February 15th, 2013

The distant drums of intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - February 15, 2013 - 1:00am The public debate Americans have been conducting recently about the implications of the worldwide war they are waging against Islamic terror is not confined to the decade between September 11, 2001, and the assassination of Osama bin Laden, or to the two four-year terms of President George W. Bush. The Americans are also discussing and implementing far-reaching measures in that war during the second term of Barack Obama. It was the Obama administration that formulated a directive permitting the president to authorize the assassination abroad, without trial, of U.S. » Read more

Erekat: No Settlement Freeze Means No Negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Shlomi Eldar - (Opinion) February 14, 2013 - 1:00am Israel is waiting for President Barack Obama. Social networks across the internet are full of petitions and “likes,” pleading with the president to give a speech about peace to the Israeli masses gathered in Rabin Square. » Read more

Israel’s Prisoner X Is Linked to Dubai Assassination in a New Report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - February 14, 2013 - 1:00am The Australian-Israeli man recently identified as Prisoner X — found dead in 2010 in a maximum-security prison cell — may have been involved in the assassination of a Hamas leader that year, an episode that was among the most embarrassing in the history of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad. » Read more

Sources: Security prisoners 'disappear' in Israeli jails ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews February 15, 2013 - 1:00am   Israeli-Australian Ben Zygier, the suspected Mossad operative who allegedly committed suicide at Ayalon Prison in 2010, was not the only person to be jailed by Israel under a false name. » Read more

What Obama can achieve with Israel trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Miami Herald by Frida Ghitis - (Editorial) February 14, 2013 - 1:00am Next month, two months into his second term, President Barack Obama will arrive in Israel, beginning a Middle East trip whose objective is muddled by the turmoil in the region. What exactly does Obama seek to achieve? Any presidential trip begins long before Air Force One leaves the hangar. While the advance travel officials work out the details of the itinerary, the policy, politics and press people are already crafting their desired narrative. Item one on the agenda this time is lowering expectations. » Read more

Mossad: the service that's really secret ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Alistair Dawber - February 14, 2013 - 1:00am The murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at an upmarket Dubai hotel in 2010; the killing of Gerald Bull, a Canadian scientist, on his doorstep in Brussels in 1990; the honeytrap set for Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu in Rome in 1986; the death of Ben Zygier in Israel’s most secure prison two years ago. » Read more

Kerry says it like it is ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) February 14, 2013 - 1:00am Under American tutelage, history (almost) repeats itself for both the Palestinians and Israelis. President Barack Obama will be travelling next month to Israel, much like what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did four years ago when he met the American president for the first time during his first weeks at the White House. » Read more

Obama’s Retreat in Parallel to the Arabs’ Surprise ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat by Zuheir Kseibati - February 14, 2013 - 1:00am The North Korean nuclear experiment was not good news for President Barack Obama, a few hours before the delivery of his State of the Union address. Indeed, now is the time for a “diplomatic solution” which would draw up the roadmap for some sort of a deal with Iran over its nuclear file. And the solution wanted by Obama and the West must guarantee Israel’s security. » Read more

Palestinian rally for hunger striker turns violent ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ian Deitch - February 15, 2013 - 1:00am Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli soldiers on Friday at a rally held in support of a prisoner observing an intermittent hunger strike to protest his incarceration. The Israeli military said about 200 Palestinians threw rocks at soldiers who responded with tear gas during the rally outside Ofer prison in the West Bank. The protesters called for the release of Samer Issawi, who has been on an on-again, off-again hunger strike for several months as he serves time for alleged terror activity. » Read more

Abbas seeks world help to save Palestinians on hunger strike ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Oman Tribune February 15, 2013 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas late on Tuesday called on the international community to intervene urgently in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails. “Things may get out of control if the lives of the hunger strikers are not saved,” Abbas said on Palestinian television. “We ask the international community to respond effectively to ease the situation, otherwise it will be impossible to control and it will deteriorate across the Palestinian territories. » Read more