Safer Side by Side: Why Israel Needs Palestine
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Daily Beast (Opinion) - April 2, 2012 - 12:00am

Benny Begin, a member of Prime Minister Netanuyahu's inner cabinet, recently dismissed the idea of the creation of a viable Palestinian state, claiming it would be an unbearable security threat to Israel. He added that Netanuyahu's 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, which seemingly endorsed the two-state goal, was aimed exclusively at foreign audiences but that Palestinian statehood "was not brought up for discussion in the government, nor will it be discussed." "This is not the government's position," he stated bluntly. All the evidence suggests he's correct.

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NEWS: Palestinian and Israeli officials have met secretly to explore the possibility of more talks. Pres. Abbas says he may file a complaint against Israeli policies, especially on settlements, with international agencies. PM Netanyahu delays the eviction of settlers from a house they seized in occupied Hebron. Occupation authorities are reportedly planning yet another settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. Hamas complains that the PA detained 79 of its members in March. Three Palestinian children are killed in a fire started by a candle, and Hamas says Israel is to blame because of the fuel crisis. A Palestinian family loses a court battle over ownership of a historic home in occupied East Jerusalem that was declared "absentee property." The International Red Cross is delivering fuel supplies to Gaza hospitals. An Israeli "reality TV" show is the scene of a controversy about the occupation. Israel's military predicts it would suffer less than 300 casualties in a conflict with Iran. Poems by Mahmoud Darwish will be taught in Arab schools in Israel. COMMENTARY: Alana Newhouse reviews Peter Beinart's new book on Zionism. Moshe Arens says the victory of Shaul Mofaz as new Kadima leader means the era of land-for-peace is dead. Yitzhak Laor says Israel is addicted to settlement activity at its own peril. The Jerusalem Post says Palestinians are being hypocritical on press freedoms. Alick Isaacs says religious communities are crucial for peace. The National says hunger-striking prisoners are winning moral victories against Israel. Bernard Avishai recalls the hostile reaction to his 1985 book, "The Tragedy of Zionism." Aviad Kleinberg says it's surprising that FM Lieberman is so clearly against any attack on Iran. Hussein Ibish says Israeli security can only be ensured through the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Safer Side by Side: Why Israel Needs Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am

Benny Begin, a member of Prime Minister Netanuyahu's inner cabinet, recently dismissed the idea of the creation of a viable Palestinian state, claiming it would be an unbearable security threat to Israel. He added that Netanuyahu's 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, which seemingly endorsed the two-state goal, was aimed exclusively at foreign audiences but that Palestinian statehood "was not brought up for discussion in the government, nor will it be discussed." "This is not the government's position," he stated bluntly. All the evidence suggests he's correct.

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Israel's Most Unlikely Dove
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth
by Aviad Kleinberg - (Opinion) March 20, 2012 - 12:00am

"If, God forbid, a war with Iran breaks out, it will be a nightmare. And we will all be in it, including the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. No one will remain unscathed. We have to do everything we can to urge the international community to assume responsibility and take action to stop the Iranians … The State of Israel keeps all options open.

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Real Life, not “Counterlife”
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am

In 1985, I published a book called The Tragedy of Zionism. It argued that the Zionist movement had been a good, largely secular and cultural revolution that had run its course, that is, with the founding of Israel and the consolidation of the national Hebrew culture; but that the residual institutions and theories of that revolution—rashly kept alive by Israel’s leaders, who feared the fight with the orthodox Jewish parties over a constitution—had grown to be a burden on, even a threat to, Israel’s democratic life.

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Hunger strikers score a victory for Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

From Israel's Ramla prison south of Tel Aviv, Hana Shalabi moved on Sunday to the relative freedom of Gaza. Her negotiated release came, not by coincidence, after a 44-day hunger strike. The case provides a new example of how effectively Palestinians can use the moral high ground.

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Putting peace before liberalism is crucial
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alick Isaacs - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am

My interest in peace work began to grow after I returned from the war in Southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006. I was drafted as a military reservist in the IDF and was, at the grand age of 38, one of the older people to participate in the combat.

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Palestinian responsibility
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Editorial) April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

The hypocrisy was mind-boggling. The same week that the Palestinian Authority announced the introduction of a new award to honor press freedom, it launched a crackdown on Palestinian journalists to intimidate them and stifle their voices.

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Israelis can't resist following the the occupation's pied piper
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

In Ra'anan Alexandrowicz's documentary film "The Law in These Parts," former Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar is presented as the person who removed, with one decision, the legal obstacle to settlement on Jordanian lands. In doing so, Shamgar created a situation in which no peaceful solution to the conflict with the Palestinians is visible on the horizon. Shamgar does not come out of it looking good. Moreover, he doesn't quite remember the crucial decision.

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Mofaz's Kadima win signals end of the land for peace era
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Moshe Arens - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am

Of course Shaul Mofaz won, and Tzipi Livni lost. But there was much more to the Kadima primary race than that. It was the "two-state solution," at the forefront of Israeli political discourse for a number of years, that lost. It was the offer of more concessions to the Palestinians, whose most prominent advocate was former Kadima chairwoman, MK Tzipi Livni, that went down in defeat.

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