Netanyahu to offer gestures to Palestinians in effort to deflect Quartet criticism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - February 4, 2011 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Quartet of Mideast peace mediators' envoy Tony Blair on Friday, ahead of the Quartet meet in Munich on Saturday. At the end of the meeting Netanyahu is expected to present Blair with a package of confidence-building measures that Israel will propose to the Palestinian Authority in a bid to moderate a Quartet statement castigating Israel.

»

Israel Police brace for possible Temple Mount unrest amid Egypt turmoil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - February 4, 2011 - 1:00am

Jerusalem police said on Friday that they were increasing the state of preparedness surrounding the Temple Mount in the Old City due to a fear of riots that they suspect may occur as a result of the uprising in Egypt. Police said that entrance to the Temple Mount will be open on Friday only to men 50 years of age and older who have a blue identity card, signifying that they are Israeli citizens, and to women of all ages.

»

Suddenly, Israel sees peace asset?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Suddenly peace has become an asset for Israel, and suddenly Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has become Israel's best friend. Like a man about to lose the woman he abused for years, and only then recognizes her value - far too late - Israel is now hunkering down, frightened of what the future will bring. What if the new government in Egypt revokes the peace treaty?

»

Who is Uri Avnery, and Why Does He Matter?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily
by Aryeh Tepper - February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Jerusalem's decision in the early 1990's to admit Yasir Arafat and his fellow thugs into the heart of the land of Israel proved to be one of the country's major political blunders, paid for in the coin of a five-year terror war that traumatized Israeli society and transformed the dream of Israeli-Palestinian peace into an extended nightmare. How did it happen?

»

Knesset House C'tee approves probes into leftist NGOs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Rebecca Anna Stoil - February 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Move comes day after body's legal adviser says the inquiries raise questions at the heart of democratic rule. The Knesset's House Committee approved two parliamentary inquiries into leftist non-governmental organizations on Wednesday. One committee, headed by MK Danny Danon, would examine “the involvement of foreign bodies and states in funding activities against the state and attempting to acquire its land.” The second, headed by Fania Kirschenbaum, would probe “overseas funds and states funding Israeli organizations that participate in the delegitimization of IDF soldiers.”

»

In Abandoning the Labor Party, Barak Solidifies Coalition With Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - January 26, 2011 - 1:00am

Most See Barak’s Formation of a New Party, Ha’atzmaut, as a Temporary Move To Ensure His Political Survival Overnight, he went from leader of Israel’s most illustrious left-wing party to an appendage of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. What next for Ehud Barak? Since his January 17 break with Israel’s Labor Party — taking that once mighty, now shriveled faction down yet one more peg by his departure — the retired general and former prime minister is voicing high hopes for the new party he has founded with fellow Labor Party defectors.

»

Palestinians call for UN to examine Israeli digging in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 26, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday called on the UN to send a fact-finding mission to inspect Israel's excavations in Jerusalem, an official said. Ahmed Al-Rouidi, Jerusalem's unit chief at President Mahmoud Abbas' office, said the Palestinian contacts with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and international parties to "work immediately to stop digging more tunnels beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque."

»

Digging completed on tunnel under Old City walls in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - January 25, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israel Antiquities Authority has completed an archaeological dig of a tunnel that will enable visitors to cross under the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, not far from the Temple Mount. The tunnel, which was uncovered during excavations conducted over the past few months, was formerly used for drainage and dates back to the Second Temple. It links the City of David in Silwan with the Archaeological Park & Davidson Center, which is located near the Western Wall.

»

Israeli ministry calls for sanctioning local firms over joining Palestinian boycott
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel's Ministry of National Infrastructures on Sunday called for sanctioning local firms that boycott Israeli companies located in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, as a stipulation of tenders to take part in building the Palestinian city of Rawabi, near Ramallah. Minister Uzi Landau said his office would not "tolerate discrimination between different groups of citizens that is contrary to the basic values of the State of Israel."

»

Israeli intolerance shows up on Internet, in Knesset, on the street
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - January 23, 2011 - 1:00am

The intent of the anonymous Internet video was unambiguous: "This person should be killed — and soon," read a message underneath a photo of Israel's deputy state prosecutor, Shai Nitzan. His alleged offense? "Betraying" his Jewish roots by opening a criminal inquiry into racist threats and hate speech expressed on two Israel-based Facebook pages with statements in Hebrew such as "Death to Arabs." It was the latest, and most overtly violent, sign of what many here are calling a wave of intolerance toward people of different races, religions, orientations and viewpoints.

»


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