February 1st, 2012

Netanyahu’s unnecessary committee on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) February 1, 2012 - 1:00am

In the Likud leadership contest, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has portrayed himself as the antithesis of his challenger, the Jewish Leadership faction's Moshe Feiglin, who represents extremists among West Bank settlers. But Netanyahu's policy on settlements and unauthorized West Bank outposts, as with his "peace policy," shows that he deserves the loyalty of those extremists no less than Feiglin does.

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Religious Trash Talk Goes Mainstream in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ben Lynfield - January 31, 2012 - 1:00am

With the Israeli-Palestinian peace process suspended, religious fundamentalists on both sides of the conflict are gaining wider influence. Palestinian and Israeli analysts alike warn that the trend could further complicate prospects for a resolution by turning a nationalist clash over territory into more of an absolutist religious war.

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Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Re-Elected Likud Party Chairman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - January 31, 2012 - 1:00am

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected chairman of the ruling conservative Likud Party in a primary election Tuesday. The move secures Netanyahu's position as the party's candidate for the premiership in Israel's next general elections. Netanyahu defeated the only other candidate, Moshe Feiglin, by a wide margin. Feiglin heads the hawkish, ultra-national "Jewish leadership" stream of Likud and has challenged party leadership several times.

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UN Chief Urges Israel to Halt Settlement Construction in Bid to Salvage Mideast Peace Efforts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
February 1, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon pressed Israel on Wednesday to do more to get flagging Mideast peace efforts back on track, calling for a halt in West Bank settlement construction and urging the Israelis to submit concrete proposals on the key issues of borders and security ties with a future Palestine.

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Abbas, Mashaal Expected to Agree to New Govt Thursday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 1, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal are expected to agree on the structure of a Palestinian national unity government during their meeting in Cairo on Thursday. Secretary-general of Fatah Revolutionary Council Amin Maqboul told Ma'an Monday that failure to appoint a new government was the main obstacle to elections in the West Bank and Gaza. Mashaal, who lives in exile, arrived in Jordan on Sunday where he met King Abdullah II, his first visit since being expelled from the country in 1999.

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Support for Palestinian Authority Erodes as Prices and Taxes Rise
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - January 31, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — For many Palestinians and their international supporters, the one bright spot in an otherwise dreary political landscape has been the nation-building efforts of Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, who has restored law and order and encouraged economic growth in the West Bank. Salam Fayyad, prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, is under increasing pressure.

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January 31st

NEWS: Israel arrests three suspects in the murder of a Palestinian Christian leader in what appears to have been an intra-communal real estate dispute. Hamas leader Haniyyeh is visiting Iran. PM Netanyahu offers a wide range of concessions to the settler movement. Netanyahu answers questions online from Arab netizens. Netanyahu's office denies reports it might be willing to forgo sovereignty in the Jordan Valley in the event of a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Jordan and Qatar emerge as the leading candidates to be Hamas' new headquarters. Palestinian actor Mohammed Bakri faces a campaign of harassment from Jewish extremists. A new study suggests the violence of the second intifada did not damage Israel's national morale. The JTA looks at a controversy involving the Center for American Progress. MK Tibi says criticisms of him in the Knesset are totally unfair. COMMENTARY: Uri Misgav says Israel needs to separate religion and state. Avirama Golan says Israeli school students are being indoctrinated in nationalism more extreme than ever. Akiva Eldar says Newt Gingrich's flip-flop on Palestine won't help him win Florida. Gershon Baskin says both sides are to blame for the failure of peace talks in Jordan. David Newman criticizes Israel's growing policy of walling its borders. The Forward says there's something fundamentally undemocratic about billionaire Sheldon Adelson funneling $10 million to Newt Gingrich's campaign. The Jordan Times says the King was correct in opening a new chapter with Hamas. Yossi Alpher says the Amman talks bordered on counterproductive. Ghassan Khatib says Jordan and other sponsors should explain to the world Israel's responsibility for the talks' failure. Maher Abukhater says no matter how frustrated parties are, talks will continue.

No Paean to Palestinian Terror
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - January 31, 2012 - 1:00am

Jerusalem — When a government probe into allegations of treason caused the charismatic Arab politician Azmi Bishara to resign his Knesset seat and flee Israel in 2007, Dr. Ahmad Tibi, a former aide to PLO leader Yasir Arafat, leaped easily to the fore as his community’s most prominent national advocate. Like Bishara, he gained notice, too, as the Arab sector’s sharpest goad against Israel’s self-definition as a Jewish state.

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On Israel, think tank adopts a more cautious approach, even as anger at critic lingers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - January 26, 2012 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- In one corner was the Center for American Progress, or CAP, arguably Washington’s leading liberal think tank. In the other was Josh Block, a pugnacious former spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who aggressively pushed the notion to reporters that CAP has an Israel problem. Nearly two months after their dispute made headlines, both parties have been left bloodied -- and some in the pro-Israel community say they wish the issue had never played out in such a public way.

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Terror Targets With Teflon-Coating
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Rosenberg - January 30, 2012 - 1:00am

Does seeing a bus bombing or a shooting attack on television, or reading about in the newspaper, affect your state of mind? Common sense says it should. Terrorists certainly believe that small but high-profile acts of violence undermine their enemies’ morale. There is documented evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on a mass scale after events like 9/11. But a recent study seeking a correlation of terror attacks to people’s sense of happiness begs to differ.

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