December 6th

The right is a danger to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) December 6, 2012 - 1:00am Let's set aside values. Are we indeed prepared to reinforce our status as an occupying state that controls another people for a prolonged period? Let's set aside justice and morals. Are we indeed prepared to turn Zionism into an apartheid movement that denies millions of residents their basic rights? Let's set aside identity. Are we indeed prepared to exchange a Jewish democratic state for a state of ultra-nationalist zealotry that tramples on its minorities? » Read more

PA to use new UN status to create 'international front' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Faisal J. Abbas - (Editorial) December 6, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – The Palestinian Authority will seek to take advantage of the qualitative support by some European countries against Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territory through creating an international front to urge countries to take more strict positions against Israel, says the Palestinian minister of foreign affairs. » Read more

Israel takes a harder line ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times (Editorial) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would seek recognition from the United Nations for a Palestinian state, Israel complained that Abbas should have pursued that objective in face-to-face peace negotiations and warned of grave consequences, threatening to expand settlements or even to "cancel" the peace process altogether. » Read more

How Obama Can Get Tough With Bibi ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) December 5, 2012 - 1:00am Recently, the European Union adopted harsh new Iran sanctions, strongly supported by Israel. Shortly thereafter, Israel announced new East Jerusalem settlement construction. The EU’s top official Catherine Ashton, who was about to visit Israel, condemned the announcement in measured terms; Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, publicly told her, in effect, to shove it. » Read more

Israel’s Addiction to the Status Quo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Noam Sheizaf - (Opinion) December 2, 2012 - 1:00am A well-known cliché in Israeli political discourse refers to a high rate of support among the Jewish public for a two-state solution. As the claim goes, despite the Second Intifada and the rounds of fighting against Hamas in Gaza, most Jews still prefer this solution to the annexation of the Palestinian territories. » Read more

Israel’s missing peace offensive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Shlomo Ben-Ami - (Opinion) December 5, 2012 - 1:00am Even before the latest ceasefire took hold, it had become clear that the dilemma facing Israel in Gaza entails more than simply developing military answers to the challenge posed by Hamas. » Read more

How West Bank Construction Hampers Progress for a Two-State Solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from PBS (Transcript) December 3, 2012 - 1:00am RAY SUAREZ: For more on what the construction of this settlement could mean for the stalled peace process, I'm joined by David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Ghaith Al-Omari, executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine. And, David, is this, strictly speaking, in response to the vote on observer status in the U.N., or is this some something that the Israelis have wanted to do anyway? DAVID MAKOVSKY:, Washington Institute For Near East Policy: Well, it's a little of both. » Read more

We're going to pay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Shimon Shiffer - (Opinion) December 6, 2012 - 1:00am In the past, prime ministers would react with scorn and contempt to the UN and European resolutions against Israel. "Um-Shmum," David Ben-Gurion said angrily (um is the Hebrew acronymic pronunciation for 'UN', and the 'shm'-prefix signifies contempt or irony). "Those anti-Semites," Yitzhak Rabin said of the Europeans. » Read more

Seize the opportunity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ami Ayalon - (Opinion) December 6, 2012 - 1:00am If there is one conclusion that can be drawn from the UN General Assembly vote on accepting Palestine as a non-member observer state, it is that the direct negotiations paradigm failed and has been replaced by a new concept: Constructive unilateralism. » Read more

Ben-Gurion already agreed to a Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) December 6, 2012 - 1:00am In the first years of the Oslo Accords the Israeli government didn't question the Palestinian people's right to self-determination in the land of Israel. Israel also expressed this in its mutual recognition with the PLO. » Read more