Israel Stands to Gain From Assad's Ouster ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Eli Avidar - (Opinion) July 24, 2012 - 12:00am Ever since the demonstrations began in Syria in January 2011, the world has waited for a tie-breaking development in the struggle between the regime and the rebels. » Read more

Under Israeli blockade of Gaza, books are a rare, cherished commodity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ruqaya Izzidien - July 24, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip has been blamed for a multitude of problems facing the population there: malnutrition, unemployment, limited access to electricity and potable water. » Read more

What if Rabin Had Lived? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Ben Caspit - (Opinion) July 24, 2012 - 12:00am This week 20 years ago, Yitzhak Rabin's government was sworn in to the Knesset. Following the defeat of the Likud, Yitzhak Shamir retired permanently from political life. Rabin had prepared meticulously for his rise to power. » Read more

Hamas PM heads to Egypt to seek lift of Gaza closure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 25, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Prime minister of the Hamas authority in Gaza, Ismail Haneya, will visit Egypt Wednesday and meet Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to discuss lifting the blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. It will be the first meeting between the Hamas official and the Egyptian president. » Read more

Israel's crackdown on UN aid organization part of an assault on democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Michael Sfard - (Opinion) July 25, 2012 - 12:00am You don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to grasp that Israel's democracy is under attack. » Read more

Abbas to delay Palestinian UN bid until after US elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel by Gabe Fisher - July 24, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to delay a Palestinian bid for UN recognition until after US elections in the fall, Arabic daily Al Hayat reported on Tuesday. Last year, Abbas sought full UN membership for Palestine but failed to win the necessary votes in the UN Security Council. Palestine was eventually accepted as a member of UNESCO, the UN’s cultural and educational arm, in a separate process that drew harsh condemnation from Israel and the US. » Read more

Why Israel’s Right will stay in power ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) July 25, 2012 - 12:00am Over the last weekend the New York Times published an editorial entitled "Israel's embattled democracy" that expresses concern that Israel may be distancing itself from the liberal democratic principles on which it was founded. Of course, Jewish right-wing groups, both in Israel and the US, will point out that the NYT is anti-Israel, and that therefore we can simply disregard what they say. » Read more

Arafat documentary paints intimate portrait of late leader ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Brandon Davis - (Opinion) July 19, 2012 - 12:00am He has been called a terrorist, a freedom fighter and the founding father of the Palestinian nation - and in Richard Symons' and Joanna Natasegara » Read more

Fayyad meets EU parliament member ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 25, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The prime minister in Ramallah met Tuesday with an Austrian social democrat politician and called for international action to stop Israel's violations of international law. Salam Fayyad told Hannes Swoboda that Israel's violations were "endangering the two-state solution," and called for European and international intervention to stop plans to demolish eight villages. Fayyad said Israel's plan, disclosed Monday by Israeli media, will displace 1,500 Palestinians. » Read more

Israel confronts a flood of African refugees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Ruth Marcus - (Opinion) July 24, 2012 - 12:00am Walk through Levinsky Park near the central bus station here and you might think you were in another country. African men, and some women, occupy every inch of a low stone bench in the brutal sun. Blankets are stashed in the branches of a eucalyptus tree, to be retrieved at nightfall. » Read more