November 13th, 2012

Israeli threat a sign of growing anxiety ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) November 12, 2012 - 1:00am The Palestinian people should take satisfaction from Israel's latest bit of bluster, because it reveals growing alarm over the world's steadily growing support for Palestine. To be sure, there is nothing pleasing about the threat, made on Saturday by the Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, that Israel will stop collecting taxes on the PA's behalf, and withhold money already collected, if the Palestinians persevere in their effort to take a step, via the United Nations, towards statehood. » Read more

The Israeli documentary putting military rule in Palestine on trial ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rachel Shabi - (Film Review) November 12, 2012 - 1:00am The Law In These Parts, an Israeli documentary awarded this year's Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury prize, examines how the country created a military-legal system to control the Palestinians in the lands Israel occupied in 1967. And at some point during the film, it becomes clear that it's the judges who are on trial. The documentary, which just screened as part of the UK Jewish Film Festival, features forceful archive footage, alongside a line-up of Israeli legal experts, explaining how they made Israel's occupation laws. » Read more

Israel’s situation, strategy in Obama’s second term ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Barry Rubin - (Opinion) November 11, 2012 - 1:00am What should Israel’s policy and priorities be during President Barack Obama’s second term? There will be two key themes: minimize antagonism and cope with the negative consequences of US regional policy. Protect bilateral relations » Read more

Israel will avoid Gaza war but may mull Hamas assassinations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) November 12, 2012 - 1:00am Sunday was another grueling day for Negev residents as dozens of missiles and mortar shells rained down from the Gaza Strip, leaving three people with shrapnel wounds and forcing hundreds of thousands into their protected spaces. The Israel Air Force killed two Islamic Jihad activists in a retaliatory strike, but the escalation in the south is increasing the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intensify Israel's military response. » Read more

Apartheid, by any other name ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) November 11, 2012 - 1:00am Are we really as terrible as all that? Anyone who tries to draw a comparison between the occupation regime in the territories to the South African apartheid regime - and their number is rising constantly - is instantly labeled anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. But the facts justify the comparison. No, Israel is not an apartheid state, but the occupation in the territories is apartheid. » Read more

Who has a tighter iron fist, Hamas or Israel? It's hard to tell ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) November 12, 2012 - 1:00am The police dispersed the protesters by force. Female protesters, actually, which might make everything more readable and enticing, especially when we go on to say that it was the Hamas police who used clubs and fists to break up a demonstration organized by the General Federation of Palestinian women. » Read more

My President Is Busy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) November 10, 2012 - 1:00am ISRAELI friends have been asking me whether a re-elected President Obama will take revenge on Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu for the way he and Sheldon Adelson, his foolhardy financier, openly backed Mitt Romney. My answer to Israelis is this: You should be so lucky. » Read more

The Foreign Policy Agenda ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) November 11, 2012 - 1:00am National security didn’t play heavily in the presidential election. But President Obama’s legacy, and the country’s future, will be shaped as much by the foreign policy and defense decisions he makes over the next four years as by those on the domestic side. » Read more

Arab Americans Need Political Normalization ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) November 12, 2012 - 1:00am Following the recent election, and noting the growing influence of nontraditional power blocs such as Latinos, Arab Americans have again raised the question of how they can become politically empowered. There is only one answer: become politically "normal" Americans. » Read more

Breast Cancer Screening Comes to Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours - November 12, 2012 - 1:00am DURA, Occupied West Bank, Nov 12 2012 (IPS) - Fatmeh Abu Hrar Tabeel has had her first ever breast cancer screening. “It feels good to know, of course. Thanks to god, I am well,” the 51-year-old mother of seven told IPS. “Now I can examine myself once a month from home; the doctor showed me how.” » Read more