February 10th

NATO offers troops after Mideast peace deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
February 9, 2011 - 1:00am

NATO would offer peacekeeping services to Israelis and Palestinians if both parties request it in a peace deal, the alliance's secretary general said Wednesday Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO would intervene if a future peace treaty was broken or if the two sides needed assistance. Until then, NATO would "not (become) involved in the Mideast peace process and is not seeking a role in it," Rasmussen said. The NATO leader spoke at an annual security conference in the Israeli city of Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

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Gazan students hold Egypt solidarity rally
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 9, 2011 - 1:00am

Several hundred Islamist students rallied in central Gaza on Wednesday in a show of solidarity with the ongoing anti-government protests in Egypt, onlookers said. "Gaza salutes the Egyptians" they shouted, denouncing embattled President Hosni Mubarak as "an American collaborator." Waving Egyptian and Palestinian flags, they also shouted angry slogans against Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq. Earlier on Wednesday, Egyptian immigration officials told AFP they had been ordered to bar Palestinians from entering the country.

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What Israel fears in Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Sallai Meridor - February 9, 2011 - 1:00am

One might expect that Israelis, who live in the only democracy in the Middle East, would turn out in the squares of Jerusalem and the gardens of Tel Aviv to show solidarity with the demonstrators in Egypt. The protesters, after all, are seeking to overthrow an authoritarian regime. Israelis, however, have stayed at home, warily following events on TV and the Internet.

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February 9th

The CSM says Israel has a stake in the emergence of a democratic Egypt, but analysts say Israel fears an Islamist takeover. 10 Palestinians in Gaza are injured by Israeli airstrikes. Aaron David Miller says now is not the time for major diplomacy, but Leonard Fein says it is. Israel's military spokesman visited the UK incognito. The Knesset moves forward a bill to strip Azmi Bishara of his pension. Israelis worry about not having a UN ambassador. Israeli occupation forces in Hebron close a station to settlers. The head of NATO says the organization has a role to play in peace. Criminal charges are filed against UC Irvine students who heckled Israeli Amb. Oren, and the LA Times calls this "overkill." The New York City transit system is now host of competing ad campaigns. Ghassan Khatib looks at Palestinian views of unrest in Egypt. Smadar Perry says Israel needs to move fast on peace with the Palestinians.

IDF station in Hebron made off limits to settlers after 30 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - February 9, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israel Defense Forces has finally closed one of its main outposts in Hebron to Jewish settlers. The Mitkanim outpost, adjacent to the city's Avraham Avinu neighborhood, is permanently staffed by a company of soldiers. But while all other army bases and outposts nationwide are closed to civilians unless they obtain a special permit, Mitkanim has served Avraham Avinu residents for 30 years as a shortcut to Shuhada Street, which is one of Hebron's main arteries.

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NATO chief sees group's future involvement in Israeli Arab peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amir Oren - (Opinion) February 9, 2011 - 1:00am

Anders Fogh Rasmussen discusses concerns over whether Egypt may reassess its foreign relations after Mubarak eventually steps down. The North Atlantic Alliance "supports the efforts of the Egyptian and the Tunisian peoples for the establishment of a free society and a democratically elected government," says NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was scheduled to arrive in Israel last night for talks with senior officials.

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'Netanyahu handing UN arena over to the Palestinians'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Shamir - February 9, 2011 - 1:00am

Diplomats at the United Nations on Tuesday were harshly critical of Israel's ongoing failure to appoint a permanent ambassador to the UN, saying it has essentially forfeited the arena to the Palestinians. While Israel is represented by an acting ambassador, Meron Reuben, he lacks the authority of a permanent representative. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman were unable to agree on a permanent candidate for months, and the man they finally settled on, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, rejected the job this week.

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Charges filed against ‘Irvine 11’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
February 8, 2011 - 1:00am

Criminal charges were filed against 11 Muslim students who disrupted a speech at the University of California, Irvine, by Israel's U.S. ambassador. During the Feb. 8, 2010 speech by Michael Oren, the 11 defendants stood one by one and shouted at the ambassador, calling him a “mass murderer” and a “war criminal,” among other insults. The disruptions, organized to protest Israeli actions in Gaza, prompted Oren to walk off the stage twice.

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Overkill in Orange County
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
(Editorial) February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

When 11 students affiliated with the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine disrupted a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States last year, they no doubt knew there would be consequences. Rather than staging a traditional protest — by leafleting, say, or holding up signs expressing their disapproval — they attended the event as members of the audience and then stood up, one by one, and shouted the ambassador down more than a dozen times.

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Israel's parliament promotes bill to strip former Arab lawmaker of pension
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Gur Salomon - February 8, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israeli Knesset parliament on Tuesday voted to promote a bill that would deny pension benefits from Azmi Bishara, a former legislator suspected of assisting Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon war. The Knesset House Committee approved the bill, dubbed "Bishara Law," for second and third readings. The bill is expected to be brought for a second round of voting in the Knesset plenum within weeks.

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