August 1st

Romney, Obama show love for Israel in their own separate ways ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Opinion) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am It was a weekend of Israel love politically that highlighted two approaches to showing affection for the Jewish state: Go to Israel, as Mitt Romney did, or go pro-Israel, as the Obama administration did. The pictures told the story, or as it were, stories: Romney in a kipah at the Western Wall on Sunday, Obama in the Oval Office two days earlier surrounded by go-to Jews from Congress and the Jewish organizational world to witness the signing of a bill enhancing U.S. defense assistance to Israel. » Read more

Begging For The Jewish Votes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am The statements of Mitt Romney, the US presidential Republican candidate, during his visit to Israel, stir a certain level of pity for the man more than actual criticism of his positions. He seemed to be begging for the votes of the Jewish American voters in front of Benjamin Netanyahu. He was being more conservative than Netanyahu himself with respect to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and Iran, and Israel’s right to deal a military blow to Iran if necessary. » Read more

Romney’s Truth Telling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Review by Rich Lowry - (Opinion) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am Sometimes the world seems a little smaller. Mitt Romney’s trip to Israel was such a moment. Demonstrating rhetorical instincts that should get him booked routinely on MSNBC, Palestinian official Saeb Erekat denounced the Republican candidate as a racist. It was a heartening display of the commonality of Romney critics. Whatever their varied backgrounds or interests, they all speak in one voice when it comes to attributing racial hatred to the former Massachusetts governor. » Read more

Mitt Romney: Pandering on the world stage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times (Editorial) August 1, 2012 - 12:00am Like everyone else, we're a bit tired of the gaffe-centric coverage of the presidential race. Every day the two campaigns and the press seem to gin up another small-potatoes controversy designed to send voters into a tizzy, generally without addressing the more serious issues facing the country or the economy. » Read more

Mitt Romney’s less-than-successful trip abroad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post (Editorial) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am FOR THE PAST seven days, Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke about American foreign policy and traveled the globe, starting with an address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno, Nev., then a trip to Great Britain, Israel and Poland. What has Mr. Romney revealed about his world view? Not nearly enough. » Read more

Romney in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am Taken at face value, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's comments during his recent trip to Israel might seem alarming. But in fact almost all of them are boilerplate American campaign rhetoric.  » Read more

Why Not in Vegas? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am I’ll make this quick. I have one question and one observation about Mitt Romney’s visit to Israel. The question is this: Since the whole trip was not about learning anything but about how to satisfy the political whims of the right-wing, super pro-Bibi Netanyahu, American Jewish casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, why didn’t they just do the whole thing in Las Vegas? » Read more

Israel's Wild West ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam by Moshe Ronen - July 30, 2012 - 12:00am The year: 1935. Three Zionist Jews, born in Persia and its environs, decide to buy plots in the Holy Land. They find a Bedouin Sheikh named Hussein Salaam Abu Kuaf, pay him and receive a 654 dunam tract [158 acres] in the Negev. Almost 80 years later, their descendants discover that a Bedouin village was constructed on the land that had been purchased for them, and the new tenants have no intention of leaving. “This is exactly like the Ulpana Hill crisis,” claim the Jewish land-owners. “Only this time, it’s about Bedouins who took over Jewish land.” » Read more

Culture Does Matter ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Review by Mitt Romney - (Opinion) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am During my recent trip to Israel, I had suggested that the choices a society makes about its culture play a role in creating prosperity, and that the significant disparity between Israeli and Palestinian living standards was powerfully influenced by it. In some quarters, that comment became the subject of controversy. » Read more

Dennis Ross denies ‘split’ with Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) July 31, 2012 - 12:00am Dennis Ross emphatically denied any indication that he no longer supported President Obama. "The idea of trying to get a sense that there is a split with the president is completely untrue," Ross, Obama's former top Iran adviser, told JTA on Tuesday. Ross repeated comments he made to the Daily Beast/Newsweek over the weekend, in which he said that his position as a counselor to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy -- an educational nonprofit subject to tax exemptions -- keeps him from directly advising campaigns. » Read more