Ruth Gavison: Loyalty declaration bill is bad legislation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Dan Izenberg - October 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Hebrew University law professor Ruth Gavison, an outspoken supporter of characterizing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview Wednesday that she was opposed to the loyalty oath bill approved in the cabinet earlier this week. “It is possible to unequivocally support [the characterization of] Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, as I do, and still think that this bill, at this time, in this fashion and in this context, is a bad move,” she said.

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Israeli settlement building surges as US pushes for a new freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Beitar Illit, West Bank — In the two and a half weeks since Israel's settlement freeze expired, there's been a surge in construction on new West Bank homes, dimming prospect the Palestinians will agree to resume peace talks. "The resumption at this scale makes it more complicated to make arrangement that will allow a resumption of talks," says Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib. "They are putting more sticks in the wheels.''

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Postcard From Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation
by Christopher Hayes - (Opinion) October 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The first thing you notice when you drive into Hebron is the lack of cars. Since 1997 this second-largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, the only one with an Israeli settlement in its midst, has been formally divided. Within the Israeli section, which takes up much of the historic downtown, Palestinians are not allowed to drive, so they walk or use donkey carts. When people are ill or injured, they are carried to the hospital. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of the 30,000 Palestinians who once lived here have moved out.

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Where is Israel going?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ABC News
by Michael Brull - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Shortly after Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza, one of Israel’s most brilliant intellectuals, Yeshayahu Leibowitz called for an immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories.

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Why Not Just Submit to Netanyahu?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Osman Mirghani - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Those who predicted that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was serious in his pursuit of peace should now engage in some self-reflection. Netanyahu is a manipulative and deceitful man of the highest order, and it is a fact that he does not want to achieve a genuine peace settlement, which would lead to a viable Palestinian state. Instead, he has demanded complete Palestinian and Arab submission, to all his prohibitive conditions, and provocative maneuvers.

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In West Bank, Peace Symbol Now Signifies Struggle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians from villages like this one in the West Bank governorate of Ramallah still remember when the olive harvest was a joyous occasion, with whole families out for days in the fall sunshine, gathering the year’s crop and picnicking under the trees. “We considered it like a wedding,” said Hussein Said Hussein Abu Aliya, 68.

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In West Bank, olive groves are on the front line in struggle over land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

When members of the Shalabi family went out recently to harvest their olives, they discovered that a few dozen trees had been chopped down, their branches hacked by vandals. In other groves belonging to this Palestinian village, there were scores of dead trees that had apparently been poisoned, with holes drilled in their trunks. The groves are near Adei Ad, an unauthorized Jewish settlement outpost, and villagers, citing past incidents of assaults and harassment, pointed an accusing finger at the settlers.

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A new Israeli settlement freeze? What's behind Netanyahu's offer.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revived a previous offer Monday, saying he would support a new settlement freeze if Palestinians would recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The offer is consistent with a demand Mr. Netanyahu made when he first endorsed a Palestinian state a year ago. But Israeli analysts and former diplomats disagree as to what the prime minister, who acknowledged that the offer had already been turned down in private negotiations with Palestinians, sought to achieve by raising the issue in parliament's opening day of winter session Monday.

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Top 10 worst errors Israel is about to make
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Blog) October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

1. The Loyalty Oath. What it is: A proposed amendment to Israel's Law of Citizenship, which, if approved by the Knesset, would require non-Jews seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state." The bill does not require Jews to make the same declaration. Why it matters: A watershed measure which has been widely condemned as formally racist, passage of the bill, a key demand of Avigdor Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party, could also fuel Lieberman's drive to head the Israeli right, and eventually, run for the premiership.

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Israeli Cabinet Approves Citizenship Amendment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - October 10, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved a contentious draft amendment to the country’s citizenship law that calls for non-Jews seeking to become citizens to pledge loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and a democratic state. Decried by opponents as unnecessary, provocative and racist, the amendment, which is subject to approval by Parliament, encountered a storm of criticism and drove open divisions within the ruling coalition.

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