A Hollow Call For "Justice"
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Daily Beast (Opinion) - September 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Ben Cohen's response to my recent piece systematically proves every point I make about Israel's cynical new campaign to raise the issue of Jewish refugees. In particular he demonstrates that this is not about defending the rights of Jewish refugees, since no substantive demands on their behalf are made, but simply about using them to try to obliterate the claims of Palestinians. It's one of the oddest cries for "justice" I've ever encountered, since it seeks merely to deny the claims of others.

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NEWS: The IMF issues a strong warning on the state of the Palestinian economy, saying it poses a "high risk" of continued social unrest in the occupied West Bank.The PA plans to tell donors at an upcoming meeting that the economic status quo is unsustainable. Experts say the stability of the PA is gravely threatened by its ongoing financial crisis. A new Palestinian opinion poll suggests a strong link between economy and security. The New York Times profiles Israeli Amb. Michael Oren. A pro-Hamas bloc wins union elections among UNRWA employees in Gaza. In a recently released surreptitiously filmed video at a fundraiser, Mitt Romney suggests peace is almost impossible to accomplish and this is entirely the fault of the Palestinians. PLO leaders say they are looking at the possibility of canceling the Oslo agreements with Israel, as UN officials say a 2-state solution is becoming more remote. The controversy grows over Islamophobic and anti-Semitic sentiment at California universities. A Gaza-based poet remembers the Sabra and Shatila massacre. IPS profiles Palestinian Paralympians. Palestinians in Ramallah stage a peaceful protest against a controversial anti-Islam online video. Tobias Buck profiles Rawabi, the first ever planned Palestinian city. COMMENTARY: The Washington Post says it would be extremely risky for Palestinians to renew a UN bid. Yossi Verter says PM Netanyahu is perceived as campaigning on behalf of Republicans. Linda Gradstein says US-Israel tensions are exaggerated. Nathan Jeffay asks what Israel would do without the PA and Pres. Abbas. Samuel Berger worries that Romney may be adopting Netanyahu's “dangerous timetable for war.” Daniel Drezner is dismayed by Romney's videotaped comments about Israel and the Palestinians. Hussein Ibish defends his critique of Israel's new campaign on Jewish refugees and migrants from the Arab world.

IMF issues warning on Palestinian economy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - September 18, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian economy is heading for a further slowdown in growth and a spike in unemployment just as it faces a “high risk” of continuing social unrest, according to the International Monetary Fund. The conclusions of the most recent IMF fact-finding mission make alarming reading both for Palestinian leaders and western governments amid growing concern over the viability of the Palestinian Authority and with peace talks with Israel frozen.

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A Hollow Call For "Justice"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Ben Cohen's response to my recent piece systematically proves every point I make about Israel's cynical new campaign to raise the issue of Jewish refugees. In particular he demonstrates that this is not about defending the rights of Jewish refugees, since no substantive demands on their behalf are made, but simply about using them to try to obliterate the claims of Palestinians. It's one of the oddest cries for "justice" I've ever encountered, since it seeks merely to deny the claims of others.

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Oh, Mitt.....
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Daniel W. Drezner - (Opinion) September 18, 2012 - 12:00am

So yesterday David Corn at Mother Jones made some waves when he released a video of Mitt Romney locking up the Ayn Rand Institute's vote explaining that he had no chance of winning the  "47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government." Well, this morning, the foreign policy shoe dropped from the Romney video.  Here's the excerpt of Romney musing about the two-state situation for Israel and Palestine: 

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Red Lines over Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Samuel R. Berger - (Opinion) September 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Even with all the turmoil in the Middle East, foreign policy is unlikely to have a decisive impact on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. But the outcome of the presidential election will have a profound impact on U.S. foreign policy. Nowhere is that more consequential than the debate over whether, when, and with whom we go to war against Iran.

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What Would Israel Do Without Mahmoud Abbas?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - (Opinion) September 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called Israel’s President Shimon Peres to offer him Rosh Hashanah greetings. “Happy holiday and a Happy New Year to you and the entire Israeli nation,” Abbas said.. Well, perhaps he meant all of Israel with one exception. At the same time as the phone call from Ramallah came in at Peres’ residence, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman had his team working on his attempt at character assassination of Abbas.

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Exaggerated US-Israel Tensions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - (Opinion) September 16, 2012 - 12:00am

If you believe the Israeli and some of the US press, American-Israeli relations are at their lowest point ever. The New York Times accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “trying to browbeat President Obama into a pre-emptive strike (on Iran).” Israeli press this week ran banner headlines trumpeting the rift.

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In Israel, we speak Republican
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) September 15, 2012 - 12:00am

In January 2009, on the eve of the Israeli general elections, and before the newly elected U.S. president, Barack Obama, was sworn in, the leading candidate for the premiership, Benjamin Netanyahu, met with his then-adviser and former consul general in New York, Alon Pinkas. Netanyahu asked Pinkas, who was close to the leaders of the Democratic Party, to help him build a bridge to the new administration.

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Mahmoud Abbas’s U.N. gambit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) September 17, 2012 - 12:00am

ONE OF THE winners in last week’s protests outside U.S. embassies in the Middle East was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Before the eruption of outrage over an anti-Muslim film, Mr. Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad had faced a week of demonstrations and strikes in the West Bank that some were starting to compare to the revolts against other autocratic Arab rulers. Thanks to the eruption of anti-Americanism and Mr. Fayyad’s timely repeal of several recent price and tax increases, the opposition movement appears to have subsided for now. But one way or another, Mr.

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