A Self-Defeating Boycott Bill ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Opinion) July 13, 2011 - 12:00am Supporters of Israel's settlement movement want to criminalize calls for boycotts, not only of Israel, but of products made in the settlements. The way to fight calls to boycott Israel itself is through argument; the way to fight calls to boycott settlements is to bring about the creation of a Palestinian state, and let the settlers become part of Palestine, or encourage them to come home to Israel proper. About the boycott-Israel movement I have no mixed feelings at all; it is a type of anti-Jewish discrimination campaign (as are these awful flotillas). » Read more

Knesset of Fools ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Hussein Ibish - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am In the latest of a series of extraordinarily self-defeating moves, Israel's legislature, the Knesset, has just adopted the so-called "Boycott Bill," penalizing any call within Israel to boycott Israel or its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The new law allows for civil suits against boycott supporters, denies them state benefits, and prevents the Israeli government from doing business with them. » Read more

Israel Kicks Down its own Democratic Hill? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Steve Clemons - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am Part of the annual foreign policy ritual in Washington is that the US President, Vice President, and leading Members of Congress make major campaign and fundraising speeches, sign on to resolutions, and pledge unconditional support to Israel, often referring to it as "the only genuine democracy in the Middle East." But will it remain so? The Israel Knesset just passed 47-38 a bill outlawing its citizens from supporting any anti-Israel boycotts. » Read more

A Palestinian View: September needs Israel's awakening and not politicians' bluffs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Mahdi Abdul Hadi - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am The proposal made by Yossi Alpher and several other Israelis of "Buying into Palestinian Statehood" (New York Times, June 24, 2011) is based on several wishful assumptions for the "day after". » Read more

I support Israel by working for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Jennifer Aaronson - (Blog) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am A few years ago I was walking down the streets of San Francisco wearing an old t-shirt that said pro-peace, pro-Israel. A man yelled back at me that I could not believe in both. I was so shocked by his outburst that I didn't know how to respond-so I chose to ignore him. I was only fifteen at the time so that was probably for the best; however, that encounter has been ingrained in my mind ever since. » Read more

Israel's stupid and self-defeating new law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph by Michael Weiss - (Blog) July 13, 2011 - 12:00am One of the more elegant ways pro-Israel activists used to be able to confront the absurdities of anti-Israeli activists was by referring to the tolerance and patience that Israel has for its many critics and enemies. An Islamist cleric whose answer to the Jewish Question is straight out of Torquemada? We’ll let him become mayor of an Arab village. A sinister campaign for the economic and cultural boycott of Israel? We’ll let the head campaigner work toward his doctorate at Tel Aviv University, where his oral defence will no doubt be an attack on his own academic viability. » Read more

No Arab renters: Right-wing Judaism and minority inclusion in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm by Roger Hercz - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am JAFFA - As a student at a college in Safed, a small city of 30,000 residents, Yusuf checked apartment after apartment, hoping to find a home close to his academic institution. Never did the 19-year old anticipate the reaction from Rabbi Schmuel Eliyahu, the local town rabbi. » Read more

Solid diplomatic foundations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Danny Ayalon - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am Last week could have proven very difficult for Israel. Our enemies and their provocateur partners were trying once again to damage our image and goad Israel into a confrontation. Thankfully, diligent behind-the-scenes work with our partners in Europe and beyond saw to it that a collision was averted. This is no simple task; individuals and small organizations are far more nimble than vast government infrastructures, and are extremely difficult to outmaneuver. » Read more

Killing chance for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Daniel Ben Simon - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am In the final moments of the vote on the Boycott Law, when it was clear that my opposition colleagues and myself are again about to be defeated, my thoughts wandered to the founders of this state. These well-known and unknown heroes who left their countries of birth, left families behind, and moved to the Land of Israel in order to build one of the 20th Century’s most ambitious projects. » Read more

Israel's boycott law: The quiet sound of going fascist ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am This is the one. Don't let what we like to call the relative calm here, fool you. When the Knesset passed the boycott law Monday night, it changed the history of the state of Israel. In real time, a tipping point of great magnitude can sound a lot like nothing at all. But if the Boycott Law makes it past challenges filed by human rights and pro-peace organizations in Israel's High Court of Justice, then anything goes, beginning with democracy itself. Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak and 10 other cabinet ministers already know this. That's why they failed to show up for the vote. » Read more