With West Focused on Iran, Netanyahu Moves to Expand Israeli Settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ben Lynfield - April 12, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is moving to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank at a time when international attention is focused elsewhere, with President Obama gearing up for reelection and the West targeting Iran's nuclear program. Last week, the Netanyahu government took a variety of steps that, taken together, amount to a significant strengthening of Israel's hold in the West Bank, the biblically resonant territory occupied in 1967, which Palestinians claim as the heartland for their future state. » Read more

Once Taboo, Germans’ Anti-Israel Whispers Grow Louder ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Nicholas Kulish - April 13, 2012 - 12:00am BERLIN — To judge by the outpouring of comments from politicians and writers and from the newspaper and magazine articles in response to the Nobel laureate Günter Grass’s poem criticizing Israel’s aggressive posture toward Iran, it would appear that the public had resoundingly rejected his work. But even a quick dip into the comments left by readers on various Web sites reveals quite another reality. » Read more