Israel Stands to Lose Big In New Global Order
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist
by Uri Pasovsky - (Interview) June 23, 2012 - 12:00am

The world is currently in an interim period, in the midst of a deep change in the global balance of power, and Israel is one of the big losers from this process, argues Ian Bremmer, one of the world's most prominent experts on international relations. "For the first time in seven decades, we are living in a world without global leadership," Bremmer says, describing the situation in the world today as typified by the approach of "every nation for itself."

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Nasrallah fears the Arab Spring, and an Israeli winter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Paul Salem - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Three years ago, regional opinion polls showed that the Middle East’s most popular leaders were Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. People at the time appreciated that they were standing up to Israel in Lebanon and Gaza, and pushing back against aggressive American policies in the region.

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Alice Walker's The Color Purple should be read in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Maya Sela - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Literature at its best should be a Trojan horse. Good authors don't just tell us a story to pass the time in a pleasant way; he or she offers ideas that insinuate themselves into the reader's mind, sometimes unconsciously, sometimes in the form of a tale that disguises its moral and cultural lessons. Books can provide readers a mirror in which they will see something they hadn't seen before, and give them the opportunity of subsequently seeing themselves and their surroundings in a different light.

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“Freezing” Palestine – not the Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat
by Walid Choucair - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Eighteen months into the Arab Spring, as expected, the Palestinian situation is being neglected in the Arab world and by the international community. All of the countries concerned with Palestine have been busy tending to their domestic situations, or the regional repercussions of Arab uprisings on other countries, which has allowed Israel to act unilaterally against the Palestinians.

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The Overshadowed Peace Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, there once lived something called the Arab-Israeli peace process. It never lived an altogether happy life, but it did actually exist and breathe. In fact, it was capable of some spectacular highs (Egyptian-Israeli and Israeli-Jordanian peace treaties) and a great many lows. More failures than successes, to be sure, but there was—at least most of the time—a real sense of hope and possibility and a credible process worth pursuing.

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Israel should wait with peace deal until Mideast unrest ends, former envoy says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

For decades Prof. Itamar Rabinovich has studied the Middle East, analyzing Israel's complex status in the region and documenting its attempts to achieve peace with its neighbors. For four years (1993-1996) he himself took an active part in the diplomatic efforts as Israel's ambassador to the United States and head of the Israeli delegation to negotiations with Syria, as Yitzhak Rabin's envoy. (After Rabin's assassination, Rabinovich continued as ambassador under Shimon Peres but not as head of the delegation.)

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Israelis, Palestinians Closely Watch Egypt Turmoil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America
by Scott Bobb - June 20, 2012 - 12:00am

The political face-off in Egypt between the military and Islamists following the presidential election is being closely watched by Egypt's neighbors in Israel and the Palestinian territories. And as with many issues the viewpoints vary considerably. Opinions are divided among Israelis and Palestinian groups over future relations with Egypt although all agree those relations will continue to be important.

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Peter David, Journalist and Middle East Thinker
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Norman Ornstein - (Opinion) June 20, 2012 - 12:00am

I last saw Peter David a couple of months before he died, when we had lunch at Vidalia, a downtown Washington restaurant on a holiday Monday. Because it was a holiday, we did not have to shout over the lunchtime crowds or rush to get through and move on to the next appointment. Instead, it was a perfect opportunity to have an extended and great conversation with one of the most informed, deep, witty and experienced people I have ever known. We talked about British politics, American politics, both societies, the global economy, and even a little about the Middle East.

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Israel: "all options" open after Iran talks fail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 20, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, June 20 (Reuters) - Israel responded on Wednesday to a lack of progress in talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme by demanding that the West impose stiffer economic sanctions on Tehran and hinting anew that a military option was still on the table. Six world powers and Iran failed to secure a breakthrough at talks in Moscow this week, the third round under the latest diplomatic initiative, and set no date for more political negotiations.

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Olympic Spirit Calls for Memorial
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Jessica Apple - (Opinion) June 20, 2012 - 12:00am

Recently, I sat with my sons in our Tel Aviv apartment and watched a documentary about the massacre at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. Five days before the end of the games, eight Palestinian terrorists from the group Black September broke into the Olympic Village, killing two Israelis and taking nine others hostage. The Palestinians demanded the release of more than 200 prisoners from Israel. In an ensuing battle, all nine Israeli hostages were killed.

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