Anti-Semitism—Bad for Palestinians, Too ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) October 5, 2012 - 12:00am Pro-tip: If your goal is to help the Palestinian people, anti-Semitism is a really poor tool. I happen to be among those who feel that the anti-Semitism accusation is often made far too lightly, flung about at the drop of a settlement boycott or a Goldstone Report, as if any criticism of anything that any Israeli ever does is, by definition, gratuitous Jew hatred. » Read more

Inside Bibi's Bunker ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Chuck Freilich - (Opinion) October 4, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's use of a cartoon bomb to illustrate Israel's red lines regarding the Iranian nuclear program may have elicited guffaws among the foreign-policy punditocracy, but the issue is no laughing matter. In fact, Israel's entire defense bureaucracy has long been engaged in an exhaustive assessment of what is undoubtedly among the most difficult decisions Israel has ever faced -- and perhaps the most difficult since David Ben-Gurion declared independence. » Read more

Where Settlers' 'Price Tag' Policy Meets Israel’s Mask of Hypocrisy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth by Alex Fishman - (Opinion) October 4, 2012 - 12:00am When it comes to [the acts of vandalism perpetrated by Israeli right-wing extremists] "price tag" policy, the government of Israel is hiding behind a mask of pretense and double standards. On the one hand, it requests the law enforcement bodies to crush the phenomenon, the same way they are dealing with Arab terror. On the other hand, it refrains from putting at their disposal the legal measures that would enable them to do so. » Read more

Khaled Mishal the “Zionist agent”! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) October 4, 2012 - 12:00am During the Israeli war on Gaza in early 2009, the Hamas movement was criticized for its recklessness in exposing Gaza to destruction and havoc only to serve the goals of Iran, Hezbollah and Bashar al-Assad in the region. Wise commentators said that the war was not justified, and that it was just another adventure for Hamas after Hezbollah’s adventure in Lebanon in 2006. » Read more

Israelis Look Nervously Across to Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Linda Gradstein - (Opinion) October 4, 2012 - 12:00am Fears that Syria’s Violence Could Spill Over Border into Israel » Read more

Both Israeli and Arab, a poet straddles a conflict ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eli Eliyahu - (Interview) October 3, 2012 - 12:00am Our interview has barely begun when Marwan Makhoul says to me, “It’s not easy for me to be interviewed by an Israeli newspaper. We, the Palestinian residents of Israel, are threatened by both sides, the Arab and the Israeli. We’re neither here nor there. We haven’t found a fitting definition for ourselves.” Makhoul, an Arab poet, and I, a Jewish journalist, are together to discuss the Hebrew-language publication of his book, “Land of the Sad Passiflora.” Many of the poems in this volume, he tells me, come straight out of his own biography. » Read more

Royal corruption ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Salman Masalha - (Opinion) October 5, 2012 - 12:00am Is it conceivable that foreign governments are buying political parties and public figures in Israel? This no doubt sounds like an unthinkable fabrication to you. But such corruption is indeed taking place here, far from the eyes of the public. His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan buys political parties and spiritual leaders in Israel. This is done quietly without anyone here showing the least bit of surprise. » Read more

William Hague intervenes over West Bank barrier ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am The British foreign secretary and the Archbishop of Westminster have joined forces in opposing the route of Israel's vast barrier along the West Bank, which adversely affects a community of monks, nuns and Christian families near Bethlehem. In a private letter seen by the Guardian, William Hague told Archbishop Vincent Nichols that he shared his "concerns about the problem of land confiscation by the Israeli authorities affecting the people of Beit Jala and similar Palestinian communities in the occupied territories". » Read more

Israel, Palestinians cooperate on Gaza Internet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am For two days hostilities ceased along a half kilometer stretch of the Gaza fence as Israelis and Palestinians jointly toiled to provide the strip with its first high speed internet service. It will take another two weeks for the service to be up and running, said Maj. Adam Avidan who heads the foreign relations department for the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Administration to the Gaza Strip. “It will allow Gazans to connect to the world, and hopefully to peace,” he said. » Read more

Gates: No blank check from US to Israel on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post October 5, 2012 - 12:00am Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated on Thursday that Washington must make it clear to Israeli leaders that the US must not permit Israel to harm American interests. Speaking at an event in Norfolk, Virginia, Gates commented that the Israeli leaders must be aware they "do not have a blank check to take action that could do grave harm to American vital interests." » Read more