June 1st

Crisis of confidence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram by Saleh Al-Naami - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Suddenly the sound of laughter broke the silence on a bus transporting dozens of students from the centre of the Gaza Strip to the district where university campuses are located in southern Al-Rimal in Gaza City. One student had mentioned that delegates from Hamas and Fatah were in Cairo again to finalise details about a consensus government as stipulated in the Doha Declaration. » Read more

Legislating the Refugee Problem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am You have to laugh, or it would make you cry. That is, if you are someone who genuinely cares about Israel and believes that the two-state solution is the only thing that can save Israel as a democracy and a Jewish state, and that can end the occupation and permit the Palestinians to live, finally, as a free people with dignity and self-determination. » Read more

Come Clean, Mr. Prime Minister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Stephen Robert - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced this week that he favors unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank. But who will ultimately determine when and where—and if—the Palestinians are to be granted a state?  » Read more

Gaza Bustling Under Hamas Despite Economic Isolation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist by Danny Rubenstein - (Opinion) May 29, 2012 - 12:00am The isolation policy applied by Israel, separating the Gaza Strip from the West Bank both economically and socially, is designed to weaken and possibly even bring down the Hamas government. » Read more

Author of 'The Invention of the Jewish People' vents again ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Dalia Karpel - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am The concept of homeland is one of the most amazing and also, perhaps, one of the most ruinous of the modern era, says Prof. Shlomo Sand. In his new book, “When and How Was the Land of Israel Invented?” ‏(Kineret, Zmora-Bitan Dvir, Hebrew‏), Sand examines the attitude of the Zionist movement toward that territory since its inception. More particularly, he is out to discover how Zionism adopted the idea...

Now that Netanyahu is surrounded by veteran unilateral withdrawers, is a surprise in store? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am For many long minutes on Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak stood at the podium at Tel Aviv's Institute for National Security Studies. He spoke lucidly about everything - Iran, the Palestinians, Syria, the budget, the Tal Law, party primaries. His main message related to the Iranian threat. "You can't sleep quietly at night with a sword hanging over your neck," he declared.

Israeli gov't unimpressed by defense minister's unilateral withdrawal pitch ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - (Opinion) June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday said that while it is important that Israel tries to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, should these attempts fail Israel might have to act on its own. "If it turns out not to be possible, we need to think about an interim agreement, or even unilateral steps. Israel does not have the luxury to remain in a stalemate," said Barak, according to The Jerusalem Post. » Read more

What You Need to Know About Unilateralism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am In a speech at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak floated the idea, as if it were a new one, that if two-state negotiations with the Palestinians fail, Israel “must consider an interim arrangement or even a unilateral move." » Read more

Why Unilateralism Won't Work ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently warned that if negotiations with the Palestinians do not yield results soon, Israel might consider "unilateral measures" in the occupied West Bank. He didn't specify what those might be, but several others have suggested that Israel create “temporary” or “provisional” unilaterally-imposed new borders in the territory. This idea is simple, superficially appealing and profoundly dangerous.  » Read more

Palestinians condemn Israeli unilateral plan to withdraw from some parts of West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - June 1, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinians yesterday blasted a plan raised by the Israeli defence minister that called for Israel to unilaterally withdraw from parts of the West Bank if peace talks remain stalled. On Wednesday, Ehud Barak told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Israel "cannot afford to tread water" and has to "consider an interim arrangement or even unilateral steps". » Read more