Thus spoke the dairy farmer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - May 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Many years ago, the incumbent chief of staff spoke at a prestigious club that used to host a prominent government figure every Friday. Mostly, reporters were also invited, and if there were no scoops to be had, at least they got a nice free lunch. I was present at that luncheon, and the CoS spoke such a lot of nonsense that I wrote a critical piece about his speech. Astonishingly, the military censor blue-penciled the whole article.

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Pins in the Goldstone voodoo doll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Hagai El-Ad - May 13, 2010 - 12:00am

What will they come up with next? The campaign to discredit Judge Richard Goldstone, his fact-finding commission and the report that now bears his name seems to reach new heights every week. The latest installment in this high-drama farce has been the revelations about Goldstone's record during apartheid-era South Africa, and the implication that his report can therefore be disregarded.

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Gazan man says Hamas beat him for alleged affairs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Diaa Hadid - May 12, 2010 - 12:00am

A Gaza art gallery owner said Wednesday that Hamas police repeatedly beat and abused him over allegations that he had had sexual relations with women who are not his wife, which is forbidden by Islamic law. Gaza human rights activists say the rare admission by Jamal Abu Qumsan, who is unmarried, is the clearest evidence yet of a quiet but persistent Hamas morals crackdown in Gaza, as part of an attempt to implement strict Islamic law.

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Jerusalem residents attack writer Elie Wiesel over appeal to Barack Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Chris McGreal - May 12, 2010 - 12:00am

An extraordinary row has broken out between Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel peace prize winner, and a group of Jewish residents of Jerusalem over who speaks for the future of the disputed city.

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Jerusalem: Still Relevant After 2000 Years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Ed Koch - (Opinion) May 11, 2010 - 12:00am

Here's my advice on how Israel and the Palestinian Authority should proceed with their so-called "proximity" talks mediated by George Mitchell. Instead of putting the hot-button issue of Jerusalem last on the agenda, the issue should be addressed first. If the Jerusalem question is solved, everything else should fall into place more easily. I believe there is a way to keep Jerusalem unified. I am talking not only of the old walled city, which is a very small part of the city of Jerusalem, but the whole city, east, west, north and south.

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Palestinian Terror Wanes, but Fear Remains
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - May 5, 2010 - 12:00am

On May 3, just two days before Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations were to resume through American mediation, Israel’s deputy foreign minister appeared alongside the head of a right-wing research organization at a press conference in Jerusalem to release new evidence that the Palestinians are not, in fact, ready for peace. It’s what you might call a confidence-building measure, Middle East style.

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Palestinians’ Emotions Run High After a Fire Destroys a Mosque in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - May 4, 2010 - 12:00am

A fire swept through a mosque in this Palestinian village early Tuesday, angering Palestinians who said they were certain that extremist Israeli settlers were to blame, although investigators have found no proof. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, echoed those sentiments and warned that the blaze “represented a threat to the efforts to revive the peace process.”

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Al Arifi and the Visit to Jerusalem!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) April 7, 2010 - 12:00am

It’s not the controversy surrounding the announcement made by the Saudi preacher Dr. Mohammed al Arifi to visit Jerusalem to film an episode of his weekly program there that bothers me. Rather, what worries me is the following question to al Arifi, his supporters and others; what about the Arab journalists who want to cover the Sheikh’s visit and the moment he enters Israel? Will they be held accountable for normalizing [ties] with the enemy or not? Will the [news] agencies and the press of slogans launch attacks against the journalists?

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Netanyahu at Mimouna: We will continue developing in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - April 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Some two million Israeli Jews will participate today in Mimouna, the traditional Moroccan festival marking the end of Passover, according to the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara celebrated Mimouna with the Fahima family in Or Akiva, where Netanyahu said "We will continue developing in the north and the south, and certainly in Jerusalem." Federation chairman Sam Sheetrit said the group would like to see less of a focus on food as the central aspect of the holiday.

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Saudi Arabia: Prominent Cleric Plans Jerusalem Visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 5, 2010 - 12:00am

A Saudi cleric announced Monday on his television show that he would visit Jerusalem next week to bolster Muslim claims to the city. If the cleric, Sheik Mohammed al-Areefi, goes ahead with his plan, it would be an unprecedented trip for a prominent Saudi. Jerusalem is the third-holiest site in Islam, but most Muslim countries — including Saudi Arabia — observe a strict boycott of Israel and ban travel there.



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