March 12th

Is Obama Bringing a Peace Plan?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - March 11, 2013 - 12:00am


Over and over, American officials insist that President Obama has no new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan hidden in his pocket, ready to be whipped out during next week’s meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But Palestinians hope and Israelis fear that he will try to restart a peace process that has been moribund for the past four years.


Hamas’s Desengaño With Morsi
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) March 11, 2013 - 12:00am


English has by far the largest vocabulary of any language, but there are still times when we have to look beyond its confines to convey a particular meaning. There is a Spanish word, desengaño, which connotes a combination of disappointment, disenchantment, disillusionment and despair, for which we have no precise English equivalent. And this, surely, best sums up the current attitude of the Hamas rulers in Gaza towards Egypt's new government.


Israel releases tentative Obama schedule
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
March 11, 2013 - 12:00am


Israel released a tentative itinerary for President Obama's visit to Israel and the West Bank. The March 20-22 visit, according to the schedule released Monday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, will include visits to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, as well as visits to the graves in Jerusalem of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist.


Obama tells Arab-American leaders trip will show commitment to statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - March 11, 2013 - 12:00am


President Obama told Arab-American leaders that his trip to Israel and the Palestinian areas would demonstrate U.S. commitment to partnering with the Palestinian Authority to bring about a state. "The President noted that the trip is not dedicated to resolving a specific policy issue, but is rather a chance to consult with Jordanian, Israeli, and Palestinian Authority officials about a broad range of issues," a White House official said after Monday's meeting with an array of Arab-American organizational leaders.  


U.N. Ties Gaza Baby’s Death to Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 11, 2013 - 12:00am


A United Nations report has suggested that a Palestinian infant who died in the fighting in


March 11th

Kerry's Impromptu Meeting With Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Andrea Stone - March 5, 2013 - 1:00am


John Kerry’s unscheduled meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday during his first official trip abroad was anything but a rogue moment for the new secretary of State.


Kerry's Impromptu Meeting With Abbas
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The Daily Beast - March 11, 2013 - 12:00am

John Kerry’s unscheduled meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday during his first official trip abroad was anything but a rogue moment for the new secretary of State.


NEWS: Palestinian factions are due to meet again in Cairo in April for more unity negotiations. (Ma'an) The Palestinian election commission says it will publish the final voter registry on April 10. (Ma'an) Israeli occupation forces seriously injure two Palestinians in Gaza and Hebron. (Xinhua) The PA estimates there are 50,000 drug addicts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Ma'an) Israel finances its military justice system in the occupied territories in large part through fines against Palestinians. (Ha'aretz) Palestinians protest Israel's blocking of Palestinian family reunification. (Xinhua) PM Netanyahu holds the last meeting of his current cabinet, but without ultra-Orthodox parties present, as a new government begins to take shape. (Bloomberg/Xinhua) Egypt arrests an Israeli citizen in Sinai. (Xinhua) The PA is preparing more applications for UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the occupied territories. (Ma'an) The International Federation of Journalists accuses Hamas of preventing it from providing safety training to women journalists. (PNN) A new poll shows Israel's Palestinian citizens are more afraid of attacks by Jewish Israelis than outside forces. (Ha'aretz) A new Senate bill would allow Israel to join the US Visa Waiver Program. (JTA) Palestinians are increasingly upset with Egypt's pumping of raw sewage into smuggling tunnels in order to close them. (Al Jazeera)

COMMENTARY: Joseph Levine points out it's not anti-Semitic to examine the tension between Israel aspiring to be both a "Jewish" and a "democratic" state simultaneously. (New York Times) Peter Beinart says the pro-Palestinian left has a terrible blind spot regarding Hamas' oppression and misogyny. (Daily Beast/Open Zion) Aluf Benn says Israel is hoping to establish at least 1 million Jewish settlers in the occupied territories in the foreseeable future. (Ha'aretz) Gideon Levy says no one can respond to UNICEF's report on Israel's abuse of Palestinian children detainees by calling the organization "anti-Semitic." (Ha'aretz) Yonah Jeremy Bob says the UNICEF report ignores Israel's efforts to reform its treatment of Palestinian children detainees. (Jerusalem Post) Smadar Shir says anti-Arab racism is becoming widespread in Israel. (YNet) Bambi Sheleg says the wave of attacks against Arabs in Israel shows the basic values of the society are collapsing. (YNet) AP says Pres. Obama has three main goals for his trip to Israel and Palestine: Iran, relations with Israel and reviving negotiations. (AP) Barak Ravid says the United States now expects the parties themselves to take the lead on peace. (Ha'aretz) Adel Safty says Obama and Sec. Kerry must remember the international legal foundations for ending the conflict. (Gulf News) Chemi Shalev says it's crazy for many Israelis to be relieved that Obama doesn't appear to have a peace plan. (Ha'aretz) Emanuel Rosen says if Obama really doesn't have a peace plan, he might as well postpone his visit to the region. (YNet) Omar Baddar says Obama's visit has to be a "game changer" or the region faces decades of unending conflict. (Daily Beast/Open Zion) Alan Elsner says Obama's trip should be seen as a step in the right direction, not an end in itself. (The Hill) Barry Rubin says it doesn't matter what Israelis really think of Obama, they need to applaud him because they require American support. (Jerusalem Post) Hassan Barari says Netanyahu's new coalition won't last long. (Arab News) Nathan Guttman says AIPAC is trying to tack to the left and make the pro-Israel cause more liberal in line with Obama's America. (The Forward) Nathan Jeffay looks at the role of Sara Netanyahu. (The Forward) The Independent profiles the novelist and hit TV scriptwriter Sayed Kashua, a Palestinian citizen of Israel. (The Independent)<

Analysis: UNICEF report, gray areas and int'l law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yonah Jeremy Bob - (Analysis) March 10, 2013 - 1:00am


Overall, UNICEF’s report on Israel’s treatment of Palestinian children in the West Bank Military Courts, despite some more positive treatment than UN reports often give, did not give Israel high marks. The 38 recommendations and the tone of the document mostly spoke of Israeli violations of international law. But reading such a report is tricky.


Israel going for one million Jews in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Editorial) March 11, 2013 - 12:00am


The election campaign season comes to its real conclusion this week with the formation of the government and an unadulterated victory for the right.



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