Israeli Leader Pledges Hard Line on Migrants
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to step up efforts to deter, detain and deport illegal migrants to Israel, as tensions mount over an influx of asylum seekers from Africa. His pledge came a day before an early morning fire, apparently set by arsonists, ravaged an apartment occupied by about 10 Eritrean migrants on Monday. Four people were injured. Though there have been a number of firebomb attacks against migrants in south Tel Aviv in recent weeks, the fire was the first attack on migrants in Jerusalem, the police said.

»

In unprecedented move, Israel's Foreign Ministry condemns violence against African migrants
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

The Foreign Ministry issued an unprecedented statement on Monday in which it harshly condemned the recent violence against African migrants living in Israel. Referring to an arson attack on Sunday against an apartment rented by Eritrean migrants, the statement said, "There is no justification [for] such a heinous crime that puts people's lives in harm's way... No person has the right to violate the law and resort to violence against others, certainly not to endanger lives, for any reason whatsoever."

»

The politics of land ownership in the Negev
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Newman - (Opinion) June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

The opening session of the annual workshop of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Ben-Gurion University taking place this week focused on the complex issue of the law and politics of land rights and property among the Beduin in Israel.

»

Was Barak’s call for unilateral action with the Palestinians a trial balloon?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ben Sales - (Opinion) June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Was Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's recent suggestion that Israel take “unilateral action” to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a hint at a policy under discussion or just an off-the-cuff remark?  And how will the response of others -- such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- shape the country’s fate in the coming months?

»

The fight over West Bank neighborhood: Who's minding the store, Bibi or Feiglin?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

On January 31 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trounced Moshe Feiglin in the Likud primary. The rematch could take place this week in the Knesset plenum, if the dangerous and scandalous bill to legitimize settlements built on private Palestinian land is put to a vote, against Netanyahu's wishes. Then we'll know who's really minding this store, a.k.a. Likud: the PM, or Feiglin & Co.


The importance of history
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Susan Hattis Rolef - (Opinion) June 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Last Tuesday Channel 10’s investigative TV program Hamakor (The Source) broadcast a report on the syllabi being taught in the national school system, with a special emphasis on history.

»

Israel is new South Africa as boycott calls increase
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Jonathan Owen - (Opinion) June 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Some of the world's biggest stars – from Madonna to the Red Hot Chili Peppers – are being accused of putting profit before principle in a growing backlash against artists performing in Israel.

»

Netanyahu: Israel must bolster West Bank settlements and follow law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - June 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel must bolster settlement activity in the West Bank while maintaining the rule of law, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Likud ministers on Sunday, in wake of a newly surfaced plan to relocate structures in the illegal outpost of Ulpana Hill so as to avoid their demolition. On Saturday, sources close to Netanyau told Haaretz that the prime minister is examining a two-par solution to the issue of the Ulpana Hill outpost that will avoid the need for legislation on the matter.

»

Israel to jail illegal migrants for up to 3 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - June 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel may jail illegal immigrants for up to three years under a law put into effect on Sunday, an Interior Ministry official said, a measure aimed at stemming the flow of Africans entering Israel across the porous desert border with Egypt. "The law takes effect from today," said Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad. The controversial law was passed by parliament in January and denounced at the time by liberal politicians and human rights activists.

»

Eli Yishai: Israeli women afraid to report rape by African migrants due to AIDS stigma
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

In further remarks on migrant workers from Africa, Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Thursday that many Israeli women have been raped by migrant workers “but do not complain out of fear of being stigmatized as having contracted AIDS.” In an interview with Israeli newspaper Maariv, Yishai stated that the solution to the current problem is “more prisons and migrant detention camps," and that Israel must “prepare more military bases where we can jail all of them without exception.”

»


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