November 17th

In deposition, porn claims made and AIPAC officials admit lack of policy on classified info ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - November 16, 2010 - 1:00am AIPAC officials acknowledged in depositions that the organization only recently adopted a stated policy forbidding the receipt of classified information. The depositions also produced claims regarding the viewing of pornographic materials on office computers. The depositions are part of a brief filed earlier this month in the District of Columbia Superior Court by lawyers for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee seeking the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit by Steve Rosen, AIPAC’s former foreign policy chief. » Read more

Borderline Views: Educating for tolerance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by David Newman - (Opinion) November 17, 2010 - 1:00am One of the biggest structural problems which impacts the Israel- Palestine conflict is the fact that the vast majority of us simply don’t know our neighbors. We live in segregated settlements and communities, send our children to separate schools, know very little about the other’s religious or cultural rituals and practices and, worst of all, too few of us speak or understand the language of the other. » Read more

Settler convicted of kidnapping, abusing Palestinian teen ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviel Magnezi - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Zvi Struk from the settlement of Shiloh was convicted Sunday of kidnapping and abusing a bound 15-year-old Palestinian boy. The 28-year-old settler is the son of Yesha Human Rights Organization head Orit Struk. The indictment stated that Struk, arrived at an outpost located between Shiloh and Kfar Kusra in the West Bank. He arrived on a mini tractor and began to chase Palestinian youths at the scene. » Read more

U.S. taxpayers are paying for Israel's West Bank occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Travelers along the "original" West Bank roads, the ones enabling drivers to bypass Palestinian villages, can see signs declaring "USAID from the American People." The roads are one of the initiatives of the United States Agency for International Development for building infrastructure in underdeveloped countries. Israel has already proudly left the club of developing countries and is not among the clients of USAID. Nevertheless, it appears the Smith family of Illinois is making the occupation a little less expensive for the Cohen family of Petah Tikva. » Read more

AIPAC dirty laundry aired as former staffer sues for defamation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am The U.S. Jewish community has been scandalized by details of an increasingly dirty lawsuit, brought by a former AIPAC staffer who was dismissed after he was charged with attempting to spy for Israel. Steven Rosen was sacked by the America Israel Public Affairs Committee in 2004 after he and fellow staffer Keith Weissman were charged with espionage and passing sensitive information to Israeli diplomats and journalists. The charges against the two, however, were dropped before the case reached a courtroom. » Read more

Netanyahu leaves ministers guessing over settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Confusion over a potential deal between Israel and the United States for a new settlement freeze continued Wednesday, with Prime Minister Netanyahu offering seemingly contradictory versions of talks between the allies. Netanyahu's bureau on Wednesday morning put out a statement denying that negotiations had brought up the prospect of extending the West Bank building moratorium to East Jerusalem. "Discussions with the United States to formulate a memorandum of understanding did not tackle the issue of Jerusalem," the statement said. » Read more

Israel unveils newest anti-missile system, eyeing multi-tier air defense ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Gur Salomon - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am While intelligence assessments consistently paint a grim portrait of thousands of missiles and rockets showering down on Israel's civilian population and infrastructure in the future, the Jewish state unveils its next-generation missile-defense system. Arrow III, an interceptor designed to knock out ballistic missiles, has until now been shrouded in secrecy. A full-scale model was put on display at the second annual International Aerospace Conference and Exhibition held in Jerusalem on Monday. » Read more

Israeli official says US should free convicted spy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Israel's former attorney general says mistakes were made by both sides in the case of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard and that Israel's government should push the U.S. to free him. Elyakim Rubinstein did not go into detail about what he meant by mistakes. He made the remarks at a conference this week and they were broadcast by Israeli media Tuesday. Pollard was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy when he was arrested by FBI agents in Washington in 1985. He pleaded guilty to passing secrets to Israel and received a life sentence. » Read more

Israel, US locked over deal to revive peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Amy Teibel - November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Israel and the United States were in a standoff Wednesday over the terms of a Washington-proposed settlement construction moratorium meant to revive Mideast peace talks. Israeli officials had said several days ago that the U.S. had agreed that the 90-day moratorium would be the last time Israel would be asked to renew building limitations that expired in late September, after 10 months. They also said the renewal — like the earlier moratorium — would not apply to disputed east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital. » Read more

Israel demands written US guarantees before freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alternet November 17, 2010 - 1:00am Israel has demanded the United States provide written security guarantees before it votes on whether to agree to freeze Jewish settlement building in the West Bank, an Israeli political source said on Tuesday. The source added that Palestinian opposition to some of the pledges that Washington has verbally offered Israel was delaying progress towards finalising U.S. proposals for resuming the stalled Middle East peace talks.