March 4th, 2013

Israel opens Palestinians-only bus lines in W. Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller - March 4, 2013 - 1:00am Israel launched two Palestinians-only bus lines in the occupied West Bank on Monday, a step an Israeli rights group described as racist and which the Transport Ministry called an improvement in service. The left-wing Haaretz daily reported the ministry opened the lines, to be used by Palestinian labourers travelling between the West Bank and Israel, after Jewish settlers complained that Palestinians on mixed buses were a security risk. » Read more

March 1st

A campaign to talk up a two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Ghaith Al-Omari, David Makovsky - (Opinion) February 28, 2013 - 1:00am The White House announcement that President Obama will not bring a peace initiative on his upcoming trip to Israel and the West Bank reinforces the sense that he sees the visit as an opportunity to reset ties with both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples at the start of his second term. » Read more

Israeli-Palestinian tensions could ultimately spark a major confrontation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - (Opinion) March 1, 2013 - 1:00am As though 25 years hadn’t gone by, the Israel Defense Forces this week went back to using some of the terminology of the first intifada. Beginning this morning, a special alert was to be declared in the territories, with security forces deployed there ahead of an expected wave of demonstrations, revolving around the prayer services in the mosques. The police, too, will beef up their presence, with an eye on the weekly prayers on the Temple Mount. » Read more

What killed Arafat Jaradat? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) March 1, 2013 - 1:00am It has been many years since last I saw a mourners' pavilion in the territories as large and as busy as the one for Arafat Jaradat, a previously obscure gas-station attendant from the town of Sa'ir. He was 30 years old, with two children; his wife is four months' pregnant. Jaradat was suspected of having thrown stones and a Molotov cocktail at Israeli forces and was arrested. He died last weekend after six days of detention and interrogation in an Israeli prison, and his death has become a national symbol. » Read more

Israel actually suffers from a litany of burdens ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Sarid - (Opinion) March 1, 2013 - 1:00am What does Yesh Atid MK Yael German, formerly of Meretz and the Geneva Initiative, have to do with the Hebron cemetery where the Jewish murderer is buried alongside Zionism, may the Holy One avenge its blood? » Read more

A friend in the Pentagon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Alon Pinkas - (Opinion) February 28, 2013 - 1:00am Let's begin by making it clear that new US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is a friend of Israel and is attentive to the Jewish state's vital security and diplomatic interests. » Read more

Has Obama Lost Interest in the Israel-Palestinian Conflict? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Peter Beinart - March 1, 2013 - 1:00am As John Kerry begins his first overseas trip as secretary of State, foreign observers are beginning to suggest that, maybe, just maybe, the Obama administration will make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a priority after all. » Read more

Majority of Americans Want Equal Treatment for Israel, Palestinians but Sympathize More with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Real Clear World by Greg Scoblete - February 28, 2013 - 1:00am A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll asked Americans for their thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (page 20). While 31 percent responded that the U.S. should favor Israel over the Palestinians, 55 percent said that the U.S. should "treat both the same." Only four percent wanted to favor the Palestinians over the Israelis. » Read more

History professor Yehuda Bauer: 'Netanyahu doesn't know history' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Dalia Karpel - February 21, 2013 - 1:00am   » Read more

It’s Not an Intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Jonathan Schanzer - (Opinion) February 28, 2013 - 1:00am Don't call it an intifada. Not yet, anyway. » Read more