January 18th, 2012

Could Israel Live With A Nuclear Iran? A Gaming Exercise Suggests Yes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

Three months before the recent upsurge in tension with Tehran over its nuclear program, an Israeli think tank simulated fallout from what many here consider the unthinkable: an Iranian nuclear explosive test. The results of the simulation, published this week, are not the Middle East doomsday that some here have warned of. Rather than use the weapon to attack the Jewish state – as many Israeli leaders fear – the experts playing Iran leveraged the newly unveiled military power as a bargaining chip with the US and Europe. Those representing Israel played down the new threat.

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Israeli Strike Kills 2 in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - January 18, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces on Wednesday attacked a group of suspected Palestinian militants believed to have been planting a bomb along Gaza's border with the Jewish state, the Israeli military said. Palestinian officials said two people were killed and two wounded. Gaza's militant Hamas rulers said the victims were all civilians and said it held Israel responsible, raising the prospect of a new exchange of attacks across the volatile border.

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January 17th

NEWS: Unknown hackers attack key Israeli corporate websites. FM Lieberman faces a pre-indictment hearing on corruption charges. A human rights advocate in Gaza is stabbed by unknown assailants. PM Netanyahu may present proposals on borders and security at a meeting with Pres. Abbas in March. Israel reportedly strips Abbas of his VIP status and issues him a two-month travel permit. Shiites in Gaza say they're being persecuted by Hamas. UNRWA launches a $300 million appeal. Reports suggest Khaled Meshal may step down as Hamas leader soon. A French Parliament report accuses Israel of “water apartheid.” The UK Deputy PM calls Israeli settlement activity “vandalism.” The PA financial crisis is starting to significantly damage West Bank businesses. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali says Arabs deserve a party of the citizen. Roger Cohen says Israel would be making a big mistake to attack Iran. Barak Ravid says Israel is downplaying its negative campaign against the Palestinians for the meanwhile. Yitzhak Laor says Arabs never been equal before the law in Israel. Gerson Baskin says PM Fayyad is committed to building a Palestinian state. Catrina Stewart wonders if corruption charges might stop the rise of Lieberman. Sid Schwarz says Jews should care about the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel. The Forward says events from last September may still prove game changers in the Israeli-Palestinian equation. The National says Palestinians urgently need Arab financial help. Stuart Reigeluth and Dimitris Bouris say Gaza is still occupied by Israel.

Israel Still Occupies and Isolates Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Dimitris Bouris, Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

A kidnapped soldier has been returned for over a 1,000 Palestinians but Tel Aviv continues to fall back on the fact that Hamas is still in power. Three years ago, Israel was carrying out Operation Cast Lead that took the lives of over 1.500 Palestinians in Gaza. The official reason for the Israeli invasion was to recover a soldier; the intended purpose was to remove Hamas; the result was wanton destruction that "this time we went too far", according to Israeli columnist Gideon Levy.

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Could corruption trial stop the rise of the black sheep of Israeli politics?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

Described once by an American magazine editor as a "neo-fascist" and a "certified gangster", Israel's firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is no stranger to controversy. It has not stopped him from building up a devoted following that has propelled his party to the forefront of Israeli politics. But as a more than decade-long corruption probe nears its conclusion, even this canny political survivor may find that this is one controversy he cannot so easily dodge.

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Could corruption trial stop the rise of the black sheep of Israeli politics?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

Described once by an American magazine editor as a "neo-fascist" and a "certified gangster", Israel's firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is no stranger to controversy. It has not stopped him from building up a devoted following that has propelled his party to the forefront of Israeli politics. But as a more than decade-long corruption probe nears its conclusion, even this canny political survivor may find that this is one controversy he cannot so easily dodge.

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Palestinians need Arab help urgently
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

The economic situation of the Palestinian Authority has grown so serious that it is affecting the basic needs of Palestinians. Help from the more prosperous Arab countries seems the most likely way to avert serious damage to the social structure of the already-stressed Occupied Territories. The PA raises little of its own revenue, and now Israel and foreign donors are strangling it, mainly through suspension of the remittance of US$100 million (Dh367mn) in taxes that Israel collects on behalf of the PA.

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The Quieter Upheavals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Editorial) January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

The narrative of last September from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide is strikingly similar. The high point in Israel came September 3, when nearly half a million people took to the streets in peaceful protest against an economic system that they argued betrayed the Zionist dream. A few weeks later, the Palestinian Authority president delivered his historic request for statehood to the United Nations.

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Op-Ed: Why Jews should care about the rights of Israeli Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Sidney Schwarz - (Opinion) January 13, 2012 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- About a year and half ago, I participated in a fact-finding mission to Israel sponsored by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arabs (IATF). Established in 2006 as a consortium of some of the major organizations in American Jewish life -- including the Joint Distribution Committee, the Conference of Presidents, Jewish Federations of North America, the ADL and the American Jewish Committee -- the IATF is committed to raising awareness of the circumstances of the 20 percent of Israel’s citizens who are Arab.

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Encountering Peace: Fayyad's dream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) January 16, 2012 - 1:00am

The victims of Israeli-Palestinian violence over the past 10 years were the victims of the absence of peace. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was interviewed in the UK-based Jewish Chronicle this week (“PA shares Israel’s nuclear Iran fears” by Stephen Pollard, January 12, 2012). “We are greatly harmed by [Iranian] President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad projecting himself as a spokesman for the Palestinians,” said Fayyad. “He seeks the destruction of Israel. We do not. We are deeply troubled by Iran’s interventions and we suffer from them.”

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