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NEWS: Israel passes a law banning calls for boycotts, including against settlements. Israelis and Palestinians connect on Facebook. Rachel Corrie’s parents say Israel is hiding evidence about her death. The Quartet meeting produces no breakthroughs. Hamas says Palestinian national unity is being thwarted by Pres. Abbas insisting on PM Fayyad continuing in office. Palestinians are beginning to feel negative consequences of their new diplomatic strategy. Both Palestinians and Israelis reportedly think US peace efforts have failed. Hebron merchants elect a Chamber of Commerce. Israel and Turkey are working on repairing relations. Palestinians in Lebanon find new educational opportunities. COMMENTARY: Ali Halimeh says the Palestinians must appeal to the UN for independence. Amir Oren says Israel is being held hostage by an extremist minority. Gershon Baskin says Israel must move towards peace. Doron Ben-Atar says Palestinians should urgently return to negotiations. Carlo Strenger says Israel’s new anti-boycott law reflects a siege mentality. Hussein Shobokshi says resistance in Palestine is now a political commodity in the Arab world. Linda Heard says Palestinians need to be patient, and that global powers need to impose Middle East peace. Yossi Alpher says Israel desperately needs a peace plan. Ghassan Khatib says peace depends on whether Israel is mature enough to end the occupation. Sean Cleary says Israeli-Palestinian peace is crucial to the future of the Middle East.
NEWS: Israel blocks air travel to a Palestinian conference. The Middle East Quartet will meet Monday to try to fend off a looming diplomatic crisis. Pres. Abbas says the PA may not be able to meet payroll next month. PM Fayyad says the PA is committed to protecting Palestine from settlers. Testimony ends in the Rachel Corrie trial. Israelis are pressing legislation criminalizing boycotting settlements. The Ma’an office in Gaza is firebombed. Palestinians await the outcome of the Quartet meeting. Israel sees the “flytilla” as a rare media and diplomatic victory. UNRWA changes its name to “the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees,” but promises no change of mission. COMMENTARY: Ephraim Sneh, former Israeli Minister of Defense, calls on Israel to embrace American proposals and become an active member of the peace process in the Middle East.Akiva Eldar says PM Netanyahu has turned all critics into Israel-haters. Ha’aretz says growing tensions between Palestinians and settlers recall the early days of the second intifada. Cindy Corrie says the US is complicit in the Gaza blockade. Charles Glass says South Sudan shows Palestinians gaining independence is the easy part. The National says settlements and settler violence are a timebomb. Mostafa Zein says French supporters of Israel are exploiting the Syrian opposition. The Gulf News asks why Israel is so terrified of foreign activists. The Arab News says it’s time to end the Gaza blockade. Uri Avnery says Israel is only the latest society to succumb to complete paranoia.
NEWS: Jordan says the peace process must be rescued. A UN official severely criticizes a new UN report on last year's flotilla. Labor MK Isaac Herzog says Israel should vote 'yes' on Palestinian statehood at the UN. Israel fails to secure a Bulgarian commitment to oppose Palestinian statehood. Smuggling in Gaza is still a vast enterprise. Israel expropriates Palestinian land to authorize a West Bank settlement. Two activists from the "flytilla" are to be deported from Israel, and others thank PM Netanyahu for PR. The outgoing US ambassador says the US made a major effort to support Israel. Palestinian architects renovate old buildings. COMMENTARY: Henry Siegman asks who is 'delegitimizing' whom. Adam Schatz looks at the Palestinian political landscape. Bradley Burston says Israel's message is hatred of non-violent activists. Amos Harel says Israel's excessive preparations for clashes with activists is a self-fulfilling prophesy. Haim Zisovitz agrees. Hassan Haidar looks at the domestic impact of relations with Israel on Egypt and Syria. Douglas Noll says a different kind of mediation is needed in the peace process.
NEWS: After meeting with US officials, PLO officials say they are still intent on a UN initiative, but add this does not contradict the peace process. A PA report says settler violence against Palestinians increased "dramatically" in June. UNRWA insists its name has not changed. Israeli police deploy to meet a pro-Palestinian "flytilla." The PA eliminates immunity for ministers in a corruption probe. Hamas arrests another male hairdresser. Arabs and Israelis quarrel at an international water conference. Israel and Turkey are reportedly negotiating about a UN report on last year's flotilla. EU officials say the July Quartet meeting will try to develop the framework for new talks. COMMENTARY: Amira Hass says Israel's response to the flotillas is self-defeating. Larry Derfner says that flotillas should be supported despite their flaws, but D. Bloomfield says the whole thing is pointless. Ruqaya Izzidien says flotilla solidarity is more important than aid cargo. Leonard Fein says rather than just opposing Palestinian UN initiatives, the US should craft a compromise resolution. Michael Jansen says Palestinians should push the West to change its peace approach. Tony Karon questions the idea that Israel is the "national home of the Jewish people." Daniel Kurtzer says the role of mediators is crucial. Nizar Farsakh profiles the role of Quartet mediator James Wolfensohn in the Gaza redeployment. Ron Pundak looks at lessons from Oslo mediation. Aaron David Miller says chances of a negotiating breakthrough in the short run are slim.
NEWS: The Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel is again attacked. PA employees will get half pay this month. Israel continues home demolitions in the Jordan Valley. The latest Gaza flotilla is stalled. PM Netanyahu remains very popular in Israel in spite of stalled diplomacy. Israel is planning more West Bank settlements. Israeli and Palestinian security services are both preparing for possible violence in September. Clashes between Palestinians and settlers increase. Two Palestinians are killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza. US officials say Pres. Obama plans to visit Israel. Israel says it is determined to keep pressure on Hamas. Palestinian unity talks are stalled. COMMENTARY: Yitzhak Laor says the siege of Gaza is turning into a moral blockade of Israel and Ha'aretz says it must end. Zvi Bar'el says the US may move towards talks with Hamas. Gershon Baskin says leaders must change their messaging. David Newman says Palestinians and Israelis need to work to protect each other's human rights. Linda Gradstein says Israeli attitudes are still shaped by the Gaza redeployment. Eric Alterman says Israeli and Palestinian leaders are making a two-state solution impossible. Linda Heard says the flotilla was blocked by a conspiracy. Yossi Alpher says one of the reasons Palestinians are thinking about asking for UN membership is that they want progress on two states but Netanyahu does not. Ghassan Khatib says Palestinians are ready for freedom and independence.

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