March 30th

Israel Defense Ministry plan earmarks 10 percent of West Bank for Settlement Expansion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - March 30, 2012 - 12:00am For years Israel’s Civil Administration has been covertly locating and mapping available land in the West Bank and naming the parcels after existing Jewish settlements, presumably with an eye toward expanding these communities. The Civil Administration, part of the Defense Ministry, released its maps only in response to a request from anti-settlement activist Dror Etkes under the Freedom of Information Law. In some places the boundaries of the parcels outlined in the maps coincide with the route of the West Bank separation barrier. » Read more

Israel Defense Ministry plan earmarks 10 percent of West Bank for Settlement Expansion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - March 30, 2012 - 12:00am For years Israel’s Civil Administration has been covertly locating and mapping available land in the West Bank and naming the parcels after existing Jewish settlements, presumably with an eye toward expanding these communities. The Civil Administration, part of the Defense Ministry, released its maps only in response to a request from anti-settlement activist Dror Etkes under the Freedom of Information Law. In some places the boundaries of the parcels outlined in the maps coincide with the route of the West Bank separation barrier. » Read more

March 29th

The Quest for a 'Land for Peace' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Gilad Halpern - (Opinion) March 26, 2012 - 12:00am It was 1969. Israel had just come jaw-droppingly victorious out of the Six Day War, where it had dealt a swift and fatal blow to three Arab armies and occupied territories that were three times its size. The United Nations Security Council had subsequently passed Resolution 242, which would pave the way to a settlement of the Israeli-Arab conflict, coining the famous phrase "land for peace." Israel was about to see one of the underlying principles of Zionism realized: a Jewish state living in peace with its neighbors. » Read more

Arab soccer strike, now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Arie Maliniak - (Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am The recent bout of rioting by Beitar Jerusalem soccer fans at a local mall started as a violent victory celebration, yet within a short while turned into a flurry of “death to Arab” chants and assaults. The Israel Police did not deal with the riot because “no official complaint was filed.” Meanwhile, the Israeli soccer association did not deal with the “death to Arabs” singing by fans of another team, SC Ashdod, during a game, because the referees did not see or hear anything. We’ve had enough of this. » Read more

New political opportunities? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Amnon Lord - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am The disintegration of the Palestinian Authority--ultimately, an act by the Palestinian leadership to dismantle the PA--is certainly not in the interest of Israel, for quite a few reasons. It is also not in the interest of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian leadership, whether Fateh or Hamas. Here are some thoughts as to the diverse directions such a development might take. » Read more

Netanyahu walking a thin line ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am When Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington earlier this month, he startled his huge audience — over 10,000 American Jews, Congressmen and US officials led by President Barack Obama — at the three-day American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual conference with his unbalanced and sometimes exaggerated pronouncements. » Read more

Peter Beinart's Big Zionist Experiment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Gal Beckerman - (Book Review) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am The Crisis of Zionism By Peter Beinart Times Books, 304 pages, $26 » Read more

Arabs to Netanyahu: Hold your fire! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am Allies in the Persian Gulf are telling American officials in Congress and the administration that the sanctions and other pressure on Iran are working and this is a time to ratchet up the pressure and keep the bombers on the ground. But if all else fails and the military option is the only way to prevent Tehran from getting nuclear weapons, it should be the Americans, not the Israelis, who do the job. » Read more

Open Letter to Peter Beinart: Boycotting the settlements will not save the two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am Dear Peter Beinart, I read your book The Crisis of Zionism with as much interest as I read your New York Review of Books Essay two years ago. Both struck a deep chord in me, because you and I share a set of basic values: ethical universalism and a firm belief that the lesson of Jewish history and Jewish suffering is that only an uncompromising defense of human rights for everybody, anywhere, can prevent the type of horrors that the Jewish people went through. » Read more

Israel's plan to attack Iran put on hold until next year at the earliest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amir Oren - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am At 8:58 P.M. on Tuesday, Israel's 2012 war against Iran came to a quiet end. The capricious plans for a huge aerial attack were returned to the deep recesses of safes and hearts. The war may not have been canceled but it has certainly been postponed. For a while, at least, we can sound the all clear: It won't happen this year. Until further notice, Israel Air Force Flight 007 will not be taking off. » Read more