Poll: 46% in favor of 'price tag'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
March 28, 2011 - 12:00am

Nearly half of Israel's Jewish population believes the "price tag" activities executed by extreme rightists against Palestinians are justified to a certain extent, according to a survey conducted for Ynet and the Gesher educational organization. The poll was carried out by the Panels research institute following the massacre of five family members in the settlement of Itamar, among 504 respondents who constitute a national representative sample of the adult Jewish population in Israel. The sampling error stands at 4.4%.

»

Who is annexing whom?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) March 27, 2011 - 12:00am

Both are clearly directed against Arab citizens, a fifth of the population. The first makes it possible to annul the citizenship of persons found guilty of offenses against the security of the state, though annulling citizenship on such grounds is contrary to international law and conventions. The second allows communities of less than 400 families to appoint "admission committees" which can prevent unsuitable persons from living there.

»

News Analysis: Israeli public views Netanyahu doing well halfway through his term
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - March 27, 2011 - 12:00am

A new poll published in the Israel daily Ha'aretz over the weekend says that Israelis are lukewarm about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's performance as he approaches the halfway mark of his second term. However, while the United States and the international community might be looking for progress in the peace talks with the Palestinians as a metric of Netanyahu's success, Israelis have other priorities. Analysts told Xinhua that Israelis feel the most important factors are security and the economic situation, both of which are relatively good at the moment.

»

Another Israel-Hamas war is inevitable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Barry Rubin - (Opinion) March 27, 2011 - 12:00am

I’m going to make a prediction here that, unfortunately, I’m sure is going to come true. Any good analyst should be able to see this, yet few will, until it happens within the next two years: The Egyptian revolution will make another Israel-Hamas war inevitable, with a lot more of an international mess. And I’ll go a step further: An incompetent and mistaken US policy makes such a conflict even more certain. Why?

»

U.S. Group Stirs Debate on Being ‘Pro-Israel’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

On one side were members of the Israeli Parliament and advocates who argued that there was only one legitimate way to support Israel from abroad — unconditionally. On the other were those who insisted that love and devotion did not mean withholding criticism.

»

Israel passes law against mourning its existence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel's parliament passed a measure on Tuesday enabling the denial of state funding to institutions that question the country's existence as a Jewish state, in a move criticised as targetting an Arab minority. The so-called Nakba Law, using the Arabic word for "catastrophe" which is how many Palestinians regard the founding of Israel, passed by a vote of 37 to 25 after an angry debate among right and left-wing lawmakers.

»

Israel passes laws that critics say are anti-Arab
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Aron Heller - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The Israeli parliament approved a pair of laws Wednesday that critics said were discriminatory and aimed against the country's Arab minority. The first law denies state funding to any municipality that commemorates Israel's 1948 creation as the "nakba," or "catastrophe." Palestinians use the term to describe their defeat and exile in the war that surrounded Israel's founding. The second law grants small communities the authority to reject admission to applicants that are perceived as not fitting into their social fabric.

»

Israeli leader: 'We will react aggressively, responsibly and wisely' to attacks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli leader: 'We will react aggressively, responsibly and wisely' to attacks.


A blow to Israeli Arabs and to democracy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) March 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Two or three bills are to be voted on by the Knesset today on second and third reading, each of which is inappropriate in its own right. Taken together, however, just prior to the Knesset's spring recess, they represent a discordant and worrying summation of the current Knesset session. The so-called Nakba Law has deliberately vague wording. It would bar entities receiving public funding from organizing or themselves funding any activity "which would entail undermining the foundations of the state and contradict its values."

»

Military Intelligence monitoring foreign left-wing organizations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - March 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Military Intelligence is collecting information about left-wing organizations abroad that the army sees as aiming to delegitimize Israel, according to senior Israeli officials and Israel Defense Forces officers. The sources said MI's research division created a department several months ago that is dedicated to monitoring left-wing groups and will work closely with government ministries. In recent weeks, the head of the new unit has been taking part in discussions in the Prime Minister's Office about how to prepare for the possible arrival of a Gaza-bound flotilla in May.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017