April 16th

From Yamit to the Jordan Valley, the IDF continues to force Arabs from their homes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Analysis) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am Last week, evacuees of Yamit marked the 30th anniversary of the demolition of their illegal settlement in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. Radio reports blithely skirted the fact that the construction of these Sinai settlements was preceded by mass destruction. Under orders from then-defense minister Moshe Dayan and Southern Command head Ariel Sharon, in 1972 the Israel Defense Forces secretly expelled 1,500 Bedouin families from the Al-Ramilat tribes, from a 140,000 dunam area. » Read more

Israel should never forget its Mideast atrocities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am The person who symbolized "the other Germany" more than anyone in West Germany, the person who was Germany's conscience throughout his literary career, has made the Israeli establishment and its clones crazy. These people have responded pettily and violently. Gunter Grass' service in the Wafen SS when he was 17 has nothing to do with his positions. You need lots of chutzpah and maybe even ignorance to think the Germans don't know how many despicable Nazis Israel catered to, as long as they supported its policies. » Read more

Netanyahu fears victory over Iran's nuclear program ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am A recent skit on the sketch comedy "Eretz Nehederet" featured a "debate" about the Iranian nuclear program between U.S. and Israeli leaders. After some discussion, U.S. President Barack Obama accedes to the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and he urges them to attack Iran. Netanyahu and Barak exchange frightened glances and plead with Obama to stop them. » Read more

Arab revolts fail to stir divided Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Noah Browning - (Analysis) April 15, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 15 (Reuters) - Popular uprisings have transformed the Middle East and North Africa in the past year, unseating four veteran autocrats and capturing the imagination of a generation of youths. But the protests have left Palestinians - long at the centre of the Arab world's main political conflict - unmoved. Dejected by lingering political divisions and exhausted by decades of mostly fruitless rebellion against Israel, they appear to have lost their appetite to take their fight for change up another level. » Read more

Jews Cast Wary Eye on Evangelicals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - April 16, 2012 - 12:00am Washington — Advocates for improved relations between Jews and Christian evangelicals had hoped that years of working together to support Israel would build bridges between the two otherwise distant communities. But a new poll indicates that mistrust and suspicion still run deep, at least on the Jewish side. Only one in five Jewish Americans holds favorable views of those aligned with the Christian right, a category that includes most of Israel’s evangelical supporters. » Read more

Palestinians Ban Sale of Israeli Produce ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - April 15, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority (PA) started to block the sale of Israeli potatoes as part of a new policy to support local farmers and remove foreign produce in the marketplace, agriculture officials told The Media Line. “We are doing this to protect the farmers because they can’t sell their potatoes due to the cheaper ones the Israelis are unloading on us,” said Zakaria Salawdeh, a deputy director of the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry, saying that the ban wasn’t directed against Israel for political reasons. » Read more

'US will veto any Palestinian statehood bid at UN' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post April 16, 2012 - 12:00am The United States will continue to act against Palestinian attempts to gain recognition through the United Nations, and if necessary will use its veto to that end, US ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro said Monday. Speaking at the Netanya Academic College, Shapiro said that there are no shortcuts to peace in the Middle East, and the Palestinians must return to direct negotiations with Israel without preconditions, on the basis of what was outlined by US President Barack Obama. » Read more

Gantz: Israel can handle all enemies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yoav Zitun - April 16, 2012 - 12:00am "The Shoah was the darkest period in the history of mankind and Judaism," IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said on Monday, "But we mustn't forget that even before (the Holocaust) and after it there were those who sought to erase Jacob's descendents from the face of the planet." Speaking at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Gantz stressed that "today the situation is completely different. We are facing these threats with an army that can handle everything." » Read more

Abbas dismisses idea of dismantling PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 16, 2012 - 12:00am TOKYO (Ma’an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday dismissed the idea of dismantling the Palestinian Authority, during an interview with Japanese media. "Where do the writers of such reports get their ideas and information from," Abbas replied when asked by Japanese media about the proposal raised in a US magazine. Yossi Beilin, one of the authors of the Oslo Accords, made the appeal in Foreign Policy magazine. Regarding a letter being sent to Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, next week, Abbas said it would highlight the negative effects of settlement activity. » Read more

Abbas defends security cooperation with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 16, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will not stop security liaison with Israel despite the breakdown of peace negotiations. Abbas, in an interview with a Palestinian newspaper, also said he will not dissolve the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in response to the lack of chances to build an independent state. » Read more