November 20th

Hamas rule ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) November 19, 2012 - 1:00am It is tempting to call for the toppling of Hamas’s rule in Gaza. In the long run, the only way to stop the barrage of rocket and mortar fire directed at Israeli civilians may indeed be to remove Hamas from power altogether. As was the case in the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead, any sort of cease-fire – even one that comes after a critical blow to Hamas’s infrastructure – will be temporary. » Read more

Before the next baby dies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish - (Opinion) November 20, 2012 - 1:00am TORONTO – People have been asking me in the past few days if the current situation has opened the wound in my heart. The truth is that this wound has never been closed, so there is nothing to open. » Read more

End the war while you're ahead ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - November 19, 2012 - 1:00am The first day of Operation Pillar of Defense was quite successful. The Hamas military chief was assassinated and Hamas' long-range rocket capability was impaired, sending the radical Palestinian group into shock. The second day went pretty well too: Iron Dome proved its worth, Israeli civilians proved their steadfastness and Israel showed that it still enjoys a fair amount of international legitimacy and domestic cohesion. » Read more

The callousness of Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) November 19, 2012 - 1:00am Of all the points of disagreement between Israel and Hamas, maybe the most profound is this one: Israel cares more about sparing innocent lives — including those of Palestinians — than does Hamas. Not only have Hamas and other militant groups this year sent more than 700 rockets crashing haphazardly into southern Israel, but also Hamas instigated yet another war where the chief loser will certainly be its own people. If hell has a beach, it’s located in Gaza. » Read more

Rivlin: Pillar of Defense likely to delay election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Lahav Harkov - (Analysis) November 19, 2012 - 1:00am   Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin suggested that the upcoming election may be postponed in light of the Gaza conflict. » Read more

Gaza Without End ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) November 19, 2012 - 1:00am HOW does it end in Gaza? This has been the issue with all the self-defeating Israeli military offensives of the past 16 years — Operation Grapes of Wrath in Lebanon, Operation Cast Lead in Gaza and now Operation Pillar of Defense, all of them, not coincidentally, initiated on the eve of national elections in Israel. Gilad Sharon, the son of Ariel Sharon who orchestrated Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, has an idea for an ending. He expressed it this way in The Jerusalem Post: » Read more

Gaza's 96 dead include farmers, water sellers and the girl next door ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Analysis) November 20, 2012 - 1:00am   Farmers on their way to sell vegetables in the marketplace, vendors of purified drinking water and people who just happened to live too close to the targets of Israeli air strikes were among the 34 Palestinians estimated to have been killed in Israel Defense Forces attacks in the past two days alone. » Read more

Israelis ponder alternatives to 'mowing the lawn' in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - (Analysis) November 20, 2012 - 1:00am Not too many Israelis seem able or willing to articulate a long-term solution for Gaza » Read more

Hamas’s Illegitimacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) November 19, 2012 - 1:00am The death of more than 100 Palestinians and the wounding of hundreds of others in the six-day-old Gaza war were not enough for the top leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshal. Speaking in Cairo on Monday, he taunted Israel to begin a ground invasion, saying “if you wanted to launch it, you would have done it.” He ignored the fact that an invasion would kill many more Palestinians and further devastate the Gaza Strip, which, in August, before the current fighting, the United Nations predicted would be unlivable by 2020. » Read more

Israel's Arab, Jewish population divided on military operation in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua (Analysis) November 20, 2012 - 1:00am   As rocket barrages continue to hit Israel and Gaza and the "Operation Pillar of Defense," launched by Israel against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, enters its sixth day, Israeli and Arab residents in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have different take on Israel's offensive in the coastal enclave. » Read more