Netanyahu walking a thin line
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am

When Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington earlier this month, he startled his huge audience — over 10,000 American Jews, Congressmen and US officials led by President Barack Obama — at the three-day American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual conference with his unbalanced and sometimes exaggerated pronouncements.

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Dozens of Hebron Settlers Stake Claim on House in Palestinian Neighborhood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Oz Rosenberg - March 29, 2012 - 12:00am

Dozens of residents from the Jewish settlement in Hebron occupied a three story house in a Palestinian neighborhood in the city overnight Wednesday, about one hundred meters south of the Cave of the Patriarchs. The group, which entered the house around 1 A.M. on Thursday, includes entire families, women and children. Representatives of the group claim that the house was purchased nearly four months ago after lengthy negotiations with its previous Palestinian owner. The group states that it holds documents validating its claim on the building.

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Israel's occupation fills an ancient Mideast need for evil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Salman Masalha - (Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am

First of all, when it comes to Iran, it should be acknowledged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is right. Since the ayatollahs took power Iranian leaders haven't stopped talking about Israel, referring to it as "the Little Satan" at every opportunity. And when these leaders, whose spiritual world is constrained by such messianic shackles, use such a loaded expression it's clear they must take active steps to deal with such a Satan, even a little one. But in saying that Netanyahu is correct, that's as far as it goes.

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One state – one vote: Rethinking an Israeli Spring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am

A beleaguered Democratic president, beset by an unpopular war overseas and raging polarization at home, clamps heavy pressure on Israel to make a dramatic gesture over the future of the West Bank. Israel's cabinet convenes to discuss the White House initiative. A minister-without-portfolio, less than three months in his first cabinet post, asks for the floor. He has a proposal regarding the Palestinians of the West Bank: Offer them citizenship and the right to vote.

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Peter Beinart's problematic 'Zionist BDS' proposal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jane Eisner - (Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Peter Beinart deserves credit for continually testing how big the Jewish tent really is. His new and controversial proposal for a targeted boycott of products from Israeli settlements in the contested West Bank is only the latest case in point. The tent is a euphemism for acceptable discourse in the often fractious conversation about Israel among American Jews. We don't merely argue about the fraught issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We argue about who has the right to argue about it.

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Open letter to Michael Oren ahead of Easter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am

As Christian leaders in Palestine, we were appalled by the baseless allegations you published in the Wall Street Journal on March 9. Your attempt to blame the difficult reality that Palestinian Christians face on Palestinian Muslims is a shameful manipulation of the facts intended to mask the damage that Israel has done to our community. As has been stated in our Kairos document, we Palestinian Christians declare that “the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is a sin against God and humanity because it deprives Palestinians of their basic human rights, bestowed by God.”

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Water-Rights Rancor Swirls Through West Bank Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist
(Analysis) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am

The politics of water is one of the most intriguing issues involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Who really owns the water sources shared by both Israel and the Palestinians, and how should they be divided? Peace Now activist Dror Etkes, known for his activity as the organization's chief tracker of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, has prepared a special report commissioned by the UN which shows how the settlers' activity in the West Bank seriously obstructs the Palestinians' access to springs and their ability to use them.

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Israel's occupation fills an ancient Mideast need for evil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Salman Masalha - (Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am

First of all, when it comes to Iran, it should be acknowledged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is right. Since the ayatollahs took power Iranian leaders haven't stopped talking about Israel, referring to it as "the Little Satan" at every opportunity. And when these leaders, whose spiritual world is constrained by such messianic shackles, use such a loaded expression it's clear they must take active steps to deal with such a Satan, even a little one. But in saying that Netanyahu is correct, that's as far as it goes.

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Bret Stephens' Crisis of Empathy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) March 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Sometimes crude binaries can be instructive, and it's possible to distinguish two different types of people: those who seek out generous and universalist empathy with others, and those who prefer the warm cocoon of tribal solidarity.

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A settlement boycott can work
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) March 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Peter Beinart’s recent call in the New York Times for Jewish Americans to boycott Israeli settlement goods has been met with angry responses from many Jewish Americans. This includes some who are opposed to the settler movement. The most important of these objections hold that a boycott cannot work because Jewish Americans won’t go along with such a program and there isn’t much to boycott anyway. Both arguments hold little water.

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