July 22nd, 2011

Seeking signs of health
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Samah Jaber - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am


For those who lament the Palestinians' use of violence and sigh, saying, "Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?" here is the answer: Israel delegitimizes all tools of resistance. Most recently, the Israeli parliament passed legislation making it possible to punish any public call for economic, cultural or academic boycott of the Israeli occupation and its settlements.


What Obama needs to do
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) July 22, 2011 - 12:00am


These are not the best of times for Americans, especially their leaders in government, President Barack Obama and Congress, in view of the bad state of the economy (i.e., the federal debt) and foreign policy, particularly towards the Arab world. Many here and there are pointing a finger at the president, or as one headline pointed out, “the too-quiet president”. An unidentified Republican, who expects Obama to win a second term in office next year, asked much-respected Washington Post columnist David Ignatius: “Why does he so often seem to react rather than lead?”


The Incoherence of the Slogans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am


Is it recognition of the Palestinian state or recognition of Israel?


Settlers start fires across the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 22, 2011 - 12:00am


BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Palestinian firefighters have been battling blazes across the West Bank as Israeli settlers set fire to land in multiple locations on Thursday night. Reports earlier on Friday said that settlers had torched agricultural fields near the village of Burin in the West Bank city of Nablus. “Some settlers from the Yizhar settlement adjacent to the village set fire to the area south of the village and fled the scene,” Head of Burin village council Ali Ead told Ma'an. Hundreds of residents in the village arrived at the scene and helped extinguish the fire.


Demography as Destiny: Israel's Growing Right Shapes Law, Military
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - (Blog) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am


The increasingly progressive Atlantic Monthly correspondent and former Forward staffer Jeffrey Goldberg (for the last time, no, we’re not the same person) posted a link on his blog Tuesday to an online essay — which he called “hard to disagree with” — by senior research fellow Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine. Here’s the excerpt Goldberg posted on his blog:


Election season underway
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Nahum Barnea - (Editorial) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am


Some politicians talk about elections next fall, on the eve of the US elections: these are the optimists. And there are others, who talk about elections sooner, in the spring. One way or another, the election year is underway.


The Israeli right fears for the dream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am


How could it happen that the seemingly unstoppable momentum of a hard-line majority government would split the right, and, in the process, break the hearts of icons of the ruling Likud? And how does it happen that what began as a debate about McCarthyism in Israel, turned into a Soviet-style show trial, complete with verdicts handed down in advance, manipulative visual aids, dubious parliamentary procedure, playing to a captive media, and Politburo-worthy redefinitions of democratic values and practice, all on the Knesset floor?


ISRAEL: Benjamin Netanyahu's first interview on Arab network
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - July 21, 2011 - 12:00am


"Everything is on the table; we just need to get to the table," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Al Arabiya TV in an exclusive interview airing Thursday evening. According to advance excerpts from the 30-minute interview, the Israeli leader answered questions on a wide range of issues, including the peace process and regional regime changes. It was Netanyahu's first appearance on an Arab television outlet. Why now?...


J Street poll: Obama's Jewish support tops Republicans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - July 21, 2011 - 12:00am


WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama handily defeats his current Republican presidential opponents among Jewish voters, according to a poll put out by J Street Thursday. At the same time, the majority of American Jews disapproves of his handling of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the poll found. Obama currently enjoys 63 percent of the American Jewish vote, compared to 24% for Mitt Romney and 67% when facing-off against Michele Bachmann, who received 19% support,according to the poll.


The blunders of Palestinian leader Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am


Back in May, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas adopted a new and radically different political strategy. Turning his back on the United States and peace talks with Israel, he signed a ”reconciliation” agreement with the Hamas movement and announced his intention to appeal to the United Nations in September for recognition of Palestinian statehood. September is still six weeks away, but already it’s becoming clear that Abbas committed a monumental blunder, one that will leave his movement at a dead end — and possibly lead to an eruption of violence in the West Bank and Gaza.



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