February 6th

Urgently Palestinians need leaders of high caliber ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Stuart Littlewood - (Opinion) February 4, 2012 - 1:00am Did anyone know? Did Western media care? No. Not until reports appeared that Jewish community leaders cancelled a meeting with him after intervention by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office and Israel's embassy in London, and Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi condemned the move as “seeking to suppress and manipulate Jewish public opinion.” It was also typical of Netanyahu's “persistent efforts” to prevent dialogue, she said, according to the Palestinian Ma'an news agency. » Read more

Is Israel preparing to attack Iran? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by David Ignatius - (Opinion) February 6, 2012 - 1:00am Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days, from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But his biggest worry is the growing possibility that Israel will attack Iran militarily over the next few months. » Read more

Tewfik Mishlawi obituary ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Tim Llewellyn - (Obituary) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am Tewfik Mishlawi, who has died aged 76, was a father-figure and guru to at least three generations of journalists who went to the Middle East. They live in eternal gratitude to him and his daily digest of translation from the local and regional Arabic press and his analytical explorations of what was going on. » Read more

Equality for Palestinians? Israel won't have it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ben White - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am The presence of a few Palestinian members in the Knesset (MKs) is often touted as a sign of Israel's robust democracy. Yet elected representatives of the Palestinian community inside Israel face growing harassment by the state, by fellow MKs and the media. On Monday, the trial of MK Said Naffaa, from the Balad party, opened in Nazareth. Naffaa is charged with "travelling illegally to an enemy state, assisting in organising a visit to an enemy state, and being in contact with a foreign agent" – all relating to a trip he made to Syria as part of a Druze delegation in 2007. » Read more

Israel does not mistreat detained Palestinian children ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Amir Ofek - (Opinion) February 1, 2012 - 1:00am Your special report looks at allegations that Israel's military justice system mistreats Palestinian children who have been arrested for throwing stones. "Many are exhausted from sleep deprivation. Day after day they are fettered to the chair, then returned to solitary confinement. In the end, many sign confessions that they later say were coerced," you state. But you omit the horrific nature of the atrocities that minors, some as young as 12, can be arrested for. » Read more

Reality Check: Visit both sides of Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) February 5, 2012 - 1:00am One of my regrets, despite having lived in Israel for more than quarter of a century, is never having visited Hebron. I can still remember the lessons in heder about the Cave of the Patriarchs, which the Bible relates was bought by Abraham for 400 shekels as a burial place for his wife, Sarah, and where the religious believe Abraham himself, and his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob, alongside their wives (except for Jacob’s second wife Rachel) are also buried. » Read more

Students should visit Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Susan Hattis Rolef - (Opinion) February 5, 2012 - 1:00am Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s March 2011 decision to initiate a program whereby students from national and national- religious schools visit Hebron and its environs, exposing the students to the historical connection of the Jewish people to “the Land of the Patriarchs,” was without doubt a legitimate one. » Read more

Syria crisis reveals hypocrisy of Israel's Arab MKs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Eliezer Yaari - (Opinion) February 6, 2012 - 1:00am More than 300 people were murdered in Syria by their own government over the weekend, killed by tank, cannon and mortar fire. Their homes were destroyed and hundreds still remain buried under the ruins. There's a long trail of blood behind these numbers, flickering pictures of small children being thrown from windows and video taken with a cellphone of a man walking, a shot being heard and the man falling to the ground. » Read more

Israel can clear Mideast of nukes, it just won't ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) February 6, 2012 - 1:00am Palestinians are being regularly and illegally barred from reaching Dead Sea beaches in the occupied West Bank, according to a Supreme Court petition filed by Israel's leading civil rights organisation. The Association of Civil Rights (Acri) in Israel is challenging what it says is the frequently imposed ban by the military on Palestinians seeking to swim or relax at beaches in the northern Dead Sea. The salt-saturated sea is the only open water accessible to Palestinians from the otherwise landlocked West Bank. » Read more

Pro-Peace Group Barred From Leading Hebron Tours ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - February 5, 2012 - 1:00am Tel Aviv — A year ago, Israel’s Education Ministry launched a program to encourage schools to visit Jewish sites in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron, drawing fire from doves who charged the ministry with bringing politics into school trips. The doves’ effort to stop the program failed. Having failed to beat them, a dovish group of army veterans sought recently to join them. But on January 28, the police informed the Hebrew University High School that members of the dovish organization Breaking the Silence would be barred from joining its students on their Hebron tour the next day. » Read more