February 19th

Israel's Cover-ups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) February 16, 2013 - 1:00am We are usually highly critical of Arab governments, accusing them of being outdated. We also blame them for their rigid commitment to policies of suppression and silence. But then we witness a country, such as Israel, displaying traits that are just as bad as those we have been criticizing. We typically assume Israel is a modern and strong country that can deal with everything in a transparent manner. It has larger universities, larger research centers and more advanced media institutes than us. » Read more

Fitting Palestinian prisoners into the excitement of the Ben Zygier affair ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) February 18, 2013 - 1:00am Samer Issawi was sentenced by a military tribunal to nearly three decades in prison, freed after six years in the 2011 prisoner swap that secured the release of Gilad Shalit, and re-arrested in July and sent back to jail for another 20 years because he went from Jerusalem, where he lives, to A-Ram, on the other side of the road. Issawi has been on a saline drip to keep him alive since August. » Read more

An inconvenient truth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Robert Fattal - (Opinion) February 16, 2013 - 1:00am On December 31, 2012 the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics released a report on the demographics of Palestinians. Rather than going through the effort of talks with the Netanyahu government, Palestinians are now talking to all of Israel. Israelis can be forgiven for not paying much notice, given other issues like absorbing the consequences of the elections. » Read more

Ali Salem's long journey from Israel back to the Egyptian consensus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zvi Barel - (Interview) February 17, 2013 - 1:00am “When I’m on my own, I still dream of our pushing Israel into the sea,” an Egyptian journalist told author and playwright Ali Salem during an interview for the Al-Ahram newspaper this week. “That’s because you want a crushing solution, in one blow,” replied the 77-year-old, best known in Egypt for visiting Israel in 1994 following the signing of the Oslo Accords. » Read more

Good morning, Abbas-stan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) February 17, 2013 - 1:00am All indications are that the Palestinians are set to return to the top of Israel’s priority list, despite the evident boredom of the public and the politicians with what is euphemistically called in Hebrew “the diplomtic issue.” Here a muttered comment about peace by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there a demand during coalition negotiations for renewed negotiations; U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel is approaching, while in the background the calm of the status quo is weakening and a third intifada looms more threateningly than usual. » Read more

Hezbollah Unmasked ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas E. Donilon - (Opinion) February 17, 2013 - 1:00am ON FEB. 5, after more than six months of investigations, the Bulgarian government announced that it believed Hezbollah was responsible for the attack last July that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver and injured dozens more in the resort town of Burgas. This report is significant because a European Union member state, Bulgaria, explicitly pointed a finger at Hezbollah and lifted the veil on the group’s continued terrorist activities. Europe can no longer ignore the threat that this group poses to the Continent and to the world. » Read more

Campus today, Capitol Hill tomorrow: Israel is losing future Democratic leaders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tom Dan - (Opinion) February 19, 2013 - 1:00am Will, an American Harvard student, looked up as we were eating dinner and said in a trembling voice, as if the 200-year-old ceiling would cave in the second he opened his mouth: “I cannot see one good reason we should continue supporting you guys over there.” » Read more

Israel-Palestine Interim Agreements Block Final Deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) February 18, 2013 - 1:00am The director of one of the top UN agencies operating in the West Bank told me about a fascinating conversation he had with a senior Israeli Defense Forces officer. “Do you know the difference between Areas A, B and C?” the officer asked. “Of course,” the UN director responded, citing published details of the 1995 Interim Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians (also known as Oslo II). » Read more

Censorship in Israel’s media is widespread ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) February 18, 2013 - 1:00am Israel’s media operate under official censorship. That has been a fact of my professional life as a journalist covering foreign policy and national security. Here’s how it works: any story involving defence, intelligence or nuclear matters must be submitted to the military censor’s office. It can run only after being stamped for approval. » Read more

Another round of Palestinian talks fail to deliver on unity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) February 18, 2013 - 1:00am Last week the interminable Palestinian national reconciliation negotiations failed yet again, amid mutual recriminations. Hamas complained that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was attempting to re-litigate already agreed-upon items. There was also apparently a dispute about the prospect of Mr Abbas serving simultaneously as both president and prime minister. » Read more