November 16th

Israel Girds for Ground Assault in Gaza; Egypt’s Premier Visits
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Alan Cowell, Isabel Kershner, Jodi Rudoren - November 16, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — After a morning of heavy rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, the Israeli military seemed to be edging closer to a ground invasion of Gaza on Friday, saying forces were “on standby” and “ready to enter should it be decided that a ground operation is necessary.”

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November 15th

NEWS: Rocket and missile attacks continue between Israel and Gaza, with 3 Israeli civilians and at least 13 Palestinians, including several civilians, killed. Egypt reportedly asks the US to intervene to stop the violence and recalls its envoy to Israel. The US is reportedly trying to stop the conflict from breaking Egypt-Israel relations. The violence prompts a rise in international oil prices. AP recalls Israel's long history of assassinating Hamas leaders. Pres. Abbas calls for an urgent Arab meeting on the conflict, and PLO officials ask the UN to intervene. For Israel, the new conflict comes in the context of the changed regional political landscape.Ma'an provides an obituary for slain Hamas commander al-Jaabari. Peter Beinart is banned from an Atlanta Jewish book festival. The Student Senate at UC Irvine urges university divestment from companies “complicit” in human rights violations by Israel. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says the price for the new round of violence between Israel and Hamas, motivated by their internal politics, will be paid by the ordinary Palestinians of Gaza. The New York Times says it's hard to see how a new war in Gaza will benefit Israel and that its policies would be more defensible if it were engaged in serious negotiations with the PLO. Some experts say Israel's escalation is an effort to restore deterrence. Eric Yoffie says progressive Jewish Americans should support Israel's “get tough policy” in Gaza. Barak Ravid says before the assassination, Israel did its best to lull Hamas into a false sense of security. Ha'aretz calls for calm. Eitan Haber says without a peace agreement Israel faces endless wars. Jonathan Rosen says, beyond rhetoric, its policies show the Netanyahu government wants a strong Hamas in power in Gaza. Eva Illouz looks of the disturbing pattern of Jewish and other critics of Israel's policies being automatically branded “anti-Semitic.” Elias Harfoush says the latest PLO UN initiative is pointless, but the Daily Star says it makes no sense for Hamas to engage in a conflict with Israel while the PLO is trying to achieve something at the UN. Yossi Alpher analyzes the strategic dimensions of Israel's decision to escalate in Gaza.

Gaza rockets kill 3 Israelis, hit near Tel Aviv
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM —Palestinian militants barraged Israel with nearly 150 rockets on Thursday, killing three people and striking the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv as Israel pressed a punishing campaign of airstrikes on militant targets across the Gaza Strip. As nightfall approached, the fighting showed no signs of slowing, and the rocket attack on the city of Rishon Lezion, by far the deepest target reached by Gaza militants so far, raised the likelihood of an even tougher Israeli response.

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Strategic Dimensions Of Attacking Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am

There can be no doubt that the Hamas leaders in Gaza brought this on themselves. Recent rocket attacks from the Strip no longer made any pretence of being perpetrated by more extreme Salafists and assorted jihadists. Rather than distance itself from the attacks, Hamas has been taking the credit for sending up to one million Israelis in the Gaza periphery into safe rooms and shelters.

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Improper timing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

After several days of tension, the fragile Gaza Strip has once again grabbed the world’s headlines with the type of explosion of violence that has become predictable and puzzling.

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Is This the Real Concern of the Palestinians?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat
by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am

There is a question that requires some courage to be asked at this point in time, i.e.

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Beyond Gaza rhetoric
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am

The Gaza Strip erupted in yet another convulsion of violence this past week. Over the course of three days, Palestinian militiamen fired more than 100 missiles, rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilian and military targets, sowing terror among the hundreds of thousands of people who live in southern Israel.

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Scarlet 'A' Is for 'Anti-Semitism'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Eva IIIouz - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am

Like Hester Prynne, the heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel “The Scarlet Letter” about the rigid and harsh religiosity of 17th century Puritans, many contemporary Jewish intellectuals are marked with the infamous letter ‘A’ (not for adultery as in the novel, but for anti-Semitism).

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An endless war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

The seculars among us congratulated the IDF on Wednesday while the religious between us prayed for the army and for the State of Israel, as the IDF launched Operation Pillar of Defense in response to the unstoppable rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

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Calm things down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

Ahmed Jabari, the Hamas chief of staff, was a military man who dedicated his life to war against Israel. His assassination yesterday by the Israel Defense Forces is supposed to send a message to Hamas, to the effect that it would do well to have more moderate figures as its leaders. However, past experience teaches that pinpoint assassinations of the heads of political movements and military organizations are not necessarily effective, and that they usually give rise to even more extreme leaders instead.

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