, angered by the killing by Israeli commandos of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in a melee on a Gaza blockade-running vessel intercepted on May 31, has said the Israeli probe would be biased.

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Israel must abide by the AMA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

The three-year old Israeli blockade on Gaza has come under intense international scrutiny ever since Israel criminally boarded a flotilla of ships in international waters, killing nine activists coming to show solidarity with Gaza. The closure regime was always much more than "just" collective punishment on 1.5 million Palestinians to pressure Hamas, due either to the capture of Gilad Shalit or rockets fired at Israel.

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History still hurts as Lebanon agonises over Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Emile Hokayem - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Three years ago, Fatah al Islam, a jihadi group based in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al Bared in northern Lebanon, launched a bloody attack on the Lebanese military. In the next three months, most of the camp was destroyed and dozens of civilians, nearly 200 Lebanese soldiers and several hundred fundamentalist militants – most of them not Palestinians – were killed.

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Israel offers to let Europe diplomats visit Gaza-official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ari Rabinovitch - June 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has invited his Italian counterpart to lead a delegation of European foreign ministers to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Thursday. Israel has largely refused to let foreign diplomats pass through its checkpoints into Gaza since it tightened its blockade on the territory after Hamas Islamists seized it in 2007.

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European MPs to Israel: Lift Gaza blockade completely
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
June 24, 2010 - 12:00am

The Council of Europe parliamentarians Thursday called on Israel to completely end its siege of the Gaza Strip, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an ease of the land blockade. Israel should allow goods to be delivered to the coastal enclave by land and sea, "without prejudice to its own security," so Palestinians can enjoy "normal living conditions," said the resolution adopted by a large majority of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

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Malaysia pushing for UN debate on raid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - June 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Malaysia, backed by the Arab states, has initiated a UN debate regarding the Turkish flotilla events, which is slated to be held during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington. The Arab states and Non-Aligned countries are working to keep the issue on the international agenda.

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Israel's feeling of isolation is becoming more pronounced
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Janine Zacharia - June 22, 2010 - 12:00am

An Elton John concert ordinarily isn't front-page news. But in Israel, where many feel more shunned than they have in decades, the legendary pop icon's decision to perform in Tel Aviv last Thursday was cause for celebration. After weeks of dreary reports about artists caving to calls to boycott Israel, Israeli diplomats being expelled by friendly allies, and even pressure from the United States to change course in Gaza, John allowed Israel an opportunity "for three hours," as one music reviewer put it, "to be a normal country."

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