NEWS: Mofaz defeats Livni for leadership of the Kadima party. Pres. Abbas says the Hamas leadership has placed national unity efforts on permanent hold. A Palestinian court extends the detention of a journalist who alleged corruption at the PLO mission in Paris, and some Palestinian journalists say they will boycott a press freedom award in protest.The Palestine Exchange (PEX) plans to become a publicly traded stock itself. J Street is targeting its message towards Jewish Democrats this year. Israel may have acquired airbases in Azerbaijan. Fears are growing about the potential for a third Palestinian intifada. A new poll shows most Israelis and Palestinians support a two-state solution, but don't think it will happen.The State Department declines to include Jerusalem as a part of Israel in a new travel itinerary. COMMENTARY: Shmuel Rosner says Israelis should appreciate the support of right-wing American evangelicals. Palestinian Christians issue an open letter to Israeli Amb. Oren challenging his account of how Israel treats Christians. Israel Harel says the Israeli Supreme Court is impeding the settler movement. Amir Oren says any Israeli plans to attack Iran have been put on hold until next year at the earliest. Carlo Strenger says boycotting settlements won't save the two-state solution. Douglas Bloomfield says Arab states in the Gulf fear Iran's nuclear program but also the consequences of any Israeli attack. Arie Maliniak says Arab soccer players in Israel should go on strike against racism. Gal Beckerman reviews Peter Barnard's new book. George Hishmeh says that between procrastinating on peace and expanding settlements, Netanyahu is making a two-state solution impossible. Amnon Lord says the dismantling of the PA might produce new political opportunities. Gilad Halpern says Israel's political conversation is obsessed with the past and blind to the future.

The Quest for a 'Land for Peace'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Gilad Halpern - (Opinion) March 26, 2012 - 12:00am


It was 1969. Israel had just come jaw-droppingly victorious out of the Six Day War, where it had dealt a swift and fatal blow to three Arab armies and occupied territories that were three times its size. The United Nations Security Council had subsequently passed Resolution 242, which would pave the way to a settlement of the Israeli-Arab conflict, coining the famous phrase "land for peace." Israel was about to see one of the underlying principles of Zionism realized: a Jewish state living in peace with its neighbors.


Arab soccer strike, now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Arie Maliniak - (Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am


The recent bout of rioting by Beitar Jerusalem soccer fans at a local mall started as a violent victory celebration, yet within a short while turned into a flurry of “death to Arab” chants and assaults. The Israel Police did not deal with the riot because “no official complaint was filed.” Meanwhile, the Israeli soccer association did not deal with the “death to Arabs” singing by fans of another team, SC Ashdod, during a game, because the referees did not see or hear anything. We’ve had enough of this.


New political opportunities?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Amnon Lord - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am


The disintegration of the Palestinian Authority--ultimately, an act by the Palestinian leadership to dismantle the PA--is certainly not in the interest of Israel, for quite a few reasons. It is also not in the interest of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian leadership, whether Fateh or Hamas. Here are some thoughts as to the diverse directions such a development might take.


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.


Peter Beinart's Big Zionist Experiment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Gal Beckerman - (Book Review) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am


The Crisis of Zionism By Peter Beinart Times Books, 304 pages, $26


Arabs to Netanyahu: Hold your fire!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am


Allies in the Persian Gulf are telling American officials in Congress and the administration that the sanctions and other pressure on Iran are working and this is a time to ratchet up the pressure and keep the bombers on the ground. But if all else fails and the military option is the only way to prevent Tehran from getting nuclear weapons, it should be the Americans, not the Israelis, who do the job.


Open Letter to Peter Beinart: Boycotting the settlements will not save the two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) March 28, 2012 - 12:00am


Dear Peter Beinart, I read your book The Crisis of Zionism with as much interest as I read your New York Review of Books Essay two years ago. Both struck a deep chord in me, because you and I share a set of basic values: ethical universalism and a firm belief that the lesson of Jewish history and Jewish suffering is that only an uncompromising defense of human rights for everybody, anywhere, can prevent the type of horrors that the Jewish people went through.


Israel's plan to attack Iran put on hold until next year at the earliest
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amir Oren - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am


At 8:58 P.M. on Tuesday, Israel's 2012 war against Iran came to a quiet end. The capricious plans for a huge aerial attack were returned to the deep recesses of safes and hearts. The war may not have been canceled but it has certainly been postponed. For a while, at least, we can sound the all clear: It won't happen this year. Until further notice, Israel Air Force Flight 007 will not be taking off.


Israel's High Court is halting the momentum of the Zionist enterprise
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Israel Harel - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am


Beyond the pale. That was how Justice Miriam Naor described the government's request to postpone the verdict in the case of the Migron outpost, in order to prevent suffering and quarreling between brethren in Israel. But that is not so. [The High Court this week ordered the evacuation of the settlement by August 1.] A court that falls into the trap laid for it by anti-Zionist elements among the Jews, and hostile elements among the Arabs, is the one beyond the pale.



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