'Israel persuaded Russia not to sell Syria missiles'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel played a role in influencing Russia to cancel its sale of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria, Army Radio quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying Thursday. Russia suspended the sale of the advanced system to Syria in what could be an outcome of President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Israel earlier this week. Both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres discussed the issue of Syria with the Russian leader during his short stay in Israel.

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Egyptian officials sentenced over Israel gas deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Egypt's former Oil Minister Samih Fahmi and a fugitive businessman, Hussein Salem, have been sentenced to 15 years in prison for their role in a gas export deal to Israel. Ten other former high-ranking oil and gas officials also reportedly received shorter jail sentences. The agreement, which supplied Israel with 40% of its natural gas at below market prices, was scrapped in April. It was backed by the old government, but was widely unpopular in Egypt.

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Caterpillar pulled from social indexes over company’s use in Palestinian territories
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — A U.S. investment firm has removed Caterpillar Inc. from three of its popular indexes that track socially responsible investments, citing concerns about the Israeli military’s use of company bulldozers in the Palestinian territories.

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Official: Egypt to allow more Gaza passengers through Rafah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Egypt has agreed to increase the number of passengers passing through its Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip to 1,000 per day, the Palestinian crossings director said Wednesday. Maher Abu Sabha told Ma'an the terminal -- the only entry and exit point for travelers from Gaza -- currently has 500 registered passengers per day in July, but now has a quote for 500 more. Palestinians are required to register in advance with the Gaza Ministry of Interior before travel via Egypt.

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Hamas commander found guilty of killing 46 Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Senior Hamas military commander Ibrahim Hamed was found guilty on Wednesday by an Israeli military court for the deaths of 46 people in terrorist attacks during the Second Intifada. Hamed, 47, started as a Hamas operative in the 1980s. In 2001, he was released from a Palestinian Authority prison and masterminded a string of deadly attacks during the Second Intifada, including the Café Moment, Hebrew University, and Zion Square attacks in Jerusalem and the Rishon Letzion pool hall attack.

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Israel subjecting Palestinian children to 'spiral of injustice'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

A belief that every Palestinian child is a potential terrorist may be leading to a "spiral of injustice" and breaches of international law in Israel's treatment of child detainees in military custody, a delegation of eminent British lawyers has concluded in an independent report backed by the Foreign Office.

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Israeli Guns Hold University Degrees Away
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Jun 26 2012 (IPS) - After more than 25 years spent fighting for women’s rights in the Gaza Strip, Andaleeb Shehadeh is now struggling for the right to complete her university education. “This kind of studies is very important for the women who are active in women’s rights in the Gaza Strip,” the 46-year-old mother of four told IPS. “It’s not offered in Gaza or in the rest of the Middle East.”

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Israeli official: Egypt likely to preserve peace treaty with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Newly elected Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is not likely to disavow the peace treaty between the two countries, a senior Israeli defense official said on Tuesday.

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Hope for more involvement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

The visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Jordan for talks with His Majesty King Abdullah came at an interesting time in the region. Egypt has a new, Islamist, president, the Arab Spring has swept over some Arab countries and is at the doorstep of others, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still simmering, with no solution in sight, and the situation in Syria is getting from bad to worse.

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If at First You Don't Succeed…
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Jonathan Schanzer - (Opinion) June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinians may appeal to the United Nations for statehood. Again. That was the message out of Ramallah on Sunday, June 24, when Fatah, the dominant Palestinian faction in the West Bank, concluded a meeting of its congress.

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