May 14th, 2012

Israel is strong, but does Netanyahu want peace? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Fareed Zakaria - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am While incumbents around the world are struggling to hold on, one is thriving. By bringing the rival Kadima party into his ruling coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become “king of Israel,” in Aaron David Miller’s phrase. He has an unusual, perhaps unique, opportunity to use his new power to secure Israel’s future. » Read more

If It's Okay for Mofaz... ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am The dramatic announcement that Israel was going to have a new unity government instead of national elections scrambled the political calculus in the Knesset, left a shrunken opposition rudderless, and proved once again that Benjamin Netanyahu is one heck of a politician. It has also opened up opportunities for American Jewish dialogue on Israel. » Read more

Afraid of the future ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) May 13, 2012 - 12:00am As someone who devoutly wishes to see the end of Binyamin Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister, I was nevertheless delighted with last week’s turn of events which have all but guaranteed his remaining in power until the end of 2013 when this government’s official term of office expires. » Read more

Who's afraid of Nakba Day? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinians refused to see the UN Partition Plan, which was approved by a majority of the General Assembly on November 29, 1947, as the international community saw it: as a way to correct an injustice through an amendment to the British Mandate of 1922, which stripped them of their right to self-determination. They rejected all division or unification proposals that recognized the national rights of the Jewish people. » Read more

The Lessons of the Nakba ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) May 11, 2012 - 12:00am I do not need anyone to teach me about the Palestinian Nakba. It is the defining moment of my existence. I do not need anyone to lecture me about it either. » Read more

Arab writers return from Gaza, overshadow literature festival with anti-Hamas testimonies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ahram Online by Mohammed Saad - May 13, 2012 - 12:00am The closing ceremony of the fifth Palestine Festival of Literature (aka Palfest) was overshadowed by politics as writers who returned from a trip to the Gaza Strip gave their testimony on the situation there and described Hamas’s “repressive rule.” At the Palfest closing ceremony, which was held in Cairo on Friday at the Rawabet Theatre, writer Ahdaf Soueif presented the Egyptian and Arab guest writers, including Khaled El-Khamisi, Sahar El-Mougy, poet Amin Haddad, Tunisian writer Khaled Najjar and Palestinian Poet Tariq Hamdan. » Read more

EU Palestinian aid projects destroyed by Israel: NGOs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) May 14, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel demolished dozens of Palestinian homes, water cisterns and farm buildings built with European funds in 2011, and over 100 such structures are at risk, aid groups said in a report on Monday. The figures, compiled by a group of local and international NGOs chaired by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), were published just ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. » Read more

Lebanon’s Palestinians wary of Nakba march ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Mohammed Zaatari - May 12, 2012 - 12:00am AIN AL-HILWEH, Lebanon: In the run-up to next week’s annual commemoration of the Nakba – the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948 – the enthusiasm of refugees is mixed about heading to the border and staging a protest on the edge of their homeland. This year, the event will be marked north of the Litani River, as with the commemoration of Land Day at the end of March – no angry gatherings are expected to take place next to the border fence. » Read more

Netanyahu ordered evacuation of Hebron home over fears of war crimes suits ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - May 13, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the evacuation of a Hebron home taken by settlers last month after being informed that the expropriation of Palestinian homes and lands could complicate Israeli officials in war crimes litigation, Haaretz learned on Sunday. » Read more

IDF closes Palestinian school to make way for West Bank training zone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - May 14, 2012 - 12:00am A Palestinian elementary school was shut down last week after Israel's Civil Administration confiscated the vehicle used to transport teachers to it. Teachers initially tried coming to the school, located in the Jinba cave village in the southern Hebron hills, by donkey, but this proved disruptive since they were often late. » Read more