'Two-state solution key to achieving peace'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a key issue in achieving regional peace and global stability, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday. He was delivering a speech at Haifa University, where he received an honorary doctorate in recognition of his work to combat anti-Semitism and his dedication to resolving the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

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Israelis, Palestinians: 2 states in 5 years unlikely
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Sharon Udasin - July 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Most Israelis and Palestinians view the chances of establishing an independent Palestinian state within the next five years as low or nonexistent, a new joint Israeli-Palestinian poll reported. Meanwhile, the majority of Israelis oppose military intervention in Syria and an unaided strike on Iran, the latter of which they agree could spark the eruption of a major regional war, according to the survey.

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Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Put Allies at Odds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Jeremy Benami - (Blog) July 2, 2012 - 12:00am

As a long-time advocate for peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I am pained that frustration over failure to achieve a just and lasting peace has led allies in the struggle to end up at odds over tactics like boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS). Two years ago, the organization I head, J Street, was honored with an invitation to speak at a breakfast hosted by a Presbyterian Church (USA) peacemaking group -- a long-time ally in the struggle for Middle East peace. But we attended with heavy hearts.

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The calm may not last for ever
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
(Opinion) June 30, 2012 - 12:00am

FIVE years after Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, dismissed an elected government run by the Islamists of Hamas and decided to rule instead by decree, the Palestinian Authority (PA) that oversees the West Bank is being dangerously challenged from within. In Nablus, the first city where Mr Abbas chose to fill the security vacuum with his American-trained national-security battalions, turf wars have recently erupted between rival commanders, puncturing four years of calm.

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Want to forget the occupation? End it
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Mira Sucharov - (Opinion) June 29, 2012 - 12:00am

It’s easy to forget the occupation. It’s easy not to notice it, when grasping the tip of the iceberg means arranging to have Lior Amihai, one of the talented and committed staff members at Peace Now’s Settlement Watch, drive me through the northern West Bank in the organization’s white Hyundai, painstakingly explaining the criss-crossed landscape of state appropriation amidst the interminable status quo.

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The creeping annexation of Judea and Samaria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jay Bushinsky - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

One of the most effective ways for an expansionist state to annex territory conquered by its armed forces is to populate it with its own people. That is what Israel seems to be doing in the West Bank: Performing a demographic fait accompli in which the number of Jewish inhabitants eventually may equal or even outnumber the Palestinians there.

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J14 V. The Occupation: Why Talking About The Occupation Will Only Prolong It
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Ami Kaufman - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

When I was a teenager back in the 80’s, there was an ad on Israel’s only TV channel about road safety. It urged drivers to use their heads rather than simply rely on driving legally. The catchy slogan was “On the road, don’t be right—be smart!”

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The perils of alienation over Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghaith Al-Omari - (Opinion) June 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Critics of the American Task Force on Palestine get one thing right: Palestinian Americans have largely failed to make their voices heard in the mainstream American political and foreign-policy conversation. However, this is the fault of self-styled “pro-Palestinian” advocates who operate in a cult-like echo-chamber and advocate an approach that does considerable harm to the Palestinian cause.

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Peres: Israel, Palestine must forget bitter past to achieve Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli President Shimon Peres Thursday urged Israel and its foes to put behind a bitter past and look to the future if they desire to achieve peace. "The past is dead. You can't correct it. Focus on the future. You have to take risks," Peres said during a panel discussion at the fourth Israel Presidential Conference in Jerusalem on Thursday.

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Israeli synagogue vandalized with Arabic graffiti days after West Bank mosque torched
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli police say they are investigating hate graffiti scrawled in Arabic on a synagogue in northern Israel. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the phrase “there is no God but Allah” was sprayed on the outside of the synagogue in Moshav Maor. The graffiti was discovered on Friday morning. He says police are searching for suspects. The vandalism comes days after a mosque in the West Bank was torched and vandalized with Hebrew-language graffiti protesting the Israeli government’s upcoming evacuation of a Jewish outpost in the area.

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