The return of the generals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) August 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Since the beginning of the conflict, the extremists of both sides have always played into each other's hands. The cooperation between them was always much more effective than the ties between the corresponding peace activists. This was proved again this week. At the beginning of the week, Binyamin Netanyahu was desperately looking for a way out of an escalating internal crisis. The social protest movement was gathering momentum and posing a growing danger to his government. The whole content of the public discourse had changed beyond recognition.

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When Israeli arrogance meets Arab honor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) August 22, 2011 - 12:00am

One can only hope that the prime minister will not ask his deputy, Moshe Ya'alon, to settle the dispute with Egypt in the wake of the incident in the south. According to Ya'alon's doctrine of international relations, under which "honor is a national asset," Cairo should be consigned to hell. Just as in the matter of the refusal to apologize to the Turks, standing tall and marching in the direction of lowering the level of diplomatic relations with the largest Arab country will without a doubt raise Israel's prestige in Washington and in Paris, and will deter Damascus and Tehran.

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Terror, racism, and the idea that Israelis are people too
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) August 22, 2011 - 12:00am

In the aftermath of a terror operation in which gunmen attacked several fronts in southern Israel, killing eight people and wounding dozens more, try this sentence on for size: "Israelis are people, too." What’s your first reaction? If you've been around this block before, it may well be something akin to suspicion. It is, after all, a sentence with an ax to grind. Why else would anyone need to say something like that at all?

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New Strategic Flaw Affects Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by George Semaan - (Opinion) August 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab action has started to cast its shadows over Israel, while the security repercussions of the Eilat operation on the Gaza Strip and the killing of the Egyptian soldiers with the bullets of the Israeli army on the border between the two countries might lead to political repercussions that could make the Hebrew state come face to face with a blunt strategic flaw. In the meantime, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is standing before challenges for which it is not envied.

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Palestinians only lose with violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) August 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Thursday’s raid on Israel, by a Palestinian splinter group taking advantage of Egypt’s current inability to police the Sinai Peninsula, was a setback for the cause of Palestinian statehood. The attackers moved south from Gaza to the region of Eilat on the Red Sea by way of Sinai, which has seen increased violence from militant groups since the collapse of the old regime in Egypt. In the Israeli pursuit of the gunmen, five Egyptian border guards were killed. Eight Israelis died in the raids, and seven attackers. Egypt, in protest, planned to recall its ambassador to Israel.

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The Israeli protest is indifferent to the Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yisrael Harel - (Opinion) August 19, 2011 - 12:00am

Until Barack Obama entered the White House, Abu Mazen (PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas) was obliged, under pressure from the United States and the Quartet, to negotiate with Israel. But his goal was never to reach agreement. This was graphically illustrated in late 2008 by his refusal to accept the most generous set of principles ever proposed by an Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert.

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Deadly direction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) August 19, 2011 - 12:00am

When attacks and counterattacks erupted Thursday in Gaza, it might have been expected to hear analysts and the media talk about a sudden outbreak of violence – in fact, the developments of the last few months represent an instance of deliberately laying the groundwork for such an explosion.

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The boundaries of July 14
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Abir Kopty - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Although some Israelis are calling for making a clear connection to Israel's occupation, the July 14 movement for "social justice" is far from endorsing a position on this, for many reasons.

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Israelis awakening to the power of grass-roots activism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by David Borowich Ya'ari - (Opinion) August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

On a recent Saturday night, my wife and I waded into a sea of 6,000 protesters in Modiin as part of 12 other similarly staged rallies across Israel to demand social justice and greater accountability from our elected officials in Israel. This was Modiin, the newly created suburban retreat of the middle class -- a far cry from the social challenges facing the country. Amid a wave of upwardly mobile suburbanites, we found common cause with the hundreds of thousands of protestors who believe that Israel must provide greater social mobility and opportunity.

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Israeli army mulls letting Palestinians get more guns by September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Senior Israel military officials are considering what one termed "confidence-building measures," to convince Palestinian leaders not to continue with their planned statehood bid at the UN General Assembly next month, including allowing the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security services in the West Bank to procure more weapons. The arms would be brought in via Jordan, according to the recommendations, which were listed in a brief that has been forwarded to the government, the Ynet news reported Wednesday.

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