April 3rd

Netanyahu delays eviction of West Bank settler house ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - April 3, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overruled the planned eviction on Tuesday of Jewish settlers from a building in an occupied West Bank city that is flashpoint of tensions with Palestinians. Some 20 settlers moved into the Hebron building last Thursday at night, seeking to expand a settlement of some 500 families in the heart of the ancient city. » Read more

Abbas warns of int'l complaint if Israel won't talk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - April 2, 2012 - 12:00am If Israel is not prepared to return to the negotiating table, the Palestinian Authority will file a complaint with international bodies, PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared Monday. » Read more

Israeli, Palestinian officials hold secret meeting amid stall in peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - April 3, 2012 - 12:00am Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are at a complete standstill, with relations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reaching a newfound low. And yet, contacts have been held behind the scenes in the last two weeks between officials from both Jerusalem and Ramallah, over the missive Abbas plans to send Netanyahu in the coming days. » Read more

April 2nd

Obama Won’t Pressure Israel If He Wins Second Term ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am In the wake of President Obama’s “hot mike” admission to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that “after my election, I have more flexibility” to make concessions on missile defense, conservatives are insisting that once sworn in for a second term, Obama will unveil the Michael Moore–esque foreign policy he’s been concealing these last three years. Especially on Israel. » Read more

A revolution is taking place in Syria's Palestinian camps ATFP World Press Roundup Article from politics.co.uk by Nagham Issa - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am There are no estimates as to how many Palestinians have been killed since the unrest in Syria began, but the growing call for the fall of the Syrian regime has not passed Syria's estimated 500,000 Palestinian community by. Increased tensions with the Syrian authorities could yet mark a change in direction for the revolution, particularly in the capital, home to Syria's largest Palestinian camp, Mukhyam Yarmouk. » Read more

What happens when a Palestinian journalist dares criticize the Palestinian Authority? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am Journalists who stood outside the court building exchanged jokes about the "six million dollars." No problem, we'll obtain them, someone said. That's small change, another said. But these light remarks did not hide concerns about their colleague, Yusuf Al-Shayeb, who was at the time on his way to the Magistrate's Court in Ramallah, to have his remand extended. » Read more

Peter Beinart Targets 'The Crisis of Zionism' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Barbara Slavin - (Interview) April 1, 2012 - 12:00am In a provocative new book published this week, “The Crisis of Zionism,” Peter Beinart bemoans the trajectory of the State of Israel and of American Jews. His suggestions for saving both include a boycott of products from Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a plan that has aroused a torrent of criticism. » Read more

Land Day and Gaza’s Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Abdullah Iskandar - (Opinion) April 1, 2012 - 12:00am Two days ago, Palestinians commemorated Land Day, when on March 30, 1967, Israeli forces stormed the towns of Galilee and confronted with gunfire their Arab inhabitants who were protesting the Judaization of their region. This day has represented for the Palestinians a declaration of their attachment to their identity, their freedom and their land, not just their rejection of the occupation and its practices. » Read more

Who Speaks for Israel? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) March 30, 2012 - 12:00am The back-to-back national policy conferences of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and J Street — the Jewish version of March Madness for Israel advocates — have now concluded. The subtext of these gatherings is a desire to represent American Jewish opinion in the halls of Congress, the inner sanctum of the White House and the broader public square. Are you pro-Israel à la AIPAC? Or in the J Street mold? » Read more

J Street's Blind Spot Is Class ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Jay Michaelson - (Opinion) April 2, 2012 - 12:00am I’m not one for political conventions. Good policy is subtle, but effective politics is broad — and I, for one, prefer the former. When friends of mine returned from the AIPAC conference in early March, inspired by (in the words of one of them) “thousands of Jews all united by a love of Israel,” I felt nauseated. I don’t want to be in a crowd of thousands of people united by anything. » Read more