July 14th

Palestinians call on US to support UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Agence France Press (AFP) - July 14, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinians have called on the United States to reverse course and support their United Nations membership bid, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday. Erekat, speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, said the Palestinians had been in touch with Washington after a meeting of the Middle East peacemaking Quartet this week that failed to produce a final joint statement. » Read more

'Balance of terror' sustains tense calm between Hezbollah and Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Nicholas Blanford and Joshua Mitnick - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am As Lebanon’s militant Shiite group Hezbollah and the Israeli army prepare to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2006 war on Tuesday, the tense calm along the traditionally volatile Lebanon-Israel border is being tested by recent regional developments. Still, analysts say, the calm should hold for now. The durability of the “balance of terror” that has helped deter another conflict is rooted in the reluctance of Hezbollah and Israel to embark upon another conflict that both appreciate will be of a far greater magnitude than that of 2006. » Read more

Undemocratic, immoral law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Nechama Duek - (Opinion) July 14, 2011 - 12:00am The Boycott Law’s approval by the Knesset turned Israel and us, its citizens, into members in a club I would not want to be a member of. The boycotters club. In other words, the new law calls for boycotting the boycotters. This law wishes to silence people, stifle a different kind of thinking, and force people to do things that contradict their conscience, beliefs and democratic right. » Read more

Why Israelis must fight against the boycott law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) July 14, 2011 - 12:00am I have never preached publicly to others to boycott the products of the settlements. Everyone should follow his own conscience. Just as I try to buy blue-and-white Israeli products, I also try not to buy "black": products with a very black flag flying over them, a flag of injustice and theft. The Boycott Law that was passed this week is causing me to change direction: From now on I will publicly preach to others, too, not to buy black products. Yes, boycott them! » Read more

ISRAEL: A welcome to South Sudan ... and maybe a lesson at home ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Batsheva Sobelman - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am Hundreds of Sudanese and other African asylum seekers and migrants celebrated the independence of South Sudan in Israel on Sunday, flocking from all ends of the country to a southern neighborhood of Tel Aviv, the home away from home for many migrants. » Read more

July 13th

A Self-Defeating Boycott Bill ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Opinion) July 13, 2011 - 12:00am Supporters of Israel's settlement movement want to criminalize calls for boycotts, not only of Israel, but of products made in the settlements. The way to fight calls to boycott Israel itself is through argument; the way to fight calls to boycott settlements is to bring about the creation of a Palestinian state, and let the settlers become part of Palestine, or encourage them to come home to Israel proper. About the boycott-Israel movement I have no mixed feelings at all; it is a type of anti-Jewish discrimination campaign (as are these awful flotillas). » Read more

Knesset of Fools ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Hussein Ibish - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am In the latest of a series of extraordinarily self-defeating moves, Israel's legislature, the Knesset, has just adopted the so-called "Boycott Bill," penalizing any call within Israel to boycott Israel or its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The new law allows for civil suits against boycott supporters, denies them state benefits, and prevents the Israeli government from doing business with them. » Read more

Israel Kicks Down its own Democratic Hill? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Steve Clemons - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am Part of the annual foreign policy ritual in Washington is that the US President, Vice President, and leading Members of Congress make major campaign and fundraising speeches, sign on to resolutions, and pledge unconditional support to Israel, often referring to it as "the only genuine democracy in the Middle East." But will it remain so? The Israel Knesset just passed 47-38 a bill outlawing its citizens from supporting any anti-Israel boycotts. » Read more

A Palestinian View: September needs Israel's awakening and not politicians' bluffs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Mahdi Abdul Hadi - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am The proposal made by Yossi Alpher and several other Israelis of "Buying into Palestinian Statehood" (New York Times, June 24, 2011) is based on several wishful assumptions for the "day after". » Read more

I support Israel by working for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Jennifer Aaronson - (Blog) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am A few years ago I was walking down the streets of San Francisco wearing an old t-shirt that said pro-peace, pro-Israel. A man yelled back at me that I could not believe in both. I was so shocked by his outburst that I didn't know how to respond-so I chose to ignore him. I was only fifteen at the time so that was probably for the best; however, that encounter has been ingrained in my mind ever since. » Read more