On Campus, a Divide Over ‘Pro-Israel’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - November 5, 2009 - 1:00am When an Israeli student at Carleton College complained that the school’s Jewish organization had made no official statement recognizing Israel’s right to exist, Jewish student leaders at the small liberal arts school in Minnesota found themselves stuck between two poles. They wanted to make the Israeli student feel comfortable, but they didn’t want didn’t want to alienate community members by presenting them with deep misgivings about the Jewish state. » Read more

Israel moves to rein in right-wing extremists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am Shvut Rachel, West Bank - A US native from this isolated settlement was arrested by Israeli security services nearly a month ago amid allegations that he killed two Palestinians more than a decade ago and attempted to murder two others more recently. The local media are calling it the latest case of Jewish terrorism. » Read more

U.S. Eases Pressure on Israel, Leans On Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - November 5, 2009 - 1:00am Relations between Washington and Jerusalem are warming, as months-long tensions over West Bank settlements and other issues have gradually eased. Israeli officials and Jewish communal leaders point to a series of events, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s praise of Israel’s movement on the settlement issue, and President Obama’s upcoming speech at the General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America, as signs of softening in the administration’s approach toward the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

New Jewish neighbors raise spectre of eviction for Sheikh Jarrah residents ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Abe Selig - November 5, 2009 - 1:00am Nearly two-dozen neighbors gathered inside a home on Othman Bin Afan Street in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah Wednesday afternoon, some 24 hours after a group of Jews had entered the front section of the home to carry out renovations. The property - the back section of which is home to 13 members of the al-Kurd family - was thrust into the spotlight on Tuesday as the latest in a series of Sheikh Jarrah properties embroiled in legal battles over ownership claims, and neighborhood residents who had gathered there on Wednesday had little else on their mind. » Read more

Bridging Cultures ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Raymond M. Lane - July 31, 2009 - 12:00am Barefoot and sun-blasted from a summer job working as a swim coach in upper Northwest Washington, 21-year-old Ramzy Charles Suleiman smiles an easy smile and caresses the keys of his grandmother's upright piano. » Read more

Administration missteps hamper Mideast efforts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) November 5, 2009 - 1:00am President Obama came into office insisting that his administration would press hard and fast to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But after nine months, analysts and diplomats say, the administration's efforts have faltered in part because of its own missteps. As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made clear during her Middle East trip, which ended Wednesday, U.S. officials are now promoting new tactics -- what they called the "baby steps" of lower-level talks -- to bring the Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for direct talks. » Read more

U.N. Set to Endorse Inquiry Into Possible War Crimes in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Neil MacFarquhar - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am UNITED NATIONS — The General Assembly is preparing to approve a resolution that would endorse a United Nations report calling on both Israel and the Palestinians to investigate possible war crimes in the Gaza Strip within three months. » Read more

Clinton Backs Peace Talks Before Israeli Settlement Freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mark Landler - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am CAIRO — Winding up a Middle East tour, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton repeated on Wednesday that while the Obama administration rejects the legitimacy of Israeli settlement expansion, it nonetheless believes that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations should precede a permanent freeze on such construction. Her arguments conflicted with Arab and Palestinian demands that all settlement activity be frozen as a precondition for resuming talks with Israel. » Read more