'Digging his own grave' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) April 1, 2011 - 12:00am The wind of change that has been blowing in the Arab world, which saw the celebrated downfall of two autocratic Arab regimes, in Tunisia and Egypt, is still blowing hard in other Arab countries, especially Libya where the days of its ruler, Muammar Qadhafi, are believed numbered. » Read more

Citizenship laws in Israel cast its future in doubt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) April 1, 2011 - 12:00am In recent weeks, Israel's Knesset has passed a series of laws that make it clear there is only one kind of Israeli. Human Rights Watch has gone so far as to term the legislation, driven mainly by the hardline foreign minister Avidgor Leiberman, "race laws". » Read more

This ‘Arab Spring,’ Only Uncertainty Blooms ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 30, 2011 - 12:00am Observers are increasingly using the term “Arab spring” to describe the tsunami of revolution, revolt, state collapse and armed intervention that is sweeping the Arab world. The term implies that a better reality, a rebirth, is about to burst forth from the Arab world. Yet it is not obvious or certain that we are actually on the cusp of a better reality. » Read more

Rumsfeld: No Clemency for Pollard ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward March 31, 2011 - 12:00am Former U.S. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld said Jonathan Pollard should not be granted clemency. Rumsfeld, who served under Presidents Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, said during an interview on Israel’s Channel 10 that granting Pollard early release would send the wrong message. Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) this week became the first Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives to back the latest push for clemency for Jonathan Pollard. Earlier in March, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) became the first active Republican politician to join the recent calls for Pollard’s release. » Read more

Gaza journalists accuse Hamas of harassment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Roy Greenslade - (Blog) April 1, 2011 - 12:00am Journalists covering protests in Gaza this week have complained that they were obstructed and harassed by Hamas security forces. Four reporters - Wissam Mohamed Yasin of Al-Hurra; Ayyad Talal Taha and Mohamad al-Hassoun of Radio Watan; and Al-Arabiya cameraman Mamdouh al-Sayyid - claim they were physically assaulted. A fifth, Wajih al-Najjar, a reporter for the Palestinian news agency WAFA, said he was beaten by police during his five-hour detention. The New York-based press freedom watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists, has condemned the actions. » Read more

We in Israel welcome the Arab spring ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Shimon Peres - (Opinion) April 1, 2011 - 12:00am The Middle East has to make a historic choice: to join the new global age of democratic peace and liberal economy, or to stay clinging to its history of closed societies and autocracy. A great revolt has been initiated by young people and women, to gain freedom, bread and hope. Israel is watching with great expectation. These events are both unprecedented and unplanned. » Read more

’Post’ poll: 43% of Israeli Jews satisfied with Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - April 1, 2011 - 12:00am A significant majority of the Jewish Israeli public is dissatisfied with the performance of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, according to a Smith Research poll sponsored by The Jerusalem Post to coincide with Thursday’s second anniversary of the government’s formation. The poll of 500 adult Jewish Israelis representing a statistical sample of the population was taken Monday and Tuesday and had a margin of error of 4.5 percent. » Read more

IDF prepares for multi-front war in war games ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - April 1, 2011 - 12:00am In the face of a changing Middle East, the IDF held a set of war games this week aimed at preparing the military for all-out war against Hezbollah, Syria and Hamas. The exercise did not include soldiers or live-fire exercises, but was held to drill commanders and their decisions in the event of a large-scale war on multiple fronts. The exercise was the first overseen by new Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz. It was organized by Maj.-Gen. Gershon Hacohen, head of the IDF Colleges. » Read more

Debunking the fascist libel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) March 31, 2011 - 12:00am The term “fascist” has been bandied about quite freely by parliamentarians and public figures on the Left recently. MK Isaac Herzog, a candidate to lead Labor in the next elections, used the term during a conference organized by Peace Now in Tel Aviv last Friday to describe a series of legislative initiatives promoted primarily by Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Beiteinu Party. Other prominent left-wing intellectuals, journalists and artists have lamented “reactionary” trends overtaking our society and being given expression in the Knesset. » Read more

Love song for Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Shaked - (Opinion) March 31, 2011 - 12:00am Tareq Abu Salama sits at the heart of Bethlehem's Manger Sqaure, strumming the strings of his oud and singing protests songs against the Palestinian division and the Israeli occupation. A khaki-colored tent stands next to him, displaying a Palestinian flag and a sign calling for Palestinian unity. At the tent's entrance stands a mosaic board shaped like a Palestinian map; a large crack extends between Gaza and the West Bank. » Read more