April 23rd

Israeli commandoes raid ship searching for arms
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ian Deitch - April 22, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israeli military officials say navy commandoes have raided a ship flying a Liberian flag on suspicion it was carrying weapons destined for anti-Israel militants. Israeli media reported the ship was searched and then released after no weapons were found. The officials said that Israeli forces boarded the vessel Sunday about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off Israel's coast. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. They said the ship was suspected of smuggling arms but would not disclose further details, calling the raid "routine."

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Netanyahu downplays Egyptian natural gas cutoff
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - April 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in his first comments about the cutoff of Egyptian gas to Israel, played it down Monday, saying it was the result of a commercial dispute. "We don't see this gas cutoff as something that is born out of political developments," he told a group of Israel Bonds leaders on Monday. "This is actually a business dispute between the Israeli company and the Egyptian company."

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Christians of the Holy Land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CBS News
by Bob Simon - (Interview) April 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Christianity may have been born in the Middle East, but Arab Christians have never had it easy there, especially not today. In Iraq and Egypt, scores of churches have been attacked, hundreds murdered. In Syria, revolution seriously threatens Christian communities. The one place where Christians are not suffering from violence is the Holy Land: but Palestinian Christians have been leaving in large numbers for years.

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Egypt Cancels the Delivery of Gas to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by David Kirkpatrick - April 22, 2012 - 12:00am

CAIRO — Egypt’s state-owned natural gas company said Sunday that it was ending a deal to ship gas to Israel because of a payment dispute. Israeli officials responded by warning that the termination cast a new shadow over the bilateral peace treaty. The gas deal, signed in 2005, has become a target here in Cairo for broader resentment of the supportive relationship with Israel that was forged by Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president.

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April 20th

Radical action needed after Oslo's decline
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The National - April 20, 2012 - 12:00am

In 1993, when the Oslo Accords were signed and the Palestinian Authority was born, the senior Israeli politician Yossi Beilin was a leading advocate for Palestinian self-rule. The accords, and the Authority, were intended to pave the way for permanent solutions on borders, refugees and two-state control.

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NEWS: Hamas leader Abu Marzook, in a wide-ranging interview with the Jewish Daily Forward, says his organization seeks a long-term truce with Israel, but not peace, and would not be bound by any conflict-ending agreement made by the PLO. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood condemns a visit to occupied East Jerusalem by Grand Mufti Gomaa. An Israeli man is stabbed by a Palestinian in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli officials say rockets fired from Gaza were smuggled from Libya. UN officials say the execution of three men by Hamas recently was unlawful and executions should stop. Doctors say an 18-year-old Palestinian shepherd was shot by Israeli forces during a training exercise in the northern West Bank. Newly released Israeli documents describe the interrogation of Marwan Barghouti 10 years ago. Pres. Abbas may be using is Asia tour to gauge support for Palestinian UN nonmember state status. A Danish protester whose assault by an Israeli soldier was caught on video says no one would have cared about the incident if he were a Palestinian. Fewer Israelis are immigrating to the United States in recent years and more are returning to Israel due to a booming economy. COMMENTARY: Raja Shehadeh says Palestinians handled this Easter's celebrations superbly. Shmuel Rosner says the uproar over the proposed law allowing the Knesset to overrule the Supreme Court is unjustified. Baha Hilo says, despite Israeli claims, real problems facing Palestinian Christians mainly come from dealing with Israel, not Palestinian Muslims. Ha'aretz says Israel is allowing settlers to impose anarchy in the occupied Palestinian territories. Hirsh Goodman says the Israeli soldier who struck unarmed activists with his rifle is a disgrace. Patrick Seale says Israel's regional power is waning, and will be even further eroded if Western negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program are successful. Yossi Eli looks at the complicated story behind the reopening of the St. George Hotel in occupied East Jerusalem. Omri Meniv looks at controversies surrounding whether or not to include any aspects of the Palestinian national narrative in Israel's school curricula. Jackson Diehl says Abbas is continuously undermining his own cause through miscalculations. The National says dismantling the PA may be too extreme but when Palestinians are reduced to self-starvation to gain leverage with Israel, something is urgently required to radically alter the status quo.

Fewer Israelis Immigrate to U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - April 19, 2012 - 12:00am

The various laws of return seem to be working. Fewer Israelis are moving to the United States while a growing number of American Jews are immigrating to the Jewish state and more Israelis living abroad are making their way back home, new immigration statistics show. The numbers seem to herald a victory for Israel, which has taken bold steps to keep its citizens from moving away. But the immigration data may be more indicative of America’s economic woes than of Israel’s growing attractiveness.

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Danish Protester: ‘No One Would Care if a Palestinian was hit with a Rifle’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - April 20, 2012 - 12:00am

Without the video, all Andreas Ias would have to show for his weekend bicycle ride in the Jordan valley would be two stitches and a slightly swollen lower lip – plus a hardening anger about the treatment by Israeli soldiers of Palestinians. But a few seconds of footage uploaded to YouTube catapulted the 20-year-old Danish activist into the media spotlight, drew statements from the Israeli prime minister, president and chief of staff, led to the disciplining of an Israeli army officer, and prompted debate over the use of video cameras as a weapon of modern warfare.

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Postscript: A shroud of shame
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hirsh Goodman - (Opinion) April 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner, a senior officer in the Central Command, takes his rifle butt and bashes it into the face of a young Danish pro-Palestinian protester on a bicycle near Jericho. Instead of flatly condemning the officer, this paper, among others, has tried to justify his actions both editorially and by publishing op-ed pieces and letters in his defense.

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Israel fights anarchy on all fronts, except in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) April 20, 2012 - 12:00am

The prime minister, several cabinet members and senior IDF officers boasted this week of their victory over "anarchists" who wanted to disrupt law and order in the territories. Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner's proponents argued that the deputy commander of the Jordan Valley brigade, who smashed his rifle in the face of a Danish peace activist, was protecting his soldiers from a group of anarchists.

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