March 8th

Is a Jew Meshuga for Wanting to Live in Palestine?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Noah Feldman - (Opinion) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

If Israelis and Palestinians agree on one thing, it’s that more settlements in the West Bank will eventually make a two-state solution impossible. Rabbi Menachem Froman, who died on March 4 at age 68, thought differently.

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Savir's Corner: The day after
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Uri Savir - (Editorial) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

With the historic visit of President Barack Obama to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan at the end of the month, it seems that leaders in our region are thinking along the lines of “life before Obama” and “life after Obama.” One can safely assume that both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas cannot wait for the day the American president returns to Washington.

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Obama in Israel: Can he overcome low expectations?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
by Yisrael Medad - (Editorial) March 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Later this month, President Obama will visit Israel, a country intended by an act of international law to be the reconstituted Jewish national home. The visit will be highly charged, but at the same time, many Israelis have low expectations for what could come of it.

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Obama in Israel: The start of a new era?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
by Ami Ayalon - (Opinion) March 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Israel, I fear, is on a suicidal path: It could cease to be the democratic home of the Jewish people.

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March 7th

NEWS: A Palestinian protester shot two weeks ago by Israeli troops at a protest in the occupied West Bank has died of his wounds. (AP) An East Jerusalem woman is injured by rubber bullets fired by Israeli border police. (Ha'aretz) The prisoner issue continues to inflame Palestinian public opinion. (Reuters) Palestinian officials say they have no intention of reviving peace talks with Israel before Pres. Obama's visit later this month. (Xinhua) The closure of smuggling tunnels by Egypt hits Gaza construction projects and businesses. (Reuters) Israeli occupation forces arrest two Palestinians in West Bank raids. (Ma'an) Pres. Abbas and senior Fatah leaders express condolences on the death of Pres. Chavez. (PNN/Ma'an) Palestinians accuse Israeli occupation forces of harassing women at a Jerusalem holy site. (PNN) Israel's police commissioner describes the wave of attacks against ordinary Palestinians as "despicable." (YNet) A Jewish American pro-Palestinian activist is denied entry to Israel. (Ha'aretz) The Israeli government agrees to dismantle four "unauthorized" settlement outposts. (Ha'aretz) Israel is continuing to maintain separate roads for settlers and Palestinians in occupied Hebron. (YNet) Pres. Obama will not speak at the Knesset during his upcoming visit to Israel. (Jerusalem Post) Sweden becomes the ninth European country to upgrade the Palestinian mission to the status of embassy. (AFP)

COMMENTARY: Nabila Ramdani says Hamas squandered a great opportunity by banning women from running in a Gaza marathon, resulting in its cancellation. (The Guardian) Gideon Levy says the atmosphere in Israel created by PM Netanyahu's tenure in office is responsible for the wave of attack against ordinary Palestinians. (Ha'aretz) J. J. Goldberg looks at the decline in Netanyahu's political fortunes. (Daily Beast/Open Zion) Liam Hoare says Obama should address the Israeli public from Rabin Square. (The Forward) Efraim Halevy says Israel and Hamas are increasingly realizing they can provide each other with mutually-beneficial short-term arrangements. (The New Republic) Former Secretary of State Baker says informal representatives from Gaza could help Western and Israeli communications with Hamas. (Al Arabiya) Chemi Shalev says AIPAC is an impressive organization, but has a natural right-wing tendency. (Ha'aretz) Samuel Lebens says if diaspora Jews can't be critical of Israeli policies, they can't be successful in the battle of ideas. (Ha'aretz) Adnan Abu Amer says PM Erdogan is becoming increasingly popular among Palestinians. (Al Monitor) Douglas Bloomfield says Obama will promote, but not push hard for, peace. (Jerusalem Post),/p>

Obama is promoting, not proposing, peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

resident Barack Obama plans to go to the Middle East in two weeks, and the Israeli Left and the Palestinians are praying he’ll be bringing an American peace initiative. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Right are praying he won’t. Even if he wanted to, President Obama knows another US peace push wouldn’t work. All the rhetoric aside – and it really is little more than rhetoric – neither side is interested in, much less ready for, serious peace talks.

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Erdogan Wins Palestinian Hearts and Minds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Adnan Abu Amer - (Opinion) March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan didn't need to declare a connection between Zionism and racism to gain popularity among Palestinians.

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To win the war of opinions, Zionists must be critical friends of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Samuel Lebens - (Opinion) March 5, 2013 - 1:00am

The well-known columnist Melanie Philips once argued that there is a basic inconsistency between claiming to be a friend of Israel while engaging in public criticism of its government. She calls it “self-destructive stupidity”. I assume that Philips will agree that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a friend of Israel even when he was a very vocal leader of the opposition, vocally criticizing Israeli government policy. So what did she actually mean?

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AIPAC is an awe-inspiring organization, but the right-wing tilt is in its DNA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chemi Shalev - (Opinion) March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

Regardless of one’s political convictions - whether you believe Israel is warmonger or peace seeker, aggressor or defender, victim or victimizer, hero or villain, sinner or saint – the Annual AIPAC Policy Conference is a sight to be seen, a pageant to behold, a formidable spectacle that cannot be ignored.

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Hamas as ‘terrorist’ organization hampers peace process: James Baker
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya
March 5, 2013 - 1:00am

One solution to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis is to have non-Hamas members from the Gaza Strip negotiating peace, a former U.S. official told Al Arabiya. “Israel and the United States will not work with Hamas because it is seen to be a terrorist organization,” James Baker, who served as the Chief of Staff in the final year of the administration of President George H.W. Bush said.

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