January 25th

Israel should be the last to practice racism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Linda Heard - (Opinion) January 24, 2012 - 1:00am A large chunk of my childhood and early youth was spent in a predominantly Jewish area of London called Stamford Hill. It was pure chance that upon relocating to the English capital, my parents found a small apartment to their liking in that part of town. Our landlord and neighbors were Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe. My school friends came from European and Indian Jewish stock. My mother bought seed-encrusted loaves from a Jewish bakery Grodzinky's and salt beef sandwiches from our local Jewish deli. » Read more

Palestine is nearly here, deal with it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Ibrahim Sharqieh - (Opinion) January 25, 2012 - 1:00am Jan. 26 will mark the three-month deadline for Palestinians and Israelis to submit their opening positions on mutual borders and security. The deadline was set by the international Quartet – the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia. It followed the decision last September of a frustrated Palestinian Authority to pursue independent statehood through the United Nations, after 18 years of futile negotiations with Israel. » Read more

Palestinian Tax Hike Riles Business, Unions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Karin Laub - January 25, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank—Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has sparked a furor with a push to get Palestinians to pay more taxes and reduce reliance on the massive foreign aid that has kept their self-rule government afloat for a generation. Long accustomed to minimal taxes, the most powerful groups in the West Bank -- private business, the civil servants' union and the main political party, Fatah -- are fighting back, including with threats of labor strikes. » Read more

Europe should call Israel's bluff ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Dimitris Bouris, Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) January 25, 2012 - 1:00am The figures say it all. Over 1,200 Jewish colonists occupied outposts in the West Bank in 1972; in 2012, over 300,000 live in fortress-like colonies on hilltops overlooking the Jordan Valley, excluding the illegal colonies and gradual annexation of occupied east Jerusalem. This exponential growth of Jewish colonies has taken place mostly in Area C of the West Bank. There are now twice as many illegal colonists in Area C as there are Palestinians, who have diminished in number due to lack of access to water, building permits, and the occupation itself. » Read more

Brotherhood Vows to Shun Israeli Officials ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm January 25, 2012 - 1:00am The Muslim Brotherhood will not speak or meet with Israeli officials and its stance on Israel is not up for discussion, group spokesperson Mahmoud Ghezlan told London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. “It’s illogical to have dialogue, any dialogue, in light of the Israeli practices against the Arab peoples,” the paper quoted him as saying in an article published Wednesday. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor told Israeli radio that Israel has not ruled out talks. “We will be happy to hold dialogues with whoever wants to have dialogue with us,” Palmor said. » Read more

“Jordan Mulling Sanctions Against Israel” ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel News by Roi Kais, Elior Levy - January 25, 2012 - 1:00am Jordan's King Abdullah alluded to a possible deterioration in Amman's relationship with Jerusalem if unless Israel will "demonstrate it is willing to make considerable moves" to reignite the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper reported Wednesday. According to the London-based Arab publication, Abdullah expected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to "make significant concessions which will allow the Palestinian leadership to justify their return to the negotiating table." » Read more

Obama assassination column raises question: Why do some Jews see Obama as so sinister? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Uriel Heilman - (Analysis) January 24, 2012 - 1:00am NEW YORK (JTA) – When news outlets began reporting last Friday that the owner of the Atlanta Jewish Times had published an opinion column seemingly suggesting that Israel might be wise to assassinate President Obama, the response from prominent American Jews was fast and furious. Here was a Jewish newspaper publisher providing fodder for something the Anti-Defamation League regularly deplores as a pernicious anti-Semitic canard: that Jews are more loyal to Israel than the United States. » Read more

Let Hanin Zoabi speak ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Moshe Ronen - (Opinion) January 25, 2012 - 1:00am French philosopher Voltaire is attributed with the famous quote: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This is democracy’s ultimate test – the ability to listen to views we do not agree with and that may appear despicable to us. » Read more

U.S. to Grant Three-Year Extension of Loan Guarantees to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - January 24, 2012 - 1:00am The U.S. government has informed Israel that it will recommend that Congress approve a three-year extension of loan guarantees to Israel, worth $3.8 billion. The announcement came after several months of worry in Israel that the loan guarantees would not be extended, despite Israel's request. » Read more

Elections Office Opens in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 25, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Gaza headquarters of the Central Elections Commission reopened Tuesday and will start work Wednesday, officials said. CEC director Jamil Khalidi received keys for the Gaza City office a day after the commission's chairman Hanna Nasir lamented its closure. Nasir said Monday that the Hamas-led government had failed to reopen the elections offices despite pledging to do so two weeks earlier. » Read more