March 8th

Israel's Dreaded Tipping Point Has Finally Arrived ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by S. Daniel Abraham - (Editorial) March 8, 2013 - 1:00am As President Obama prepares to visit Israel later this month, reports from administration officials indicate that he does not intend to focus on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but rather to discuss regional threats such as Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the continuing violence in Syria. But Obama should realize that Israel's continued presence in the West Bank is an existential threat to its continuity as a democratic, Jewish state -- and time is not on Israel's side. » Read more

Obama to Jews: Peace is essential but prospects are bleak ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - March 7, 2013 - 1:00am President Obama believes prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace are “bleak,” but he still will urge both sides to avoid unilateral actions that might further damage a process he hopes will be back on track within a year. That was the message Obama delivered Thursday in a meeting with about 25 Jewish community figures at the White House to discuss his planned trip to Israel later this month. Obama was especially engaged, participants said, when it came to discussing how he might best convey to the Israeli people his enthusiasm for Israel and its Jewish history. » Read more

Is Oslo Dead? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Interview) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am Oslo -- shorthand for a series of Israeli-Palestinian interim agreements done and undone between 1993 and 1999 -- was a heroic but ultimately failed effort to deal with an interminable problem that still eludes a solution: how to reconcile the conflicting national and religious claims of Israelis and Palestinians to a relatively small piece of real estate situated between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. » Read more

Obama meets US Jewish leaders ahead of Israel trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 8, 2013 - 1:00am US President Barack Obama hosted leaders of major American Jewish organizations at the White House on Thursday as he sought to smooth the way for his first presidential visit to Israel later this month. The meeting was a chance for Obama to preview his agenda for the trip, including the Iran nuclear standoff, Syria's civil war and Israel-Palestinian issues, and to reiterate his "unshakable support" for Israel, an administration official said. » Read more

Obama: No 'grand peace plan' during Israel trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Julie Pace - March 8, 2013 - 1:00am President Barack Obama is playing down expectations for a Mideast peace breakthrough during his upcoming trip to Israel, telling American Jewish leaders that he won't be carrying a "grand peace plan" when he arrives in the region later this month. » Read more

The Rise Of Palestinian Non-Violent Resistance: A Conversation With Mustafa Barghouti ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Raja Shehadeh - (Opinion) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am Last Friday, I spoke to Dr. Mustafa Barghouti after he returned from commemorating the eighth anniversary of the weekly protests in the Palestinian village of Bil’in against the Separation Wall, which has denied the village large tracts of its agricultural land. Dr. Barghouti is the General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative, the Mubadara, which he, along with others, was instrumental in establishing in 2002 to introduce new political thinking. » Read more

Jerusalem's Begin Expressway plan angers Arab neighborhood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - March 7, 2013 - 1:00am Construction of a freeway extension through one of Jerusalem's most-prosperous Arab neighborhoods is igniting tension in the once-quiet community and reviving complaints about how the city treats Palestinian residents. If completed as planned in 2015, the nearly 1-mile extension of Jerusalem's Begin Expressway will slice through the neighborhood of Beit Safafa, home to about 12,000 Arabs. » Read more

Israeli Authorities Mostly Ignore Settler Attacks on Palestinian Village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from (Editorial) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am Hilmi Hassan lies in the intensive care unit of Hadassah Hospital, while Osama Rami has been transferred to the eye hospital in Jerusalem a few days after he was in Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. The two young boys are from the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, and were wounded by settlers who attacked Qusra’s villagers at the end of February 2013. » Read more

Israeli police disperse Palestinians at key site ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 8, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli police have entered Jerusalem's holiest site to disperse hundreds of Palestinians who were throwing rocks. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Palestinian worshipers rioted after Friday Muslim prayers at the hilltop site in the Old City of Jerusalem. It's known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands. » Read more

Europe can engineer peace in Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - March 7, 2013 - 1:00am The Middle East is experiencing some of its greatest political upheavals since the creation of the Arab state system after the First World War. Right across the region, regimes have been toppled and authority challenged. In one country after another, people have gone down into the street in their tens of thousands to demand jobs, bread, respect, an end to corruption and police brutality, a greater say in how they are governed. » Read more