Why Has Israel's Press Freedom Ranking Taken a Crash Dive?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Benjamin Joffe-Walt - (Opinion) January 18, 2010 - 1:00am

For decades it has been a source of honor and dignity for Israel's defenders: the nascent democracy has consistently been ranked well above all other Middle Eastern nations in its level of press freedom. Israel's free press status, confirmed each year by a number of international organizations from the US-based Freedom House to Reporters Without Borders, has withstood a number of wars, political revolts and Palestinian Intifadas.

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Israel restricts Palestinian lawyers' access to West Bank detainees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - January 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel is prohibiting Palestinian lawyers and the relatives of Palestinian detainees from reaching a military tribunal via the Beitunia checkpoint west of Ramallah.

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The first Hebrew ghetto
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Aviad Kleinberg - January 14, 2010 - 1:00am

“Eventually, there will be no choice but to fence Israel in on all directions,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a closed-door session (which was immediately reported, as is common in Israel.) “The country will have to be fully fenced on all directions." “On all directions.” “Fully.” A fortified island, armed to the teeth, surrounded by minefields and fences, high cement walls, and suspicion.

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'PMO, Foreign Ministry failed at hasbara'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - January 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Citing a major failure, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss slammed the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday for not creating an effective Arab-language public diplomacy team. In a report released Wednesday, the comptroller said that the lack of Arabic speakers to address the relevant media was a "national failure" that was demonstrated during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip last year. The government also failed to set up proper radio stations that could be used to transmit Israel's message to the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Lebanon and Syria.

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Mofaz: Kadima elections coming soon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Tova Dadon - January 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Kadima members will soon be called upon to vote in the party primary elections, Knesset Member Shaul Mofaz told supporters Thursday during a meeting in southern Israel. "Prepare to be called to vote soon; this is for Kadima's future and for the State of Israel's future," the party's leadership hopeful, who is hoping to dethrone current Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, told the audience of about 150 people. During the meeting, Mofaz continued to slam Livni's policy, charging that Kadima is facing an absence of leadership and a party rift.

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Sharon's real legacy - keeping the Arabs out of sight
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) January 13, 2010 - 1:00am

Let's assume the optimistic forecast by special U.S. envoy George Mitchell comes true and in two years the establishment of an independent Palestine is declared at a ceremony. The event will be broadcast on prime time, but most Israelis will opt to view "Big Brother 6," "Survivor 7" or whatever the next television hit is. Viewers will behave this way not because they oppose a Palestinian state but because they are indifferent. Palestine-shmalestine simply does not interest them.

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The Tel Aviv Cluster
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by David Brooks - (Opinion) January 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Jews are a famously accomplished group. They make up 0.2 percent of the world population, but 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 percent of the medicine laureates. Jews make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, but 21 percent of the Ivy League student bodies, 26 percent of the Kennedy Center honorees, 37 percent of the Academy Award-winning directors, 38 percent of those on a recent Business Week list of leading philanthropists, 51 percent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for nonfiction.

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Only psychiatrists can explain Israel's behavior
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) January 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Our wild world of crime has recently been sent for observation. From the bodyguard of the IDF Chief of Staff to the killers of their own children - all have been sent for observation. The time has come, as is the custom around here, to send the country for observation, too. Maybe with ongoing treatment from specialists, the diagnosis that will save us can be made.

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In Israel, a highway that divides
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - January 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Reporting from Highway 443, West Bank — Cruising down this disputed four-lane highway, with all its twists and turns, is like taking a road trip through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You pass the walls and barriers that keep Palestinians from accessing Highway 443 as it slices through their land. Then there are the hazardous corridors where Israeli drivers have been shot and killed.

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For Israel, was 2009 just the calm before the storm?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Emile Hokayem - (Analysis) January 6, 2010 - 1:00am

It was a good year for Israel. Beyond the paralysis on the peace-process front in 2009, for which the hardline Israeli prime minister can claim credit, Israel has had the quietest year since the beginning of the second intifada. Its territory was kept secure and fewer Israelis were killed and injured (although more than 1,500 Palestinians lost their lives at Israeli hands in the meantime).

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