December 7th

Israel rift roils Democratic ranks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Ben Smith - December 7, 2011 - 1:00am Two of the Democratic Party’s core institutions are challenging a bipartisan consensus on Israel and Palestine that has dominated American foreign policy for more than a decade. The Center for American Progress, the party’s key hub of ideas and strategy, and Media Matters, a central messaging organization, have emerged as vocal critics of their party’s staunchly pro-Israel congressional leadership and have been at odds, at times, with Barack Obama’s White House, which has acted as a reluctant ally to Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government. » Read more

A tin ear during a shifting political landscape leaves Israel in fearful isolation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - (Opinion) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am The public scolding of Israel by a top US defence official last week represented more than just frustration with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for its refusal to resume peace talks with the Palestinians. Leon Panetta's demand that Israel "get to the damn" negotiating table, made during a speech at a Washington think tank on Friday, was the most overt sign yet of the Obama administration's impatience with what it views as Israel's refusal to adapt to the Middle East's shifting political landscape. » Read more

Israel's chilling relations with the US ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jonathan Guyer - (Opinion) December 6, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli government has come under criticism from both the Obama administration and American Jewish communities over the past week – the latter focused on a bizarre advertisement campaign aimed at the US diaspora. The current Israeli government's insensitivity toward American Jews has gotten their attention, but whether forthcoming Knesset bills that are an affront to democratic values will cause similar alarm is yet to be seen. » Read more

Was Howard Gutman Right?: Israel and Antisemitism, What Do We Know ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Journal by Michael Berenbaum - (Opinion) December 6, 2011 - 1:00am We are hearing an awful lot of nonsense about the remarks of Howard Gutman, the US Ambassador to Belgium regarding whether Israel treatment of the Palestinians is to “blame” for the increase in antisemitism. A summary of Gutman’s remarks, not a direct quote appeared in an Israeli newspaper and American bloggers took them as gospel and Republican political candidates called for Howard Gutman’s ouster. Abraham Foxman himself condemned the remarks as an excuse for inaction on antisemitism and the headlines blared American Ambassador blamed Israel for antisemitism. » Read more

Scary US views ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am In recent days, there has been a truly frightening articulation of the US administration’s perception of Israel vis-à-vis the Muslim world. On Friday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta essentially blamed Israel for its own “increasing isolation,” urging the Jewish state to reach out to its neighbors. » Read more

By today’s standards, Rabin would have been considered a disgrace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chemi Shalev - (Opinion) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am On October 16, 1993, inside the Israeli Boeing jet that was idling on the tarmac of Jakarta Airport, I experienced one of the high points of my journalistic career. Together with my dear colleague, the late Dan Semama of Israel Television, I had been chosen to enter the Indonesian capital to cover the historic meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and President Suharto. Before the encounter, we were to be privately briefed by the head of the Mossad, Shabtai Shavit, and by Rabin himself. » Read more

When Jews in Berkeley vote to cut support for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am Every vote sends a message. Last week, when the Berkeley Jewish Student Union voted to bar J Street's student organization from membership, the message it sent was regrettably clear: The choice is up to you - You can be welcomed as a Jew, or you can speak your mind on Israel. » Read more

Without peace talks, Israel must leave East Jerusalem alone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am As the diplomatic process has sunk deeper into hibernation, acts whose sole purpose is to tighten Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem have multiplied. Thus even as the Palestinians have given the Quartet a proposal on security arrangements and permanent borders in the West Bank, Israel is advancing proposals to change the master plans of neighborhoods over the Green Line. » Read more

Tensions high in Ain el-Hilweh after shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star December 7, 2011 - 1:00am Tensions ran high at the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh Wednesday after an unknown assailant shot and wounded the personal bodyguard of a senior Fatah officer. A security source said the attacker opened fire with an automatic weapon at around midday on Uday Hammad, the Syrian-Palestinian personal bodyguard for the military commander of the mainstream Fatah Movement, Brig. Gen. Sobhi Abu Arab. The source, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said the shooting took place in the camp’s Safsaf neighborhood, a stronghold for fundamentalists. » Read more

Palestinian mission breached ASA code by wiping Israel off the map ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Roy Greenslade - (Blog) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has censured the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission to the UK for carrying a map on its website that described Israel as Palestine. In effect, it wiped the state of Israel off the map. It showed all the land in the region - Israel, plus the occupied territories, such as the West Bank and Gaza - in the colours of the Palestinian flag. Headlined "Discover Palestine", the interactive map was aimed at promoting tourism. Users could click on to various cities, such as Haifa, in order to obtain tourist information. » Read more