July 21st

Israel is afraid of peaceful protest for good reason ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am Over 63 years, Palestinians have not only had to resist Israel's occupation, but also the propaganda campaign that justifies acts of aggression as the "right of self-defence". Killing non-violent protesters, Palestinian or otherwise, is not self-defence. That obvious truth is staring Israel in the face. New peaceful demonstrations inspired by the Arab spring, as well as the Palestinian Authority's bid for UN recognition as an independent state, have shown that Israel is far more comfortable dealing with Qassam rocket attacks than it is with intelligent, non-violent resistance. » Read more

Noam Sheizaf: Worrying About Israeli Democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward by Noam Sheizaf - (Opinion) July 19, 2011 - 12:00am A few minutes after midnight on July 11, the night the Knesset passed its anti-boycott law, a hundred or so young Israelis gathered at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. Since the square is being renovated, they clustered along one of its edges. Some of them improvised protest signs, facing them towards busy Ibn Gvirol Avenue. Others were chatting. After about an hour, it was all over. Watching from the bustling pubs and coffee shops on the other side of the street, it was impossible to tell that Israeli democracy had just suffered its worst blow in years. » Read more

The Forgotten Incentive of Settlement Businesses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Hagit Ofran - (Opinion) July 19, 2011 - 12:00am There is a sense of outrage within the Israeli public following the passing of "the boycott law" in the Knesset last week. The law allows any individual or institution who faces possible damage as a result of any person's call for boycott settlement products to sue that person. Evidence of actual damage will not be required. Organizations calling for such boycott could lose their legal standing as non profit organization. » Read more

Washington Watch: Threatening Israeli democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am If Bibi Netanyahu had been a young, white Jew growing up in Mississippi in the 1960s instead of the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he might take a different view of boycotts. He would understand that political protests strengthen democracy, and that laws restricting free speech and association weaken the fiber of a nation. » Read more

MK Danny Danon is the new McCarthy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am A bit less of a Kahanist than National Union MK Michael Ben Ari, a bit less of a garbler than Likud MK Yariv Levin and a bit less pompous than Likud MK Ofir Akunis, Likud MK Danny Danon will go far. He's a member of the ruling party and is definitely going to show all those leftists and Arabs. He has already threatened them once: The party is over. Yesterday he acted once again to implement his threat. » Read more

IDF must fight its growing religious extremism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am Maj. Gen. Avi Zamir, the outgoing head of the Israel Defense Forces' Personnel Directorate, is urging that the IDF's drift toward religious extremism be stopped. In a document he sent to the chief of staff and all the major generals, whose content was reported by Amos Harel in yesterday's Haaretz, Zamir called for a reorganization of secular-religious relations in the army. » Read more

July 20th

King's Torah splits Israel's religious and secular Jews ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Yolande Knell - July 19, 2011 - 12:00am Recent protests in Israel highlight the differences between the country's religious and secular Jewish communities. Hundreds of right-wing Jews have taken part in demonstrations outside Israel's Supreme Court over the brief detention of two prominent rabbis in the last few weeks. There were clashes with police on horseback on the nearby Jerusalem streets and several arrests were made. » Read more

PA should delay UN statehood bid, says PLO official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am Nabil Amr calls on Palestinian leadership to delay statehood plan by a year out of fear it will harm relations with US and EU. The Palestinian Authority leadership has climbed a very high tree with its plan to ask the UN to recognize a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines in September, Nabil Amr, member of the PLO Central Council and a former PA minister, said on Tuesday. “The leadership does not have any guarantees that it would be able to climb down safely from the tree,” he cautioned, advising the PA to delay the statehood by another year. » Read more

Amid Murdoch scandal, Israel backers worry about muting of pro-Israel media voice ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - July 19, 2011 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Pro-Israel leaders in the United States, Britain and Australia are warily watching the unfolding of the phone-hacking scandal that is threatening to engulf the media empire of Rupert Murdoch, founder of News Corp. » Read more

EU 'disappointed' in settlement construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews July 20, 2011 - 12:00am The European Union on Tuesday expressed "great disappointment" in a tender issued by the Construction and Housing Ministry this week for the construction of 6,900 housing units, including some 300 units in the settlements of Beitar Illit and Karnei Shomron. Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for the EU's foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, said that such acts go against the international community's ongoing efforts to form a peaceful solution which will maintain Israel's safety and the Palestinians' right for an independent state. » Read more