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Israel's chilling relations with the US
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jonathan Guyer - (Opinion) December 6, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli government has come under criticism from both the Obama administration and American Jewish communities over the past week – the latter focused on a bizarre advertisement campaign aimed at the US diaspora. The current Israeli government's insensitivity toward American Jews has gotten their attention, but whether forthcoming Knesset bills that are an affront to democratic values will cause similar alarm is yet to be seen. |
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Was Howard Gutman Right?: Israel and Antisemitism, What Do We Know
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Journal by Michael Berenbaum - (Opinion) December 6, 2011 - 1:00am We are hearing an awful lot of nonsense about the remarks of Howard Gutman, the US Ambassador to Belgium regarding whether Israel treatment of the Palestinians is to “blame” for the increase in antisemitism. A summary of Gutman’s remarks, not a direct quote appeared in an Israeli newspaper and American bloggers took them as gospel and Republican political candidates called for Howard Gutman’s ouster. Abraham Foxman himself condemned the remarks as an excuse for inaction on antisemitism and the headlines blared American Ambassador blamed Israel for antisemitism. |
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Scary US views
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am In recent days, there has been a truly frightening articulation of the US administration’s perception of Israel vis-à-vis the Muslim world. On Friday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta essentially blamed Israel for its own “increasing isolation,” urging the Jewish state to reach out to its neighbors. |
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By today’s standards, Rabin would have been considered a disgrace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chemi Shalev - (Opinion) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am On October 16, 1993, inside the Israeli Boeing jet that was idling on the tarmac of Jakarta Airport, I experienced one of the high points of my journalistic career. Together with my dear colleague, the late Dan Semama of Israel Television, I had been chosen to enter the Indonesian capital to cover the historic meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and President Suharto. Before the encounter, we were to be privately briefed by the head of the Mossad, Shabtai Shavit, and by Rabin himself. |
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When Jews in Berkeley vote to cut support for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am Every vote sends a message. Last week, when the Berkeley Jewish Student Union voted to bar J Street's student organization from membership, the message it sent was regrettably clear: The choice is up to you - You can be welcomed as a Jew, or you can speak your mind on Israel. |
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Without peace talks, Israel must leave East Jerusalem alone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am As the diplomatic process has sunk deeper into hibernation, acts whose sole purpose is to tighten Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem have multiplied. Thus even as the Palestinians have given the Quartet a proposal on security arrangements and permanent borders in the West Bank, Israel is advancing proposals to change the master plans of neighborhoods over the Green Line. |
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Tensions high in Ain el-Hilweh after shooting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star December 7, 2011 - 1:00am Tensions ran high at the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh Wednesday after an unknown assailant shot and wounded the personal bodyguard of a senior Fatah officer. A security source said the attacker opened fire with an automatic weapon at around midday on Uday Hammad, the Syrian-Palestinian personal bodyguard for the military commander of the mainstream Fatah Movement, Brig. Gen. Sobhi Abu Arab. The source, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said the shooting took place in the camp’s Safsaf neighborhood, a stronghold for fundamentalists. |
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Palestinian mission breached ASA code by wiping Israel off the map
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Roy Greenslade - (Blog) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has censured the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission to the UK for carrying a map on its website that described Israel as Palestine. In effect, it wiped the state of Israel off the map. It showed all the land in the region - Israel, plus the occupied territories, such as the West Bank and Gaza - in the colours of the Palestinian flag. Headlined "Discover Palestine", the interactive map was aimed at promoting tourism. Users could click on to various cities, such as Haifa, in order to obtain tourist information. |
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'Fayyad mulling PA presidential run'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - December 6, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday chaired a meeting of the Fatah central committee in Ramallah amid reports that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is planning to run in the next presidential election. Sources close to Fayyad were quoted as saying that the prime minister would present his candidacy for PA president only if Abbas decides not to run for another term. |
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Quartet to meet in Jerusalem next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press December 6, 2011 - 1:00am The United States and other Mideast mediators will gather next week in another effort to revive the Israel-Palestinian peace process, but with little hope of even restarting direct negotiations let alone reaching a breakthrough on a two-state peace agreement. The "Quartet" of mediators that includes the US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations plans to meet Dec. 14 in Jerusalem, US officials said. |