Reality catches up with Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Schanzer - (Opinion) October 12, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas' long-standing political leader Khaled Meshal was in trouble the moment Western sanctions - punishment for Iran's illicit nuclear activities - began eating into Tehran's funding for its longtime Palestinian proxy. Meshal's job, after all, was to manage the lucrative Iran-Syria-Hamas axis. Then Bashar Assad began mowing down Sunnis in Syria, making it impossible for Hamas to remain there without appearing complicit. When the group pulled its headquarters out of Damascus in February, there was no denying it: Meshal was toast. » Read more

Red Lines in the Sand ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Graham Allison - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been campaigning for an unambiguous red line to stop Iran's nuclear advance. In an infelicitous foray into American politics last month, he took to the Sunday morning television shows to insist that Barack Obama act to stop Iran, saying, "You have to place that red line before them now." Smarting from the Obama administration's refusals, he challenged the U.S. » Read more

I Wish I Could Vote Bibi, But I Can't ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Gil Troy - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am During this difficult moment in history, with Iran rapidly progressing toward nuclear status, with world economies still fragile, and with Western values under attack, Israel needs strong leadership. In the upcoming elections, I would love to vote for Israel’s popular and powerful prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, giving him a clear mandate to lead domestically and diplomatically.  But, like so many Israelis, I will search elsewhere for political redemption and reassurance, knowing just how limited the choice really is. » Read more

Hamas-Jihad Rocket Strikes Change Israel's Gaza Strategy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from As-Safir by Helmi Moussa - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am High-level Israeli military circles warned that the only way to avoid escalation in the Gaza Strip may be through the implementation of a ground operation. The threats came following a night of heated confrontations, during which settlements in the so-called "Gaza envelope" [the area of Israel abutting the Gaza Strip] were subject to a number of rocket attacks whose number, accuracy and source surprised the Israeli leadership. For Hamas, conditions are seemingly ripe for changing the rules of the game with which Israel is familiar. » Read more

Are you serious? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am The above title is a popular expression of disapproval previously used by my colleague Dr. Mamoun Fandy in an article about the previous stances of the Qatari Prime Minister. Now I find myself having to borrow the same expression following the rhetoric put forth by the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Mishal, in his recent address in Qatar. » Read more

Steps Israel should take to control its destiny ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Gilead Sher - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am TEL AVIV (JTA) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told European diplomats that he will resume negotiations with Israel on a two-state solution after the United Nations votes in November on a Palestinian request for "non-member state" status. What’s most interesting about the widespread report this week is that Abbas made no mention of his longstanding demand for Israel to halt West Bank settlement construction, which Israel has refused, before peace talks resume. » Read more

When Palestinian jail hurts more than Israeli incarceration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Alex Lavac, Gideon Levy - (Opinion) October 12, 2012 - 12:00am He was waiting for us at the entrance to his handsome and well-appointed stone house, atop the hill on which the homes of Jenin refugee camp residents are perched. Skinnier than ever - he lost seven kilograms in hunger strikes - Zakaria Zubeidi, the "cat with nine lives," was finally released on bail after being detained for five months in the Palestinian Authority's Jericho prison without trial. He was indicted on suspicion of taking part in a shooting attack on Jenin Governor Kadura Musa last May. » Read more

Jerusalem-born thinker Meron Benvenisti has a message for Israelis: Stop whining ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Interview) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am Meron Benvenisti was my first editor. At the beginning of the 1980s, Ariel Sharon established more than 100 settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. At the beginning of the 1980s, Meron Benvenisti founded a Jerusalem-based information center to monitor the settlements Sharon established. At the beginning of the 1980s, I was a very young, very enthusiastic young volunteer in Peace Now, which thought ‏(rightly‏) that the settlements Sharon was establishing and that Benvenisti was monitoring were going to lead Israel to perdition. » Read more

Why did we wait so long? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Adi Schwartz - (Opinion) October 12, 2012 - 12:00am The government initiative to put the history of Jews of Arab countries - along with the circumstances under which they came to Israel - on the public agenda has aroused anger and opposition. Palestinian dignitaries, among them Hanan Ashrawi and MK Ahmed Tibi, claim that raising this issue is an outrage. They have been joined in the pages of this newspaper by Gideon Levy ("How many homelands do the Israelis get to have?" September 20 ) and Yifat Bitton ("Another way to discriminate against Mizrahim," Hebrew edition, September 20). » Read more

Discrimination against Arab women ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am The rate of workforce participation among Arab women is only 28 percent, compared to 80 percent for nonreligious Jewish women. The barriers preventing Arab women from looking for work are many, but one of the main ones is their exclusion from the job market. That is what emerges from an analysis published this week by Prof. Eran Yashiv of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, based on new unemployment data generated by changes in how the Central Bureau of Statistics conducts its employment survey. » Read more