April 26th

Israel army chief: Other nations could strike Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Diaa Hadid - April 26, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's military chief said Thursday that other countries have readied their armed forces for a potential strike against Iran's nuclear sites to keep Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons. Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz did not specify which nations might be willing to support or take direct action against Iran. Still, his comments were one of the strongest hints yet that Israel may have the backing of other countries to strike the Islamic Republic to prevent it from developing nuclear arms. "The military force is ready," Gantz said. "Not only our forces, but other forces as well." » Read more

Israel’s Big Day, Under Sun and Cloud ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - April 25, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The paradox that is Israel — wealthy, dynamic and safe, yet mistrusted, condemned and nervous — was on full display on Wednesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 64th Independence Day. Commentators on the left and the right stuck to their scripts, with the left asserting that the country’s treatment of the Palestinians and its regional saber rattling have made it isolated and stagnant, and the right glorifying Israel’s accomplishments: high-tech innovations, long life expectancies and democracy. » Read more

April 25th

Palestinians’ situation declining ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star April 25, 2012 - 12:00am BEIRUT: The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Shahed) announced in its annual report Tuesday that the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is getting worse by the year, as their rights diminish in number and value daily. According to the report, “the [poor] housing conditions in camps have not been addressed, and there is no local or international initiative on the horizon to improve them.” It described the camps as “a breeding ground for disease, home collapses, and a well of social problems.” » Read more

Airports in Scandinavia Ban Israeli Screening Methods ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ravit Naor - April 24, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli airlines cannot operate in Scandinavia due to the countries' refusal to allow profiling to be employed in security checks. » Read more

'Now's the time for peace with the Palestinians' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Steve Linde - (Opinion) April 25, 2012 - 12:00am Israel has never faced a better opportunity to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians than it has today under the leadership of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, President Shimon Peres told The Jerusalem Post in a pre-Independence Day interview on Tuesday. “I think the Palestinian window is still open,” Peres said. “Everybody makes mistakes in his sayings and doings, but President Abbas is constant in his announced position – for peace, against terror, and for a two-state solution. I think we have never had a wider basis to conclude peace than under his leadership.” » Read more

Israel Detains Gaza Fishermen ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 25, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Tuesday detained fishermen working off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Local official Mahfouth al-Kabareeti told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces detained Nader Yousef Abu Simaan, 22, and his brother Hasan at sea and confiscated their equipment. The brothers, from al-Shati refugee camp, were fishing within the area designated by Israel, he added. An Israeli military spokeswoman said forces detained fishermen from Gaza because they deviated from the designated fishing area. » Read more

Portraying Inner Conflict of Israeli-Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Ranen Omer-Sherman - (Opinion) April 24, 2012 - 12:00am Sayed Kashua has built an impressive career exposing the porous and impenetrable, farcical and tragic demarcations between Israel’s Jews and Arabs. Readers of his weekend column for Haaretz may recall a caustic fable titled “Cinderella (Herzl Disappears at Midnight)” in which the hapless protagonist bears the burden of the answered prayer of a hitherto childless woman who “begged God for a son, even if he was born half Arab.” As an adult, Herzl Haliwa’s nocturnal metamorphosis causes endless angst. » Read more

OutFront exclusive: Erin Burnett interviews Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Erin Burnett - (Interview) April 23, 2012 - 12:00am In an exclusive interview Tuesday night on CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down with Erin Burnett to talk about Israel, the United States and the threat of terror around the world. Netanyahu insisted on Monday that Egypt's decision to cancel a natural gas deal with Israel did not indicate any sort of diplomatic tensions between the two countries, but rather a business disagreement between companies. » Read more

UN Chief “Deeply Troubled” by new West Bank Outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Michelle Goldberg - April 24, 2012 - 12:00am UNITED NATIONS, April 24 (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that he was "deeply troubled" by Israel's decision to grant legal status to three settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, describing the activity as illegal under international law. The three outposts - Bruchin, Sansana and Rechelim - were built on land Israel declared "state-owned" in the West Bank, an area it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians want as part of a future state. » Read more

Boycotting Israel and My Olive Tapenade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Leah Koenig - (Opinion) April 24, 2012 - 12:00am n March, the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn made history, or at least the national media, when its members voted down a proposal to ban Israeli-made products in political protest of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Park Slope’s is not the first food cooperative to discuss such a boycott, nor the first to vote it down. But because it is among the oldest and largest member-run co-ops in the country (founded in 1973, the membership now tops 16,000 people), news outlets from The New York Times to The Associated Press covered the story. » Read more