May 8th

Muslim Students: Radicals or Partners?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - (Analysis) May 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Washington — In their cautious dialogue with American Muslims, national Jewish groups have long steered clear of the Muslim Students Association, one of the biggest Muslim groups in the country and one that many Jewish communal officials see as extremist. But that red line is increasingly being ignored by Jewish students at colleges across the country, where campus Hillel foundations are finding their local MSA counterparts to be congenial partners for interfaith activities.

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Co-op boycotts exports from Israel's West Bank settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - May 28, 2012 - 12:00am

The Co-operative Group has become the first major European supermarket group to end trade with companies that export produce from illegal Israeli settlements.

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US Jews vastly prefer Obama to Romney
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - May 1, 2012 - 12:00am

BOSTON – US Jewish voters prefer US President Barack Obama to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney by 61 percent to 28%, according to a new American Jewish Committee survey released Monday. Those surveyed also approved more than disapproved of the way Obama has handled what they saw as the major issues in deciding how they would vote, when asked to list their top three: the economy (80%), health care (57%), national security (26%), taxes (26%), the US-Israel relationship (22%) and social security (22%).

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NEWS: Likud and Kadima leaders agree to cancel the planned September election in Israel and create a coalition government. PM Netanyahu says the move will enhance "stability." Palestinians express pessimism about the prospects for a peace agreement with the new Israeli government. Israel's Supreme Court refuses to release two Palestinian “administrative detainees” on hunger strike. Palestinian negotiator Erekat sufferers a non-fatal heart attack. Israel's Supreme Court says that an “unauthorized” settlement outpost must be demolished by June 1, in spite of government resistance to the order. Israeli occupation forces raid the offices of a Palestinian watchdog organization on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The EU expresses concern about the condition of Palestinian hunger striking detainees. The PA reportedly agrees on a new cabinet in which Salam Fayyad will remain prime minister but Nabil Qassis will become finance minister. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says ATFP President Ziad Asali has pioneered a genuine and indispensable Palestinian-American willingness to openly and honestly talk with pro-Israel Jewish Americans and Israeli officials. Amir Oren says Israel's new coalition government might pave the road to an attack on Iran. Bradley Burston says Israel's hand-picked government cannot last and will be soon challenged at the polls. Rep. Howard Berman says Israel's “Iron Dome” antimissile system is a strategic imperative for Israel, and also important for the United States. Meir Margalit explains what it's like working as an Israeli against the demolition of Palestinian homes and other occupation abuses. Gershon Baskin says Israeli activists are right to worry about “social justice” but should also have peace as a priority. Jonathan Marcus says Netanyahu has strengthened his political hand with the new coalition deal. Peter Joseph says a moderate middle ground must be staked out in the debate about the relationship between Jewish Americans and Israel. Khalaf Al Habtoor says there has to be a "Plan B" for Israel and the Palestinians. Nati Sharoni says Israel certainly does have a Palestinian negotiating partner, if it wants one.

Israel Does Have a Partner At the Negotiating Table
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Nati Sharoni - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am

This is the first time that former chiefs of Israeli security Meir Dagan of the Mossad and Yuval Diskin of the General Security Services (GSS or Shin Bet) have issued such a scathing warning about flawed analyses of major security risks. This is also the first time that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been accused of "messianic impulses" and of portraying a false picture of the situation.

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Plan B needed to halt Palestinian suffering
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Khalef Al Habtoor - (Opinion) May 8, 2012 - 12:00am

There is no cause dearer to my heart than that of the Palestinians and it saddens me that international efforts towards a Palestinian state are on the backburner. Since the 1980s when I got together with Emirati friends to form associations committed to supporting the Palestinians, their right of return is less viable now than it was then. Unfortunately, the idea of a Palestinian state is at the point of being shelved as a mythical Shangri-La unless we take advantage of space in a closing window.

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Moderate middle must be heard on Israel debate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Peter Joseph - (Opinion) May 7, 2012 - 12:00am

NEW YORK (JTA) -- The intellectual food fight over Israel that has played out over the Op-Ed pages of virtually all Jewish and many mainstream newspapers in recent weeks may have settled down, but the passion of the discussion has made one thing very clear: The boundaries dividing American Jewish opinion on Israel, and its policies regarding Palestinians, have become as contentious as the borders between Israel and the West Bank.

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Netanyahu's power play pays off
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Jonathan Marcus - (Opinion) May 8, 2012 - 12:00am

Having created one surprise in pushing for an early general election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now delivered an even greater bomb-shell. The plan for early elections has been abandoned. Instead a new broadly-based governing coalition has been called into existence with the opposition centre-right Kadima party of Shaul Mofaz joining the government. Many of Kadima's members of parliament were facing defeat in any early general election: they will breathe a great sigh of relief.

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Not social justice, peace!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) May 7, 2012 - 12:00am

Everyone is in agreement; this election season will be about social justice. Shaul Mofaz has suddenly discovered the economy and wants to be the hero of the under classes in Israel. Shelly Yacimovich had propelled into the public eye and has doubled the support for the Labor Party by being the champion of the working class. Yair Lapid wants to parade in front of the middle class camp. Shas always claims to represent the Israeli poor. Binyamin Netanyahu wants to convince us how much better off we are economically now than three years ago with him at the helm.

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It’s time for civil disobedience
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Meir Margalit - (Opinion) May 8, 2012 - 12:00am

I was questioned under caution! Not in a gloomy cellar, without blinding projectors like in the movies, and without Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) interrogators who shouted and caressed alternately. The questioning was conducted by officials from the Interior Ministry’s Construction Inspection Unit in Jerusalem. The suspicion – “illegal construction” that I allegedly carried out in east Jerusalem, and on more than one occasion.

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