October 17th, 2012

Israeli ex-PM Olmert faces appeal against his corruption case acquittals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 17, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli State Attorney's office announced Tuesday evening it is appealing the acquittals of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in two corruption cases to the Supreme Court. The State Attorney's office notified Olmert's legal team about the appeals on Tuesday. » Read more

Israel counted food needs in Gaza blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli military calculated the number of calories Gaza's residents would need to consume to avoid malnutrition during a sweeping blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory between 2007 and mid-2010, according to a document the Defense Ministry released under a court order. Critics claim the document is evidence that Israel limited food supplies in order to put pressure on Hamas, the violently anti-Israel militant group that seized power in the coastal strip in mid-2007. » Read more

Middle East: Antiaircraft Missile is Fired From Gaza, Israeli Officials Say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press October 16, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli defense officials say that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have for the first time fired an antiaircraft missile at Israeli aircraft. The officials say the militants fired a Strela shoulder-fired missile at an Israeli helicopter operating over Gaza last week but missed their target. The officials said Israeli intelligence has long believed that militants in Gaza possessed these weapons, but this was the first time they were fired. » Read more

October 16th

Qatari emir to visit Gaza as 'Hamas reward for breaking Assad ties' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - (Analysis) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY // The Qatari emir is to make an official visit to the Gaza Strip this week, in a move analysts say is to strengthen the country's influence with Arab Islamists and reward Hamas rulers for breaking ties with the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani would be the first Arab head of state to officially visit Gaza since the Palestinian Islamist group wrested control in 2007. » Read more

Moving on From Two-State Solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Edward Edy Kaufman, Paul Scham - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am The current Israeli-Palestinian stalemate is as comprehensive as it is unprecedented. All relevant parties — Israelis, Palestinians (both Fatah and Hamas), the United States, the European Union, the Arab world — are preoccupied with their own internal or regional political or economic issues, not to mention the possibility of an Iranian nuclear bomb and Israeli threats to attack. The only good news is that Israeli-Palestinian violence is also largely on hiatus — though by no means gone, as rockets fired at southern Israel occasionally remind us. » Read more

The challenge of statesmanship ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) October 15, 2012 - 12:00am Election season is here, and many of us Israelis entertain the fantasy/dream of throwing our hats into the arena and imagining that we could soon be in positions of power in government. If I were prime minister, who would receive my first phone call? It would not be a difficult decision – Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

For Israeli Arabs, there's no one to vote for ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Salman Masalha - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am The country is once again abuzz, as the old cliche goes. Color has returned to the cheeks of all the pundits and politicians. Why? Because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to call early elections, and he has leapt at the flattering polls that have fallen into his lap and rushed to inform the nation that the running in place will continue for another four years. » Read more

The Jewish majority is history ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am Amid a dry economic report published yesterday in TheMarker lies an official announcement/acknowledgment of unparalleled importance: The government of Israel confirms that between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River there is no longer a Jewish majority. In other words, in the territory under Israel's jurisdiction a situation of apartheid exists. A Jewish minority rules over an Arab majority. » Read more

In defense of academic freedom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by David N. Myers - (Opinion) October 14, 2012 - 12:00am In August 2009, an Israeli academic and political activist by the name of Neve Gordon published an Op-Ed article in the Los Angeles Times in which he reluctantly called for a gradual international boycott against his own nation. Gordon felt that such dramatic action was required to overcome the deep structural inequities between Jews and Arabs in Israeli society and the occupied territories, and to force the government back toward the goal of a two-state solution. » Read more

South Africa publishes West Bank labeling notice, despite negotiations with Jewish community ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel October 15, 2012 - 12:00am PRETORIA (JTA) — The South African Trade Ministry has published a second notice concerning the labeling of Israeli products, despite working with the Jewish community on a compromise. » Read more