Israel Still Occupies and Isolates Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Dimitris Bouris, Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) January 17, 2012 - 1:00am A kidnapped soldier has been returned for over a 1,000 Palestinians but Tel Aviv continues to fall back on the fact that Hamas is still in power. Three years ago, Israel was carrying out Operation Cast Lead that took the lives of over 1.500 Palestinians in Gaza. The official reason for the Israeli invasion was to recover a soldier; the intended purpose was to remove Hamas; the result was wanton destruction that "this time we went too far", according to Israeli columnist Gideon Levy. » Read more

Could corruption trial stop the rise of the black sheep of Israeli politics? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - January 17, 2012 - 1:00am Described once by an American magazine editor as a "neo-fascist" and a "certified gangster", Israel's firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is no stranger to controversy. It has not stopped him from building up a devoted following that has propelled his party to the forefront of Israeli politics. But as a more than decade-long corruption probe nears its conclusion, even this canny political survivor may find that this is one controversy he cannot so easily dodge. » Read more

Could corruption trial stop the rise of the black sheep of Israeli politics? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - January 17, 2012 - 1:00am Described once by an American magazine editor as a "neo-fascist" and a "certified gangster", Israel's firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is no stranger to controversy. It has not stopped him from building up a devoted following that has propelled his party to the forefront of Israeli politics. But as a more than decade-long corruption probe nears its conclusion, even this canny political survivor may find that this is one controversy he cannot so easily dodge. » Read more

Palestinians need Arab help urgently ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) January 17, 2012 - 1:00am The economic situation of the Palestinian Authority has grown so serious that it is affecting the basic needs of Palestinians. Help from the more prosperous Arab countries seems the most likely way to avert serious damage to the social structure of the already-stressed Occupied Territories. The PA raises little of its own revenue, and now Israel and foreign donors are strangling it, mainly through suspension of the remittance of US$100 million (Dh367mn) in taxes that Israel collects on behalf of the PA. » Read more

The Quieter Upheavals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) January 17, 2012 - 1:00am The narrative of last September from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide is strikingly similar. The high point in Israel came September 3, when nearly half a million people took to the streets in peaceful protest against an economic system that they argued betrayed the Zionist dream. A few weeks later, the Palestinian Authority president delivered his historic request for statehood to the United Nations. » Read more

Op-Ed: Why Jews should care about the rights of Israeli Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Sidney Schwarz - (Opinion) January 13, 2012 - 1:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- About a year and half ago, I participated in a fact-finding mission to Israel sponsored by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arabs (IATF). Established in 2006 as a consortium of some of the major organizations in American Jewish life -- including the Joint Distribution Committee, the Conference of Presidents, Jewish Federations of North America, the ADL and the American Jewish Committee -- the IATF is committed to raising awareness of the circumstances of the 20 percent of Israel’s citizens who are Arab. » Read more

Encountering Peace: Fayyad's dream ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) January 16, 2012 - 1:00am The victims of Israeli-Palestinian violence over the past 10 years were the victims of the absence of peace. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was interviewed in the UK-based Jewish Chronicle this week (“PA shares Israel’s nuclear Iran fears” by Stephen Pollard, January 12, 2012). “We are greatly harmed by [Iranian] President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad projecting himself as a spokesman for the Palestinians,” said Fayyad. “He seeks the destruction of Israel. We do not. We are deeply troubled by Iran’s interventions and we suffer from them.” » Read more

Israeli Arabs have never been equal before the law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) January 17, 2012 - 1:00am Last week's decision by the High Court of Justice to uphold the amendment to the Citizenship Law that keeps Palestinians apart from their Israeli spouses has closed a chapter in the life of Israeli democracy. The Supreme Court no longer wants to protect Israel's Arab citizens. » Read more

Israel's negative campaign against Palestinians is on the backburner, for now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) January 16, 2012 - 1:00am The Prime Minister’s Office, as well as senior officials in the Palestinian Authority have been reporting, rather laconically, on the positive atmosphere and the in-depth and serious discussions taking place in Jordan, despite the hidden bitterness and anger on the side of the Israelis. When the talks started, both sides committed to Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh that they would avoid leaking information, and make sure that the contents of the talks would remain within his office's hands. » Read more

Palestinian Authority's cash crisis bites deep ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - January 16, 2012 - 1:00am TEL AVIV // In the wake of the biggest financial crisis faced by the Palestinian Authority, Ibrahim Barham has grown worried about the future of his computer wholesale business. After all, the companies to which Mr Barham's firm, Safad, distributes products such as laptops and desktop computers have not been paid in months by a major client - the West Bank-based government. » Read more