The three letters on Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) April 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Three missives that sum up the predicament of Palestinians under occupation came under the limelight in the past few days. The first was sent by imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti to the Palestinian people and their leadership on the eve of Land Day, which marks the killing of six Arabs in 1976 and protests Israel’s land grab policies. In his open letter Barghouti, who was arrested in 2002 and is serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail, called on Palestinians to launch widespread popular resistance against Israeli occupation.

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Daniel Pipes' attack on Israeli Arabs is baseless and inflammatory
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Carl Perkal - (Opinion) April 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Middle East expert Daniel Pipes was in Israel recently and subsequently published an article entitled “Israel’s Arabs, living a paradox” in the Washington Times. I don’t know Dr. Pipes personally, but I feel compelled to call him to task for his baseless and inflammatory attack on the Arab citizens of Israel. Pipes has written an aggressive and confused jumble of half-truths and misunderstandings about the Arabs citizens of Israel.

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Israeli Arab MK threatens to file libel suit against envoy to U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - April 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi submitted an official complaint to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, following an article by Israel's envoy to the U.S. Michael Oren, according to which Tibi had retained his position as deputy Knesset speaker despite his support of suicide bombers. In an article published last week in the Foreign Policy magazine, titled "Israel's Resilient Democracy," Oren claimed that Israel's Arab citizens enjoyed equal rights, and that Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion emphasized that Arab citizens must be allowed to vote and be elected to the Knesset.

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Talks Will Go Nowhere
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Benny Morris - (Opinion) April 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The prime ministers of Israel and the Palestine National Authority are scheduled to meet next week in the first high-level meeting in two years. But no real progress toward peace is expected by either party. Both sides’ starting positions and their red lines are simply too far apart.

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Netanyahu Wants Deal to Prevent ‘Binational State’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Dan Perry - April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister said Tuesday that he still hopes to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, because the alternative would be absorbing them into Israel and destroying the Jewish character of the state. "I want to solve the conflict with the Palestinians because I don't want a binational state," Netanyahu told a rare news conference. "For as long as it depends on me, we will ensure the Jewish and democratic character of Israel."

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Crisis in Zion Square: Can Peter Beinart Shake Up American Zionism?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel, settlements, and boycotts, have been attracting something of a wave of attention recently. A small co-op in Brooklyn's Park Slope has voted against implementing a ban on stocking any Israeli products. The ban would have had miniscule economic significance, but it hit the national mainstream press nonetheless. Meanwhile, Peter Beinart called for a boycott on any good produced in Israeli settlements, to be matched by re-investing in "Israel proper." His column stirred up an even more intense debate, some of it quite vitriolic.

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A Middle East Twofer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

There is so much going on in the Middle East today, it’s impossible to capture it all with one opinion. So here are two for the price of one.

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It's time to intervene against racism in Israeli soccer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am

In March alone, there were four recorded violent incidents linked to Israeli soccer.

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Why Land Day still matters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sam Bahour, Fida Jiryis - (Opinion) March 30, 2012 - 12:00am

Every year since 1976, on March 30, Palestinians around the world have commemorated Land Day. Though it may sound like an environmental celebration, Land Day marks a bloody day in Israel when security forces gunned down six Palestinians, as they protested Israeli expropriation of Arab-owned land in the country’s north to build Jewish-only settlements.

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A Country of Walls
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am

an interview with Talal Okal BI: What do the conditions in the Sinai peninsula have to do with you and others in the Gaza Strip? Okal: The border that separates Sinai in Egypt and the Gaza Strip is the only border that is open for our use. The town of Rafah [where the main crossing is located] is actually split across the border between the two sides and many of Egyptian Rafah's residents are relatives of those who live on the Gaza side of the town. The connections there are extensive. Moreover, the tunnel network operating out of Gaza opens onto the Sinai.

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