August 24th

Israel Needs to Step Up Fight Against Jewish 'Settler Terrorism' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth by Roni Shaked - (Opinion) August 22, 2012 - 12:00am Given the relative lull of Palestinian terror in Judea and Samaria and the fact that the General Security Service, better known as Shin Bet, has less on its plate, one might have expected [Shin Bet chief] Yoram Cohen’s troops to step up efforts to scuttle rampant Jewish terror that could stoke a third intifada. » Read more

US has no stomach for world dominance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Marwan Kabalan - (Opinion) August 24, 2012 - 12:00am As the US prepares to mark 11 years since the 9/11 attacks, one is tempted to look again at the ensuing shift in US foreign policy and see whether it has made America a stronger world power. » Read more

Jerusalem Bullies Need a Dose of Respect ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Felice Friedson - (Opinion) August 23, 2012 - 12:00am Jerusalem’s Zion Square, located in the city center, where rallies mobilize, concerts convene, street fairs assemble, and pedestrians abound, caught the attention of local media and became the topic weekend table talk when it was learned that 17-year old Jamal Julani, an Israeli Arab from east Jerusalem who went to meet a friend who was working at a local restaurant nearby, nearly died from a savage beating unleashed by a gang of Jewish “tough teens,” who were out cruising the streets, apparently looking for a victim. » Read more

Obama’s 2nd term and the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) August 23, 2012 - 12:00am In November, we will know if there will be four more years in the White House for the first African-American president, Barack Obama, or if the party of George Bush Sr. and Jr. will succeed in propelling Mitt Romney into the Oval Office. According to recent polls, it seems that while Americans are concerned with the economic situation, unemployment and healthcare costs, they tend to believe, by a margin of 5 percent- 10%, that Obama rescued the American economy after the historic crises of the 2008 recession. » Read more

Morsy’s Egypt and us ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Hirsh Goodman - (Opinion) August 24, 2012 - 12:00am The security problems that have developed in Sinai, and the way the Egyptian government is responding to them, could be navigated toward either opportunity or a crisis. Since Mohamed Morsy took office as the country’s fifth president on June 30, relations between Israel and Egypt have been even more precarious and incendiary than ever. In tandem, the security situation in Sinai has deteriorated significantly, with jihadi attacks on Egyptian military and strategic targets there becoming bolder and more deadly than ever. » Read more

Jerusalem lynch not surprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yehudit Oppenheimer - (Opinion) August 24, 2012 - 12:00am The cruel attempted lynch in Jerusalem's Zion Square on the eve of Eid al-Fitr was not supposed to surprise us – the writing has been on the wall for a long time. This is why it is so hard to accept the fact that it took police a few days to admit that the attack on a Palestinian teen occurred in the heart of Jerusalem in front of a crowd – part of which egged the attackers on. » Read more

South Africa is right. Labeling Israeli settler products is truth in advertising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) August 23, 2012 - 12:00am South Africa has taken a decision that may one day prove to have been a significant step toward peace in the Middle East. Whether this ultimately comes to pass or not, the step has already notched a kink in the juggernaut called occupation. The South African cabinet approved a proposal “requiring the labeling of goods or products emanating from Israeli occupied territories, to prevent consumers being led to believe that such goods come from Israel,” cabinet spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said on Wednesday. » Read more

Heading for an iceberg called Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) August 24, 2012 - 12:00am For three and a half years, Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu paid occasional visits to the second floor of the President's Residence, where they shared an intimate dinner with Israel's No. 1 citizen, who lives there alone. From time to time, he visited them for a Shabbat-eve meal. In those 41 months, Shimon Peres served the prime minister loyally in the world's capitals, defended him, did PR for him, exalted and magnified him. » Read more

The Cordesman criteria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer - (Opinion) August 23, 2012 - 12:00am Either Israel is engaged in the most elaborate ruse since the Trojan horse or it is on the cusp of a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. » Read more

Has Support for Israel Hurt U.S. Credibility? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Michele Dunne, Daniel Gordis, Rashid Khalidi, Daoud Kuttab, Richard Land, Aaron David Miller, Dylan J. Williams - (Opinion) August 23, 2012 - 12:00am he president of Israel is resisting calls for a unilateral strike against Iran, but it’s just the “unilateral” part that he finds troubling: “It is clear to us that we have to proceed together with America.” Even if this is just posturing, the statement shows one reason the U.S. struggles to make allies in the Arab world: Israelis and Arabs alike assume that the U.S. will take a side in Mideast conflicts, and that the U.S. will side with Israel. Are they right? » Read more