* “Hamas” and the Islamic Jihad: National, Arab and international inquiry should be pursued on president Arafat`s death. (Al Quds)
* Secret UK documents: Netanyahu is a stubborn oppositionist to the Oslo accords. (Al-Quds)
* Azzam al-Ahmad: Hamas`s Gaza-based leadership does not want to end the division. (Al-Quds)
* Freidman: election of Morsi might be the beginning of real peace between Egypt and Israel (Al-Quds)
* Presbyterian Church Committee in the USA backs withdrawing investments from pro-Israeli occupation companies. (Al-Quds)* Despite of submission of 35 complaints by Israeli leftists, the Israeli authorities closed tens of investigations files against policemen who assaulted protesters in Sheikh Jarrah. (Al-Quds)
* Abbas to meet Clinton next Friday in Paris to discuss the prisoners` affair and the halt of settlements (Al-Ayyam)
* Egyptian officer injured in shooting by smugglers at the Egyptian border. (Al-Ayyam)
* Asserting that recent registration in the West Bank was last year, the CEC refutes allegations of “Hamas”. The deposed interior ministry demands it to abide by the suspension of the registration. (Al-Ayyam)
* The US consul: we are committed to just and lasting peace. (Al-Ayyam)
* Iran launches missiles and the USA beefs up forces in the Gulf. (Al-Ayyam)
* Netanyahu pledges to increase military enlistment of Arabs and ultra-orthodox Jews. (Al-Ayyam)
* Syria: 70 killed in ongoing clashes and the regime forces intensify artillery shelling against residential areas. Departure of Assad at the core of Paris meeting tomorrow. Three Syria officers defect to Turkey. (Al-Ayyam)
* Jerusalemite figures warn of the implementation of the demolition of the homes of al-Bustan by the occupation. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
* During the opening of elderly care centre in Jericho, Fayyad praises European stances and significant support to enable our people to accomplish their freedom and independence. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
* Zakarneh asserts rejection of portioning (salaries). Majdalani: the government is waiting for $25 million from Iraq to pay the major part of salaries. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
* OXFAM calls on the international group to assist the Palestinians in the Jordan Valley that is under threat of settlements. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)

Al-Quds: 1) Gaza- two women passing near mural painting of late president Yasser Arafat and martyr Ahmad Yassin.
Al-Ayyam:  1) Scene of a new neighborhood in Ramallah where intensive constructions are underway; 2) mass destruction in a-Shayyah neighborhood in Homs city following arterially shelling by the regime forces.
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida:  1) Two mural paintings, one to martyr Yasser Arafat and another one to martyr Ahmad Yassin in Gaza city.

** Adnan Husseini, Jerusalem minister, on threats to demolish the Bustan neighborhood in Silwan next month
Q: Is the neighborhood’s demolition something inevitable at this point?
This is an old and almost legendary case in Jerusalem. If it were completely up to the Israelis, the neighborhood would have been demolished years ago but the resistance of the Palestinians and people of Silwan was definitely a reason it has been postponed until now. They believe the Bustan neighborhood has Jewish history; that this is where King David’s gardens were once built and they want to return it to that state. I think this will be a spark for a lot of unrest in the area.it will not go by unnoticed. We call on all the Palestinians to stand by the neighborhood to resist this and on the diplomatic corps to intervene. We are talking about 88 houses and 1,500 people that will affected.

Q: Honestly, do you not think there is a shortcoming in the popular activities in support of Silwan and the Bustan neighborhood?
I think the Palestinians are doing what they can. They are fighting battles everywhere and move from one solidarity tent to another because the occupation wants us all to leave this land and does not give reprieve to any of us. We still hope that the world will intervene to help stop the demolitions.

Q: Is there a political shortcoming then from international parties? If an entire neighborhood were to be demolished somewhere else it would be called ethnic cleansing.
The entire world has fallen short when it comes to the Palestinian cause. The cause began because of an global conspiracy – one people were promised a land at the expense of another already there. The world is still watching from a distance.  This is not enough though because Israel does not want any Palestinians in Jerusalem or in all of Palestine for that matter.

**DCI attorney Iyad Misk, on the recent report about Israeli interrogators extracting a confession from Palestinian minor Mohammed Bahar through torture
Q: Bahar was 17 when he was arrested. Is he considered a child?
Yes, according to international law, anyone who is under 18 is a child. Recently, military orders have been amended to stipulate the same thing.

Q: What proof does the DCI need to confirm that children are being tortured? Are testimonies enough?
This is not the first time there is evidence that children are being tortured to get confessions from them by force. The DCI monitors and documents all of these violations and we also put in complaints to the Israeli authorities and the relevant parties. However, we have noticed that Israeli authorities stall in addressing these complaints.  

Q: Are these cases brought before Israeli courts?
The moment we hear of a case of torture, we take the first opportunity to bring it up in military courts but there is always stalling by the Israelis. Also, we always need to have irrefutable evidence of torture for the court to even look into it. We issued a report at the beginning of April documenting in detail the measures Israel uses against children. Around 90% of children arrested by Israel are subject to one or more forms of torture during their arrest and detention.

**Amjad Najjar, head of the Prisoner Society in Hebron, on the torture of prisoner Noor Jaber by Israeli authorities  
Q: You said Jaber is in poor condition. How bad is he?
The prisoner was severely tortured when he was arrested after already been wounded. They beat him on his injured foot to extract a confession from him, which made his health situation plummet. Prison services and doctors have tried to convince him that his foot needs amputation but he has refused. All of his demands to be allowed to see a doctor from outside the prison have been turned down or ignored. Yesterday, he passed out and was sent to an Israeli hospital but now he is in much better condition. We are calling on the Red Cross to send physicians to examine him because prison authorities are still trying to amputate his leg, which we don’t believe he needs.

**Hasan Alawi, deputy interior minister on the reported Jordanian request for Palestinians with Jordanian residency documents to relinquish them
Q: Why is this always in the news? Each side denies the reports. Are there any Jordanian-Palestinian talks regarding Jordanian citizenship?
This is a very sensitive subject. The so-called ‘yellow card’ [for temporary Jordanian citizenship] solves a huge problem for Palestinians including those who want to travel to other Arab countries. So, there is a Palestinian desire to hold on to this card, not so they can reside in Jordan but because it solves many of their difficulties such as travel. We are discussing this with the head of the follow up and inspection department and we were surprised to hear that there were Jordanian officials from the follow up and inspection department requesting from Palestinians to concede their Jordanian passports. We talked to the minister and he reaffirmed to me personally that this is nothing official and is inaccurate. I asked him to send us an official letter reaffirming his position. Because this is a real problem – the request for Palestinians to give up their Jordanian passports. Still, Jordanian officials say there are no grounds to this and they would never ask this. We will try to reassure the people that we have Jordanian guarantees that this is not a requirement even if an employee asks them.

Q: So what if a citizen is still faced with this request while travelling? What should they do?
We are working our hardest to fix this situation and prove that there is no such request by Jordan.

**Nasser Abdel Karim, member of the national independent coalition and the committee for follow up on the reconciliation agreement on their meeting with Khaled Meshaal and a Hamas delegation in Amman
Q:Did you talk about practical steps to implement the reconciliation agreement?
We did talk about all of the problems on the ground in implementing the agreement, namely the Cairo agreement. We expressed our dissatisfaction over the suspension of the CEC’s work in Gaza and we asked the Hamas leadership to allow them to resume their work so there will be no excuse for the agreement not to be implemented. We talked about the problems in respecting public freedoms in the West Bank and Gaza among other things. The Hamas delegation and Meshaal agreed to work hard to overcome the obstacles. Meshaal said he would ask Egypt to reopen the file of the reconciliation to speed it up and bring the two sides together. They realize how dangerous the situation is now if it continues for all of us.

Q: Did Meshaal concede that the decision to suspend the CEC’s work in Gaza is not a central decision of the movement?
He didn’t talk about whether this was a central decision or not. He said that after listening to our delegation’s point of view, this was simply an administrative and technical issue and is not a political issue. He said the CEC should not be held responsible for political differences. He is not happened with this decision and thinks the CEC should resume its work. No one in the meeting could understand the logic behind the decision since voter registration is not directly linked to a date for the elections. Nor does halting the registration mean elections will be stopped. He said he would speak to the Hamas leadership about this.

Q: Did Meshaal give you any messages to relay?
He asked that we contribute to removing the obstacles facing the reconciliation agreement and to help in the issue of public freedoms, especially political arrests, to create a suitable atmosphere for implementing the agreement. We will relay this message to President Abbas when he returns to the country from Paris. He said halting political arrests will definitely help to convince Hamas to move on with the agreement.

Q: Did you talk about meetings with the other factions?
We asked from Hamas and we will ask from Fatah that the PLO hold a meeting to discuss the reconciliation. There are many problems – financial, economic political, but reconciliation is also a key issue. We expect that next week reconciliation committees will also start to meet again and resume their work.

**Minister of foreign affairs, Riyad Al Malki, on the investigation into President Yasser Arafat’s death
Q: Palestine has welcomed the Tunisian call to hold an emergency Arab League meeting to discuss Arafat’s death. Are there any practical steps being taken?
Now we are waiting for this Tunisian initiative to be translated into action and for the meeting to be held. Then we will ask for an international investigation committee to be formed similar to the one formed into the assassination of Rafiq Al Hariri so we can solve so many of the unanswered questions. We want to show that the PA, leadership and people all are anxious to know all the details surrounding Arafat’s death, so we can close this file. We will be the first in line to contribute and help in this investigation.

Q: We have heard criticisms about the Palestinian discourse in this regard, wondering why it was not the PA which took this initiative?
We could have taken an initiative but we did not want to arouse disputes and differences over such an important issue. For the past eight years, the initiatives were not enough, calling for an international committee but now since there are parties who have shown the desire to carry on – and we will be the first to move forward with them. Back then, we did order an investigation but the response to this was insufficient. Much more interest and concern has been generated now, which we can take advantage of.

Q: Is it true that Kuwait has announced it would reopen the Palestinian embassy there and restore bilateral negotiations?
We have not responded either way until we hear official news from Kuwait. The protocol is that the host country must make that move and initiative before the other country can accept.

Jordan and the discrimination against Syrian-based Palestinians
Al Quds Al Arabi editorial

First off, we have to admit that Jordan is the country which has absorbed the largest number of Palestinian refugees requesting security and stability. It has honored them and benefited them and has facilitated their living conditions and given them passports to allow them to move among the neighboring countries and the Gulf in search of job opportunities.

Throughout all of the Arab wars against the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the displacement of its people, Jordan was the vessel which received hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Some may argue that it can no longer absorb more because of the country’s limited economic capabilities and for political considerations, most significantly in order to maintain the balance of Jordan’s demographics.

We are bringing this up because of what Human Rights Watch said about the Jordanian authorities discriminating in their treatment between the Syrians and Palestinians fleeing the violence in Syria into Jordanian territory. Police forces actually returned some Palestinians to Syria after they had fled recently while others were threatened with deportation.

In its report, the human rights organization also mentioned that some Palestinians who smuggled their way into Jordan over the border without passing through official entry centers like other Syrians were detained for months. This is still the case, the report said, with their release conditioned on their return to Syria.

Jordanian authorities officially denied the findings of the report. An interior ministry spokesperson said no one had been deported, adding that Jordan only bans the entry of anyone who does not have official papers. However, Human Rights Watch proved that many had been forcefully deported after being shipped back to the border.

There have been many precedents that reaffirm the organization’s findings. Most recently was how Jordanian authorities allowed the entry of over two million Iraqis while it closed its doors in the face of a few hundred Palestinians fleeing from the brutality of Iraqi militias which targeted them for religious hostilities. This led to them camp out near the border under desperate living conditions in the middle of the parched desert. In the end, most were sent to Brazil or Iceland as refugees.

Some Jordanian security officials may argue that the Syrians will one day return to Syria exactly like what happened with many Iraqis. The Palestinians, however, may just stay in Jordan. There is truth to this argument of course but the human considerations must always rump any political or demographic considerations according to religious and legal codes.

Syria is witnessing a sectarian civil war, armed clashes, brutal shelling and bloody massacres. The regime is doing imposing its security solutions everyone it can in the hopes of ending the uprising as soon as possible, something which is still far beyond its reach because of the resolve of the people to achieve their demands for democratic change.

The Palestinians refugees who have found themselves once again in an extremely difficult situation, have the choice of choosing one side or the other. The regime wants them on its side and the opposition is demanding the same thing; neutrality is unacceptable in most cases.

Over the past 60 years, Syria has given the Palestinians special treatment at the official and popular levels; they have never been subject to any kind of discrimination in jobs or educational and health services. They were treated like the Syrians in everything. Besides, they are Syrian as well in their geographic affiliation.

We hope that the Jordanian authorities will understand the predicament of these refugees who have fled to them and treat them like their Syrian brethren with complete sensitivity towards Jordanian political and security and demographic considerations. (http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today\04qpt999.htm&arc=data\2012\07\07-04\04qpt999.htm)


Answers needed after new clues on Arafat's death
National Editorial

At the age of 75, Yasser Arafat was known across the world as a symbol of the changing face of Palestinian resistance. But the circumstances of his last days in autumn 2004, with the cause of his illness unknown, left a permanent question mark hanging over the Palestinian movement.

There is now the possibility of a resolution. Investigative reporting by Al Jazeeranews channel suggests that Arafat was murdered, and in a bizarre fashion. A report broadcast yesterday detailed how Al Jazeerahad obtained Arafat's last clothing and his medical files from his widow Suha Arafat. High-tech tests performed in Switzerland revealed traces of polonium 210, a potent radioactive substance that is deadly if ingested. Amounts detected were small but were once much greater: this isotope has a half-life of only 138 days, while the samples are more than seven years old.

Polonium is an improbable murder weapon, hard to use and tricky to obtain. It is also very rare, and it is difficult to imagine how Arafat's belongings could have become contaminated under innocent circumstances.

Such contamination inevitably brings to mind another high-profile case: the killing of a former KGB officer, and a critic of the Putin government, Alexander Litvinenko. He died after drinking polonium-laced tea in London in 2006. The British police inquiry pointed to another KGB veteran, Andrey Lugovoy, but Russia refused to extradite him and he is now a sitting member of the Russian parliament.

Almost eight years after Arafat's death, then, polonium 210 is immediately associated with cloak-and-dagger intrigue and political assassination. But in this case, there are now more questions than answers.

Polonium poisoning does follow about the same course that Arafat's month-long illness did. And the files Al Jazeera obtained, secret until now, include reports on the medical tests of Arafat's last month: these say he did not have Aids, any form of cancer or any other ailment consistent with his symptoms.

Before Arafat was airlifted to Paris, he had been hemmed in by Israeli forces at his Ramallah headquarters, apparently beleaguered on every side. There will be no shortage of speculation about who would have wanted him dead, but far better would be to wait for further evidence, and to insist that the investigation proceed.

The Palestinian Authority has joined Arafat's widow in calling for the body to be exhumed. If it can be proved that Arafat was killed by radioactive poisoning, there can only be a handful of possible suspects. There will be differing opinions on Arafat's legacy, but certainly the circumstances of his death must be made clear to all. (http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/editorial/answers-needed-after-new-clues-on-arafats-death)

It is our people’s right to know
Al Quds editorial

 
The investigation carried out by Al Jazeera into the reasons of late President Yasser Arafat’s death, especially the presence of polonium in his clothes, toothbrush and hat, raises more questions than it gives answers as to who committed the assassination, in spite of the importance of the findings of the investigation.

President Abbas did right when he issued orders to form an investigation committee into Arafat’s death and to follow up on all the details with the help of Arab and international expertise in order to uncover the truth.

The Palestinians, who were shocked at the passing of their leader due to his sudden illness, is still waiting for clear answers about the reasons for his death and who is behind it. It is the people’s right to know all of the details and is waiting for its leadership to everything possible to reach the truth.

These new lab reports, conducted in Switzerland, differ from the ones that were conducted on President Arafat in Paris when he was moved to a hospital there. Those lab reports showed no traces of poison in his body, a sharp contrast to the Jazeera investigation which uncovered high levels of polonium, a radioactive material. If this is the case, many questions arise. How could the Percy military hospital in Paris not know about the traces of radiation in his body and on his clothes? What if they did know but hid the truth and if they did, to whose advantage was this?

And if the cause of Arafat’s death was polonium poisoning, then there is the question of how did hit material get on his clothes and body given the tight security measures that were around Arafat?

It is clear that the results of the investigation reaffirm what the Palestinian people and its leadership have felt from day one after Arafat’s death. His death was too sudden and was particularly damaging, especially since Israel had besieged the muqataa and considered Arafat ‘irrelevant’ at a time when the latter was refusing to relinquish to his principles and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Another important question is: could Israel have carried out this crime alone without the help of its collaborators? Or without a clear breach of the security measures that were supposedly put in place to protect the president?

Finally, we hope the Palestinian leadership continues its investigations in earnest based on these new findings so we can get clear answers about President Arafat’s death and who is behind it. Then we can decide what to do in terms of pursuing those responsible.

In the end, in spite of the pain we have all felt from his passing, we believe the truth will come out sooner or later and justice will be done. (Al Quds)