March 13th, 2013

Lots of listening, no grand initiatives expected on Obama’s Mideast trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas, Ben Sales - March 12, 2013 - 12:00am When President Obama visits Israel next week, Gavriel Yaakov wants him to jump-start the peace process. “I’m excited,” said Yaakov, 67, sitting in a Tel Aviv mall. “I want negotiations to get to an agreement on a long-term peace with the Palestinians.” Yaakov said he trusts Obama, but his friend, Yossi Cohen, is more skeptical. “I’m not excited,” said Cohen, 64, who charged that the president supports Islamists and “hasn't done anything” to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon. » Read more

Obama hoping to reach out to Israelis, but only one lucky TV station will get an interview ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - March 13, 2013 - 12:00am U.S. President Barak Obama's main goal during his visit to Israel next week will be to speak directly to the Israeli people and public opinion, over the heads of Israel's politicians. To kick-start that goal, Obama will give an interview to Israel's Channel 2 chief news anchor, Yonit Levy, who is currently in Washington. The interview will be filmed Wednesday morning, D.C. time, and will be aired in Israel Thurday nigth at 8.P.M. » Read more

Israel's Peres tells Europe to do more to pressure Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters March 12, 2013 - 12:00am Israeli President Shimon Peres urged the European Union on Tuesday to step up pressure on Iran over its ballistic missile programme, as well as trying to curb its nuclear ambitions. In a speech to the European Parliament that touched on the Jewish state's foreign policy goals, the Nobel peace laureate sought to persuade European lawmakers to act quickly on Iran, which Israel regards as an existential threat. » Read more

Egypt stops screening of film on Jewish community ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Sarah El Deeb - March 12, 2013 - 12:00am Egyptian security agencies have stopped the screening of a documentary on the Egyptian Jewish community a day before it was due to debut in local cinemas, the film producer said in a statement Tuesday. He said no reasons were given. The "Jews of Egypt", a documentary that follows the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the 20th century until they left under duress in large numbers in the late 1950s, was screened in Egypt last year in a private film festival and had been approved by censorship, a regular procedure in Egypt. » Read more

Why Israel Is Calling For Jonathan Pollard's Release Now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by J.J. Goldberg - March 12, 2013 - 12:00am In advance of President Obama’s scheduled March 20 visit, Israeli society at every level is waging an unprecedented, all-out public effort to press for the release of Jonathan Pollard, the American Jew serving a life sentence for spying for Israel. The past month has seen figures as diverse as President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, far-right Likud lawmaker Moshe Feiglin and former Hamas hostage Gilad Shalit calling on Obama to commute Pollard’s sentence to time served and set him free. » Read more

UN agency joins petition against Israeli infiltration law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 12, 2013 - 12:00am The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) joined a petition filed by human rights organizations to the Supreme Court against the Israeli law of infiltration and asked to revoke it, local media reported Tuesday. The UNHCR's unprecedented move is an attempt to overturn a law which it claims "wrongly stigmatizes and penalizes those seeking refuge." » Read more

No Prospects for Palestinian Currency ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Omar Shaban - (Opinion) March 12, 2013 - 12:00am Reinstating the Palestine pound has long been a dream for Palestinians. Nevertheless, amid the Palestinians’ eagerness to consolidate their sovereignty and in view of the reality of the Palestinian economy that is controlled by Israel, not to mention the losses and challenges that could result from such a step, it seems that this Palestinian dream still has a long way to go before becoming a reality. » Read more

The apartheid libel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) March 12, 2013 - 12:00am Israel Apartheid Week kicked off this year in Europe on February 25 and runs through March 17 in South Africa. Events include mock checkpoints, replicas of the security barrier, the screening of documentary films critical of Israel and meetings with the “victims” of the “occupation.” Organizers are united by their belief that the situation in the West Bank is comparable to the systematic racial segregation and discrimination that South Africa’s white minority instituted against the black majority. » Read more

I'm an Arab too ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Kleinberg - March 13, 2013 - 12:00am A racism allegation evokes a conditioned reflex among Israelis. We automatically reject it. We have been accused of politically-motivated racism so many times; we have been compared – foolishly or maliciously – to Nazi Germany so many times, that our natural inclination is to ignore not only the diagnosis but also the symptoms. » Read more

Palestinians seized at Cairo airport 'in possession of military maps' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 13, 2013 - 12:00am Sources at Cairo International Airport said Wednesday that seven Palestinians were in custody after being found with maps of military buildings in Cairo. An Egyptian investigative source told Ma’an that the men were on their way back home after visiting Syria and Iran. The suspects have not been identified. The Egyptian source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, added that after investigations it was determined that the men had entered Egypt via tunnels and the stamps in their passports were fake. » Read more