Obama Won’t Pressure Israel If He Wins Second Term ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am In the wake of President Obama’s “hot mike” admission to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that “after my election, I have more flexibility” to make concessions on missile defense, conservatives are insisting that once sworn in for a second term, Obama will unveil the Michael Moore–esque foreign policy he’s been concealing these last three years. Especially on Israel. » Read more

A revolution is taking place in Syria's Palestinian camps ATFP World Press Roundup Article from politics.co.uk by Nagham Issa - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am There are no estimates as to how many Palestinians have been killed since the unrest in Syria began, but the growing call for the fall of the Syrian regime has not passed Syria's estimated 500,000 Palestinian community by. Increased tensions with the Syrian authorities could yet mark a change in direction for the revolution, particularly in the capital, home to Syria's largest Palestinian camp, Mukhyam Yarmouk. » Read more

What happens when a Palestinian journalist dares criticize the Palestinian Authority? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am Journalists who stood outside the court building exchanged jokes about the "six million dollars." No problem, we'll obtain them, someone said. That's small change, another said. But these light remarks did not hide concerns about their colleague, Yusuf Al-Shayeb, who was at the time on his way to the Magistrate's Court in Ramallah, to have his remand extended. » Read more

Peter Beinart Targets 'The Crisis of Zionism' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Barbara Slavin - (Interview) April 1, 2012 - 12:00am In a provocative new book published this week, “The Crisis of Zionism,” Peter Beinart bemoans the trajectory of the State of Israel and of American Jews. His suggestions for saving both include a boycott of products from Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a plan that has aroused a torrent of criticism. » Read more

Land Day and Gaza’s Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Abdullah Iskandar - (Opinion) April 1, 2012 - 12:00am Two days ago, Palestinians commemorated Land Day, when on March 30, 1967, Israeli forces stormed the towns of Galilee and confronted with gunfire their Arab inhabitants who were protesting the Judaization of their region. This day has represented for the Palestinians a declaration of their attachment to their identity, their freedom and their land, not just their rejection of the occupation and its practices. » Read more

Who Speaks for Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) March 30, 2012 - 12:00am The back-to-back national policy conferences of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and J Street — the Jewish version of March Madness for Israel advocates — have now concluded. The subtext of these gatherings is a desire to represent American Jewish opinion in the halls of Congress, the inner sanctum of the White House and the broader public square. Are you pro-Israel à la AIPAC? Or in the J Street mold? » Read more

J Street's Blind Spot Is Class ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Jay Michaelson - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am I’m not one for political conventions. Good policy is subtle, but effective politics is broad — and I, for one, prefer the former. When friends of mine returned from the AIPAC conference in early March, inspired by (in the words of one of them) “thousands of Jews all united by a love of Israel,” I felt nauseated. I don’t want to be in a crowd of thousands of people united by anything. » Read more

Freedom for Jerusalem, the capital of Israel and Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am On the first night of Passover, the festival of freedom, the song "We were slaves but now we are free" will waft from homes throughout the country as Jews sit down to celebrate the seder. But every year, these words lose some of their luster. Every year, more Israelis go from being free men to slaves. » Read more

It's time to intervene against racism in Israeli soccer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am In March alone, there were four recorded violent incidents linked to Israeli soccer. » Read more

The U.S. can meet Israel halfway on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by David Makovsky, Dennis Ross - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am Dennis Ross, a counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was a special assistant to President Obama on the Middle East and a senior director on the National Security Council staff from July 2009 to December 2011. David Makovsky is a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute and director of its Project on the Middle East Peace Process. » Read more