November 28th

Standing united ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Opinion) November 28, 2011 - 1:00am Israel is once again using the tax axe against the Palestinians; it is threatening the Palestinian Authority to withhold tax revenues due to them if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas goes ahead with his reconciliation efforts with Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal. The two Palestinian leaders succeeded in striking a reconciliation accord during their recent meeting in Cairo. This progress on the Palestinian front displeases Israel, prompting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to warn the Palestinian Authority not to go ahead with the plan to form a unity government with Hamas. » Read more

Republicans and Israel: Too much love can kill you ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chemi Shalev - (Opinion) November 28, 2011 - 1:00am In the first Gulf War in 1991 and once again in the war against Iraq in 2003, Israel was asked by the U.S. administration to maintain a “low profile," in order to avoid the perception that America was fighting with Israel, or on its behalf. Both George Bushes, senior and junior, considered it prudent to relegate Israel to the sidelines – even when it was under direct attack, as was the case in 1991 - in order to help establish international coalitions and to maintain public support for the war, especially in the Muslim world. In both cases, Israel complied. » Read more

Netanyahu won, Israel lost ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) November 28, 2011 - 1:00am PARIS - Had Benjamin Netanyahu served in the French army 200 years ago, he would have had a splendid career. Napoleon, who preferred lucky generals to smart, good and loyal officers, would have easily recognized that Bibi had fortune on his side. » Read more

Binyamin Netanyahu attacks Arab spring uprisings ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - November 24, 2011 - 1:00am Binyamin Netanyahu has launched a scathing attack on the uprisings in the Middle East, saying that Arab countries are "moving not forward, but backward" and support from the US and European countries was naive. The Israeli prime minister said the Arab spring was becoming an "Islamic, anti-western, anti-liberal, anti-Israeli, undemocratic wave". Speaking to the Israeli parliament amid renewed protests and violence in Egypt, Netanyahu said concessions to the Palestinians were unwise in a period of instability and uncertainty in the region. » Read more

Israel's backers step up efforts to win African-American support ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN by Heather Higgins - November 26, 2011 - 1:00am Brooklyn, New York (CNN) – The aroma of allspice wafted through the air as calypso melodies and gospel voices brought more than four dozen people to their feet, a typical community gathering in the heavily West Indian neighborhood of East Flatbush, Brooklyn. But no one could remember a meeting like this happening before. Inside a former Seventh-day Adventist church, there were the beginnings of what some hope is a budding relationship between American blacks and Jews, with a major assist from some Christian Zionists. » Read more

PA collapse 'not the end of the world' for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 28, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- An Israeli official said Saturday evening on live television that if the Palestinian Authority collapses it would not be the "end of the world for Israel." Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, Yedioth Ahronoth columnist Shimon Sheffer, former Palestinian minister Sufian Zayda, and Dove Viziglas, who was former adviser to Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, were analyzing the possibility of the PA disbanding on the television show "Face the press." "The Palestinians have to know that they can’t scare us by threatening to disband the PA," Ayalon said. » Read more

Israel delays bridge razing at volatile holy site ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Maayan Lubell - (Analysis) November 28, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed demolition of a footbridge at Jerusalem's holiest and most volatile religious site, fearing the work could spark Muslim anger, government officials said on Monday. The wooden ramp, now deemed unsafe by engineers, was erected by Israeli authorities as a stopgap after a snowstorm and earthquake in 2004 damaged the stone bridge leading up from Judaism's Western Wall to the sacred compound where the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine stand. » Read more

Palestinian PM: Israeli sanctions starting to bite ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - November 27, 2011 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli economic sanctions against the Palestinians, in retaliation for their bid to win world recognition of a state of Palestine, have started to bite: officials said Sunday that they won't be able to pay the next round of public sector salaries that support nearly one-third of Palestinians, and that the damage to a fragile economy is devastating. » Read more

Report: Israel to reconsider PA tax freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 28, 2011 - 1:00am TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel was considering the release of Palestinian tax revenues, which it has frozen for over a month. Netanyahu is expected to announce the proposal during a Monday discussion in the Knesset's foreign affairs and defense committee, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. Netanyahu's aide said that the change in policy would be in the interest of preventing the collapse of the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Hamas: Palestinians to skip interim government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - November 27, 2011 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinians' rival leaders have quietly decided to keep their respective governments in the West Bank and Gaza in place until elections, a senior Hamas figure told The Associated Press. This proposal would remove a major obstacle to efforts to reconcile the factions: the need to form an interim unity government. A representative of Hamas' rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, denied that such a deal was struck. Abbas envoy Azzam al-Ahmed insisted there was no agreement and "no possibility of holding elections without a unity government." » Read more