Israeli Arabs are citizens, not enemies of the state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) February 5, 2012 - 1:00am

"As a community," Shin Bet security service chief Yoram Cohen said this week, "Arab Israelis are not a target of Shin Bet. They are not a fifth column and we do not view them as such." He also presented data which showed that Israeli Arabs were involved in three attacks during the past year, adding that "the number of those involved in terrorism is not large. We arrested 20-30 Israeli Arabs during the past year, compared to 2,000 Palestinians in Judea and Samaria."

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Equality for Palestinians? Israel won't have it
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ben White - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am

The presence of a few Palestinian members in the Knesset (MKs) is often touted as a sign of Israel's robust democracy. Yet elected representatives of the Palestinian community inside Israel face growing harassment by the state, by fellow MKs and the media. On Monday, the trial of MK Said Naffaa, from the Balad party, opened in Nazareth. Naffaa is charged with "travelling illegally to an enemy state, assisting in organising a visit to an enemy state, and being in contact with a foreign agent" – all relating to a trip he made to Syria as part of a Druze delegation in 2007.

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Viral photo of Abusive Israeli Soldier Called a Fake
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - February 2, 2012 - 1:00am

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- A controversial photograph that has been circulating on the Web in recent weeks is challenging such pre-Internet truisms as "seeing is believing" or "sharing is everything." About six months ago, @madlamin tweeted a picture with a message in French encouraging users to spread it around the world in 48 hours. The photograph of a soldier pointing a rifle at a little girl on the ground with his boot on her was marked with a #Syria hashtag, suggesting to users it was related to the bloody riots that have been occurring in that country in recent months.

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Palestinians, Israeli Officers Hurt in Jerusalem Clash
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 1, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian youths sustained injuries overnight in a confrontation with Israeli soldiers and police officers in al-Isawiya in occupied East Jerusalem, a Ma'an reporter said. One young man sustained serious injuries, witnesses said. Confrontations began Tuesday afternoon in the center of al-Isawiya after Israeli forces broke into the home of Ayyoub Ubeid and detained him under the pretext that he hurled stones at Israeli soldiers in the town.

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Behind the curtain of a right-wing campaign against an Israeli-Arab actor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Michael Handelzalts - January 31, 2012 - 1:00am

In a normal - not to say ideal - country, discussion of a production of Federico Garcia Lorca's "The House of Bernarda Alba" would deal with the production's artistic merits. But we are not living in a normal country, and so before I discuss the artistic values of this production at Tel Aviv's Tzavta venue, I have no alternative but to set forth the background to this production.

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No Paean to Palestinian Terror
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - January 31, 2012 - 1:00am

Jerusalem — When a government probe into allegations of treason caused the charismatic Arab politician Azmi Bishara to resign his Knesset seat and flee Israel in 2007, Dr. Ahmad Tibi, a former aide to PLO leader Yasir Arafat, leaped easily to the fore as his community’s most prominent national advocate. Like Bishara, he gained notice, too, as the Arab sector’s sharpest goad against Israel’s self-definition as a Jewish state.

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Religious Trash Talk Goes Mainstream in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ben Lynfield - January 31, 2012 - 1:00am

With the Israeli-Palestinian peace process suspended, religious fundamentalists on both sides of the conflict are gaining wider influence. Palestinian and Israeli analysts alike warn that the trend could further complicate prospects for a resolution by turning a nationalist clash over territory into more of an absolutist religious war.

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Israel needs a few more lessons in apartheid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Salman Masalha - (Opinion) January 30, 2012 - 1:00am

Scholars of the social sciences know how to defend a public opinion survey. In their way of thinking, this is a scientific tool with which it is possible to assess feelings and understand positions and trends at any given time. Together with these "quiz shows" that supply the masses with a glimpse of the mood of the public, we are also able to familiarize ourselves with the personal feelings, points of view and tendencies of those who conduct the polls.

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Terror Targets With Teflon-Coating
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Rosenberg - January 30, 2012 - 1:00am

Does seeing a bus bombing or a shooting attack on television, or reading about in the newspaper, affect your state of mind? Common sense says it should. Terrorists certainly believe that small but high-profile acts of violence undermine their enemies’ morale. There is documented evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on a mass scale after events like 9/11. But a recent study seeking a correlation of terror attacks to people’s sense of happiness begs to differ.

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Leap in number of Israelis studying in PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Tomer Velmer - January 28, 2012 - 1:00am

A new report published by the Knesset Research and Information Center shows a 100% increase in the number of Israeli students, mostly from the Bedouin sector, studying in the Palestinian Authority. According to the report, which will be presented at the Knesset's Education Committee next week, the main reason for the sharp increase is the admission requirements in Israeli colleges, as well as a difficulty with the Hebrew language and psychometric exams.

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