February 23rd

Pressing Israel in U.N. remains a U.S. taboo, veto on settlements resolution shows
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
February 22, 2011 - 1:00am


In the run-up to last week's U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal, the Obama administration faced a dilemma. The administration views Jewish settlements in the West Bank as illegitimate, and has made few bones about saying so, but it also rejects the notion that the place to settle the matter is the United Nations, with its long tradition of anti-Israel resolutions.


Burj al-Barajneh's Palestinians protest U.S. veto of U.N. settlement resolution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Van Meguerditchian, Simona Sikimic - February 23, 2011 - 1:00am


Marching through mud roads, still loose underfoot from the heavy rains, several hundred Palestinians gathered at the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp Tuesday to protest the U.S. veto of a Security Council resolution condemning the construction of Israeli settlements. Led by lines of elderly men and a troop of young children beating on drums and playing bagpipes – an eccentric relic of the British mandate of Palestine – the crowd weaved its way through the camp to listen to speeches made by Palestinian Authority representatives.


U.S. veto of settlements resolution shows cowardice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The San Francisco Chronicle
by Pete McCloskey - (Editorial) February 23, 2011 - 1:00am


One of the great disappointments of the Obama presidency came from the White House instructing our representative to the United Nations to veto the Security Council resolution Friday that would have condemned Israel's West Bank settlements as illegal. Those settlements have been condemned by every U.S. president, Democrat and Republican, since Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 War. The settlements are recognized as illegal under the Geneva Conventions, which the United States took the lead in creating and signing.


February 22nd

Is Libya the nightmare version of the dream that began in Tunis and Cairo?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog
by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) February 21, 2011 - 1:00am


Last Saturday morning I blogged that I thought that the epicenter of the Arab revolt was now in Libya and that it was the place to watch in the immediate term, and that Yemen probably would be the most volatile and significant in the medium term. This was as opposed to the obsessive and misguided focus on Bahrain that was largely the consequence of the physical presence of international media in that relatively open society and a lack of understanding about the differences between the rather unique political mix in the "Island Kingdom" and the generalized pattern in the broader Arab world.


Is Libya the nightmare version of the dream that began in Tunis and Cairo?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog
by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) February 21, 2011 - 1:00am


Last Saturday morning I blogged that I thought that the epicenter of the Arab revolt was now in Libya and that it was the place to watch in the immediate term, and that Yemen probably would be the most volatile and significant in the medium term. This was as opposed to the obsessive and misguided focus on Bahrain that was largely the consequence of the physical presence of international media in that relatively open society and a lack of understanding about the differences between the rather unique political mix in the "Island Kingdom" and the generalized pattern in the broader Arab world.


Preparing for September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Blog) February 21, 2011 - 1:00am


Palestinian officials view the September 2011 deadline for statehood very seriously and most of their political behavior between now and then needs to be taken in that context. The attempt to go to the United Nations Security Council should be viewed as part of Palestinian attempts to build up an international position that is more responsive to the failure of the bilateral approach and the inaction of the United States, the country sponsoring the bilateral process on behalf of the international community.


Nihilism, the novel and political creativity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ABC News
by Ian McEwan - (Editorial) February 22, 2011 - 1:00am


Amid much controversy, Ian McEwan recently accepted the Jerusalem prize for literature, an honour awarded biennially to writers whose work deals with themes of individual freedom in society. On 20 February 2011, Ian McEwan gave an acceptance speech during the award ceremony.


Israel isolated and under threat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Linda Heard - (Editorial) February 21, 2011 - 1:00am


A country that was considered all-powerful a mere month ago now finds itself out in the cold for a variety of reasons at a time when it is governed by, arguably, the most intransigent and short-sighted prime minister in its history; a man who puts right-wing ideology before real politic.


Shameful position
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Opinion) February 22, 2011 - 1:00am


The US veto of a draft resolution condemning Israel’s continued settlement programme on Palestinian lands is wrong and fraught with immeasurable dangers. The resolution was sponsored by all Arab delegations at the UN headquarters in New York. It expresses complete Arab rejection of the Israeli construction of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, while fully supporting a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.


Egypt and Israel's armies will only grow more powerful
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Jonathan Cook - February 22, 2011 - 1:00am


has been indulging in a sustained bout of fear-mongering since the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak was toppled earlier this month. The ostensible aim has been to warn the international community that the lengthy "cold peace" between the two countries is on the verge of collapse. In reality, the peace treaty signed three decades ago is in no danger for the forseeable future. The Egyptian and Israeli armies have too much of a vested interest in its continuation, whatever political reforms occur in Egypt.



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