September 13th

Israelis Fear Fallout From Netanyahu’s Blunt Comments ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - September 12, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — In Israel, where arguments are rife, there are at least two issues of national consensus: that the special relationship with the United States must be preserved at all costs, and that the looming threat of a nuclear Iran must be dealt with. » Read more

The next president and the peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) September 13, 2012 - 12:00am Two days after taking office, Barack Obama announced a major Middle East initiative, complete with a high-level special envoy, to restart Israeli- Palestinian peace talks. It was a major blunder. It was poorly prepared, asked more of the Israelis than the Palestinians, raised Palestinian expectations beyond Obama’s ability to deliver and he failed to take his case directly to the Israeli people. And he had no Plan B. Don’t look for a repeat next January no matter who is in the Oval Office. » Read more

The Fayyad opportunity is fading ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) September 13, 2012 - 12:00am The news generated by the Middle East in recent years has usually been bad. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, the Muslim Brotherhood took over Egypt and Turkey became an aggressive neo-Ottoman power. The Iranian rebellion was quashed, Iraq was drawn into the Shi'ite sphere of influence and Syria turned into a gruesome slaughterhouse. Even in Libya, which raised hopes for a while, the American ambassador was murdered on Wednesday. » Read more

U.S. and Israel need mutual diplomacy, not recriminations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Daniel Kurtzer - (Opinion) September 13, 2012 - 12:00am The United States and Israel do many things well together. We do strategic cooperation, security planning, intelligence sharing, economic and trade relations, and cultural interaction. Every day, scores of official and unofficial interactions take place between our governments and our two peoples, and for the most part, they are extraordinarily productive and mutually beneficial. » Read more

Netanyahu risks overplaying hand in Iran dispute ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Crispian Balmer - (Analysis) September 12, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The public row between Israel and the United States this week will make it hard for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a unilateral strike against Iran and risks undermining his domestic standing. Despite years of warning about the dangers of Iran gaining nuclear weapons, the Israeli leader has failed to convince any major world power of the need for military action and has yet to persuade his domestic audience that Israel should go it alone. » Read more

Neocon Gambits ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Yorker by David Remnick - (Opinion) September 12, 2012 - 12:00am It is hard to overestimate the risks that Benjamin Netanyahu poses to the future of his own country. As Prime Minister, he has done more than any other political figure to embolden and elevate the reactionary forces in Israel, to eliminate the dwindling possibility of a just settlement with the Palestinians, and to isolate his country on the world diplomatic stage. » Read more

September 12th

Study: Violence Begets Violence Among Palestinian, Israeli Youth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Mairav Zonszein - (Analysis) September 11, 2012 - 12:00am Early on the morning of Aug. 17, a Palestinian youth was beaten unconscious by a mob of Israeli teenagers in West Jerusalem’s Zion Square. The assailants were teenagers, some as young as 13, and many more youths allegedly stood around and watched. One perpetrator told the press that as far as he is concerned, the victim should die because “he is an Arab."  » Read more

Food unites Israeli Jews and Arabs in ways politics cannot ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by David Amitai - (Opinion) September 12, 2012 - 12:00am Every week for the past five months, a group of Arab and Jewish women from neighboring towns near Haifa, Israel, have come together to cook. Each week, they meet in a different woman’s home, discovering their commonalities and differences by sharing recipes, culinary traditions and childhood memories. » Read more

U.S.-Israel tensions on Iran are boiling over ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Opinion) September 11, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Between the red lines, the deadlines, the diplomacy and the dress downs, the vaunted cooperation between Israel and the United States on whether and when to strike Iran seems to be in a free fall. » Read more

Academic boycotts, science and hypocrisy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Steve Caplan - (Opinion) September 11, 2012 - 12:00am I am a scientist and a citizen of the world. Born in the US, raised in Canada, trained in Israel and back again in the US. Now this is not a particularly unusual story. Even in Israel, as a graduate student, I encountered other graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and principal investigators from around the globe. In my own graduate lab in Israel, there was a Chinese-born woman who trained in the US and had been living and working as a senior investigator in Israel since the mid-1970s. Science is an international affair. » Read more