OSCE denies observer status for Palestinian Authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe denied observer status to the Palestinian Authority, according to Israeli media reports. In a 28-21 vote, the OSCE voted last month against granting the observer status, according to the reports. The PA denied making a request for observer status, however, according to the Ma'an Palestinian news service. "Joining the organization is not one of the Palestinian Authority’s priorities," Majdi al-Khalidi told Ma'an after learning about Israeli reports of the vote.

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Occupation no more
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Michael Sfard - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Every lawyer is familiar with that embarrassing situation. A friend or acquaintance asks you an everyday legal question they came across. While you get carried away explaining different legal schools of thought and indications that could lead one way or another, you see in the questioner’s eyes that they were expecting a yes or no answer.

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Israel’s Arab Spring problem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by David Ignatius - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

Whatever else that might be said about the Arab revolutions, it’s obvious that they pose a problem for Israel. But how bad, and what should the Israeli government do to hedge its risks? I heard some interesting — but not very encouraging — ideas on this subject from top government officials last week.

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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.

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Palestinian businessmen searching for new markets
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Abdullah Omar - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

From furniture to cosmetics to food, dozens of Palestinian companies are seeking new markets in Jordan. Fifty seven Palestinian companies, including seven from Gaza, were in Amman this week for the first-ever exhibition in Jordan to find local partners and boost investment in the Palestinian territories.

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What Putin's Trip To Jerusalem Really Means
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Dimi Reider - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

Much of the coverage of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories focused on two questions: Putin's perceived foot-dragging over Iran, and the visit's significance for the Russian-speaking Israelis who make up about one-fifth of the population, as large as Israel's Palestinian population.

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'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."

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Israel and Russia Make Odd Couple
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Robert O. Freedman - (Opinion) July 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Israel in late June with the ostensible purpose of helping to unveil a monument to the Soviet soldiers who helped defeat Nazi Germany. But Putin’s motivations for this trip to the Middle East were not so innocuous. In fact, they underlined the degree to which his ambitions for the region have not changed at all since his last reign as Russia’s president, from 2000 to 2008.

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The mystery of Arafat's death affects friend and foe alike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Alan Philps - (Opinion) July 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Followers of the career of Yasser Arafat, who died in Paris almost eight years ago, will not be surprised that his ghost has now returned to haunt his successors at the head of the Palestinian Authority. Al Jazeera dropped a bombshell this week with an investigation into the still-unexplained causes of his death: a Swiss laboratory has found traces of polonium, the radioactive isotope used to assassinate the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, on Arafat's toothbrush and clothing.

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Jewish, Palestinian American groups ‘swap’ summer interns
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Ari Ben Goldberg - July 6, 2012 - 12:00am

When Waleed Issa walked into the Americans for Peace Now (APN) Washington, DC office on the first day of his summer internship in June, the 25-year-old Palestinian from the Dheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem was startled by what he saw. “I never saw so much blue and white in my life,” he says. “Everywhere you look, there’s a Star of David and the colors of the Israeli flag. As a Palestinian, I thought to myself, ‘This is not good news. How am I going to work here for the next six weeks?’”

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