May 30th

Israeli Politicians Court American Donors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) May 30, 2012 - 12:00am For wealthy Americans these days, appeals for political contributions from candidates, party committees and now from super PACs seem never-ending. But for wealthy American Jews involved with Israel, there is, increasingly, yet one more hand outstretched, from abroad, seeking political largesse. Israeli candidates, vying for seats in the Knesset, the country’s parliament, have found a reliable funding base in American Jews willing to add their dollars to the pile of shekels fueling primary races in Israel’s major political parties. » Read more

The Merchant of Venice: A protest within a play ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Will Gompertz - (Theater Review) May 30, 2012 - 12:00am An Israeli theatre company performing a Hebrew production of The Merchant of Venice - Shakespeare's troublesome play about anti-Semitism - arrived at London's Globe Theatre amid calls for and against a boycott. Cue action on and off stage. A festival consisting of all 37 of Shakespeare's plays performed in a short space of time is likely to induce some confusion into the mind of even the bard's most ardent fan. Richards can become muddled with Henrys, shipwreck locations misplaced. » Read more

Security for Israeli settlers, not for Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eyal Gross - (Opinion) May 29, 2012 - 12:00am When the High Court of Justice upheld the constitutionality (in 2006 and again in January ) of the Citizenship Law clause prohibiting residency permits in Israel for Palestinians from the territories, even if they have an Israeli domestic partner, it based its ruling on the state's justification for the clause. That justification ostensibly stems from security concerns: The state said that in 54 cases since 2001, Palestinians who where involved in terror, or their parents, were legal residents in Israel. » Read more

Iran gingerly signaling new willingness to engage with U.S. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) May 30, 2012 - 12:00am "It was March 2004. Mohamed ElBaradei [then chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency] told me he wanted to come to Tehran, and he arrived quickly. I thought he had come to talk about nuclear issues, but he wanted to talk to me privately. He told me he had visited Washington a week earlier and had told President [George W.] Bush that the United States had to enter direct negotiations with Iran on nuclear issues. » Read more

Going Directly to Israelis and Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Shlomo Ben-Ami, Thomas C. Schelling, Jerome M. Segal, Javier Solana - (Opinion) May 30, 2012 - 12:00am With no prospect of meaningful negotiations between the Palestinians and the Netanyahu government, a new approach to peace is needed, one that focuses on the Israeli and Palestinian people themselves. Though not a perfect analogy, let’s call it UNSCOP-2 because the work of UNSCOP, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, in 1947, is the closest precedent for what is needed today. » Read more

Palestinians see 'sharp increase' in demolitions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jon Donnison - May 29, 2012 - 12:00am "Wood-fired barbecue was our speciality. Delicious," says Ramzi Kasiyah as he picks his way gingerly over a pile of rubble and twisted metal. Broken glass crackles under his feet. "We had a beautiful terrace. Now I have nothing." Up until a few weeks ago Ramzi was the proud owner of the Palestinian Al Mukhrur restaurant just outside Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Now he presides over what looks like a bomb site, a grey scar in a beautiful, small valley, still lush from the winter's rains. » Read more

No charges on 'racist' King's Torah text ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - May 30, 2012 - 12:00am Israel's Attorney General has decided not to prosecute two rabbis who wrote a controversial religious text proposing circumstances in which it is permissible to kill non-Jews even if they pose no direct physical threat of violence. » Read more

Court determines Teitel murdered Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Joanna Paraszczuck - May 29, 2012 - 12:00am The Jerusalem District Court on Monday approved an unusual plea bargain made between the district attorney and lawyers representing Jack Teitel, and determined that the defendant had murdered two Palestinians and committed other violent crimes. Judges Segal, Moshe Hacohen and Moshe Yair Drori said that the court determined that Teitel committed the acts attributed to him in an amended indictment. » Read more

Kadima MK: Send human rights activists to prison camps ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Omri Efraim - May 29, 2012 - 12:00am If given the opportunity, some Israeli human rights groups "would be the first to put haredim and settlers on buses and transfer them," Knesset Member Yulia Shamalov Berkovich said Tuesday during a heated House Committee debate of on the influx of foreign migrants into the country. » Read more

Palestinians to ask UN to recognize West Bank village as World Heritage site ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - May 30, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority is expected to ask UNESCO on Wednesday to recognize the West Bank village of Batir as a World Heritage site and prevent the construction of the separation fence there. Haaretz has obtained a copy of the request, which seeks to preserve the village's ancient agricultural terraces.