October 17th

Israel counted food needs in Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military calculated the number of calories Gaza's residents would need to consume to avoid malnutrition during a sweeping blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory between 2007 and mid-2010, according to a document the Defense Ministry released under a court order. Critics claim the document is evidence that Israel limited food supplies in order to put pressure on Hamas, the violently anti-Israel militant group that seized power in the coastal strip in mid-2007.

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Middle East: Antiaircraft Missile is Fired From Gaza, Israeli Officials Say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli defense officials say that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have for the first time fired an antiaircraft missile at Israeli aircraft. The officials say the militants fired a Strela shoulder-fired missile at an Israeli helicopter operating over Gaza last week but missed their target. The officials said Israeli intelligence has long believed that militants in Gaza possessed these weapons, but this was the first time they were fired.

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October 16th

The Lessons of Novembers Past
In Print by Hussein Ibish - Ynetnews (Opinion) - October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Historically, November often signifies numerous crucial turning points in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The lessons of Novembers past demand close attention. Palestinians and Israelis can learn from them to address their differences and common future, and American leaders to be more balanced.

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NEWS: The US says a renewed Palestinian UN bid would threaten the peace process. Palestinian officials say there are diminished hopes in the peace process and the prospects for a two-state solution. More evidence emerges that former PM Olmert may be planning a comeback to challenge PM Netanyahu. Israel's parliament formally announces elections for Jan. 22. Palestinian sources claim Pres. Abbas met secretly in Jordan last week with DM Barak. A leading Israeli radio station bans playing a military protest song. Egypt's campaign against Gaza smuggling tunnels demonstrates that national interests are trumping ideology. Smuggled iPhone 5s are reportedly selling well in Gaza in spite of astronomical prices. The PA announces a plan to increase trade with Arab countries. The US reiterates it does not accept the legitimacy of Israeli settlement activity. The BBC and Bloomberg both look at the Palestinian economic crisis. A new Egyptian movie looks unflinchingly at the fate of the Jewish community in that country. South Africa is moving forward with regulations to clearly distinguish settlement products from those made in Israel. COMMENTARY: David Myers says the threatened shutdown of Ben-Gurion University's Department of Politics and Government for political reasons would be “a further erosion of democratic values in Israel.” Akiva Eldar says a new Israeli government report demonstrates there is no Jewish majority between the river and the sea, and that, therefore, an apartheid reality now exists in the territories controlled by Israel. Salman Masalha says sensible Palestinian citizens of Israel have no one to vote for. Gershon Baskin outlines how, if he were Israel's prime minister, he would revive the peace process. Paul Scham and Edy Kaufman say it's time to look for alternatives to a two-state solution, but don't find any reasonable ones. Analysts call the planned visit by the Emir of Qatar to Gaza, "a reward to Hamas for breaking ties with Syria."

Qatari emir to visit Gaza as 'Hamas reward for breaking Assad ties'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - (Analysis) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY // The Qatari emir is to make an official visit to the Gaza Strip this week, in a move analysts say is to strengthen the country's influence with Arab Islamists and reward Hamas rulers for breaking ties with the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani would be the first Arab head of state to officially visit Gaza since the Palestinian Islamist group wrested control in 2007.

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Moving on From Two-State Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Edward Edy Kaufman, Paul Scham - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

The current Israeli-Palestinian stalemate is as comprehensive as it is unprecedented. All relevant parties — Israelis, Palestinians (both Fatah and Hamas), the United States, the European Union, the Arab world — are preoccupied with their own internal or regional political or economic issues, not to mention the possibility of an Iranian nuclear bomb and Israeli threats to attack. The only good news is that Israeli-Palestinian violence is also largely on hiatus — though by no means gone, as rockets fired at southern Israel occasionally remind us.

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The challenge of statesmanship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Election season is here, and many of us Israelis entertain the fantasy/dream of throwing our hats into the arena and imagining that we could soon be in positions of power in government. If I were prime minister, who would receive my first phone call? It would not be a difficult decision – Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

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For Israeli Arabs, there's no one to vote for
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Salman Masalha - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

The country is once again abuzz, as the old cliche goes. Color has returned to the cheeks of all the pundits and politicians. Why? Because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to call early elections, and he has leapt at the flattering polls that have fallen into his lap and rushed to inform the nation that the running in place will continue for another four years.

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The Jewish majority is history
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Amid a dry economic report published yesterday in TheMarker lies an official announcement/acknowledgment of unparalleled importance: The government of Israel confirms that between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River there is no longer a Jewish majority. In other words, in the territory under Israel's jurisdiction a situation of apartheid exists. A Jewish minority rules over an Arab majority.

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In defense of academic freedom
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
by David N. Myers - (Opinion) October 14, 2012 - 12:00am

In August 2009, an Israeli academic and political activist by the name of Neve Gordon published an Op-Ed article in the Los Angeles Times in which he reluctantly called for a gradual international boycott against his own nation. Gordon felt that such dramatic action was required to overcome the deep structural inequities between Jews and Arabs in Israeli society and the occupied territories, and to force the government back toward the goal of a two-state solution.

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