November 22nd

Study: Palestinians invest twice as much in Israel as they do in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - November 22, 2011 - 1:00am Private Palestinian investment in Israel, as of 2010, amounted to $2.5 billion in a conservative estimate, and according to a more optimistic estimate this investment possibly even amounts to $5.8 billion. For purposes of comparison, private Palestinian investment within the West Bank, as of 2011, was only $1.5 billion. » Read more

Prominent Israeli rabbi faces criminal probe over anti-Arab remarks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tomer Zarchin - November 22, 2011 - 1:00am Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein decided Tuesday to open a criminal investigation against Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, for alleged incitement to racism. The decision to investigate Eliyahu came after he was quoted making several anti-Arab comments in interviews with the media. Eliyahu was one of 18 rabbis who signed a petition in October 2010, urging Jews to refrain from renting or selling apartments to non-Jews – a move seen as being directed against Arab students enrolled in Safed’s college. Some 50 rabbis eventually endorsed the so-called "rabbis' letter." » Read more

Netanyahu backing controversial libel law amendment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) November 22, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come out in support of a libel law amendment a day after Israeli journalists gathered to protest the bill. The libel law amendment has passed a first reading in the Knesset, and was scheduled for its second and third readings Monday night. The measure relaxes the criteria for slander and libel, and more than triples the maximum damages for such infractions. » Read more

Israel's 'defamation bill' passes 1st reading ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press November 22, 2011 - 1:00am Israel's parliament has passed the first reading of a bill that critics say could muzzle the country's media if it becomes law. The "defamation bill" passed 42-31 late Monday after a heated debate in parliament. It would need to pass another two readings to become law. The bill would make it much easier for journalists to be sued. It significantly increases the amount that reporters can be demanded to pay in fines, without proof of damages. Supporters of the bill say it encourages accountability in the media. » Read more

'Hebrew Labor' aims to stop public buying from Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 21, 2011 - 1:00am A group of young settlers is working on a project to "warn the public" against buying from businesses that employ Arabs, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday. Around 20 people, many of whom are from the notorious Yitzhar settlement in the northern West Bank, have been touring Jerusalem neighborhoods and making a list of businesses with Arab employees, Haaretz reported. Meir Ettinger, 19, told police he was working for "Hebrew Labor" after a merchant reported his suspicious behavior. Police have since questioned four other men working on the same project, the report said. » Read more

UN envoy singles out Israel over talks deadlock ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) November 21, 2011 - 1:00am The UN Middle East peace envoy on Monday singled out Israel's settlement building for criticism as he highlighted deadlocked efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians into direct talks. "Provocations continue to damage confidence," special envoy Robert Serry told a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East. "In particular, Israel continues to engage in settlement activity, including in highly sensitive areas, and demolitions of Palestinian structures are ongoing." » Read more

November 21st

'Price Tag' Attacks Pose Test for Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) November 21, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli society has been confronted recently by a troubling new trend: vigilante attacks by some settlers and their supporters against Palestinians in the occupied territories, Arab citizens of Israel and, increasingly, Israeli peace groups. These began as the settlers’ own form of retaliation — exacting a “price” for any Palestinian violence — but have devolved into a campaign of terror. Marauding bands of armed settlers have uprooted olive trees, burned mosques and schools, shot at cars, run over children. » Read more

The problem is not reconciliation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) November 21, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced last week that he plans to meet the head of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, on November 25 to discuss two issues. First, the leaders will discuss the future and challenges facing the Palestinian cause, and second, they will explore the prospects for reconciling the two factions they head and implementing a reconciliation agreement signed in May. » Read more

The regional Islamist circumstances are changing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) November 21, 2011 - 1:00am The notion of integrating Hamas, and with it the Gaza Strip, into a Palestinian unity government reflects the primary trend that has thus far defined the Arab revolutionary wave: Arab Islamist movements are entering government. In this sense, Hamas' victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections was very much a harbinger of things to come elsewhere in the Arab world. » Read more

Advocating the two state solution: the best bet? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Open Democracy by Brigitte Herremans - (Opinion) November 21, 2011 - 1:00am Nowadays, it is not an easy task to be a staunch advocate of the two state solution. True, there is a near-universal consensus at the international level that a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies in a viable and independent State of Palestine living in peace and security alongside the State of Israel.[i] However, far from the ideal solution, it is an imperfect compromise. » Read more