German author Grass says Israel endangers world peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Gareth Jones - April 4, 2012 - 12:00am

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Nobel Prize-winning German writer Guenter Grass has attacked Israel as a threat to world peace and said it must not be allowed to launch military strikes against Iran, in a poem that led one German newspaper to brand him "the eternal anti-Semite." Grass, 84, a seasoned campaigner for left-wing causes and a critic of Western military interventions such as Iraq, also condemned German arms sales to Israel in his poem "What must be said", published in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily on Wednesday.

»

ICC Rebuffs Palestinians’ Gaza War Crimes Case Against Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- The International Criminal Court on Tuesday rejected a Palestinian request to investigate war crimes allegations arising from Israel’s 22-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip three years ago, saying it had no jurisdiction because a Palestinian state has not been recognized by the U.N. General Assembly. But ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo appeared to leave the door open for future claims if Palestinians succeed in upgrading their status at the U.N. from "observer" to "non-member state."

»

Peter Beinart Responds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Tablet Magazine
by Peter Beinart - (Opinion) March 30, 2012 - 12:00am

When someone calls you “an angry ex” and an “angry scold” and says your book is an “act of moral solipsism” written in “a spirit of icy contempt and patent insincerity,” it is tough to know where to begin.

»

Israel Girds for Regional Anti-Israel Protests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - March 30, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israeli security forces in riot gear prepared Friday for Palestinian and Arab demonstrations, deploying at traditional flashpoints and along Israel's frontiers and confining West Bank Palestinians to their territory. By midday, minor skirmishes had broken out between protesters and security forces in the Jerusalem area. Palestinians threw rocks and Israeli troops responded with stun grenades. No casualties were reported. Elsewhere things were calm.

»

Palestinian Leader Drops Key Threat to Dismantle Government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 29, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Foreign diplomats say President Mahmoud Abbas has dropped a planned threat to dismantle his autonomy government to protest the deadlock in peace efforts with Israel. Abbas had been planning to deliver the threat in a letter to Israel. But, according to a copy of the letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, the language has been dropped from the text. The diplomats who provided the letter said Abbas scrapped the threat at the urging of President Barack Obama. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the letter has not yet been sent.

»

A New Season of Palestinian Protests Challenges Both Israel and Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am

The Arab League is talking about Syria; Israel and the U.S. are talking about Iran. Nobody in the corridors of power, these days, is talking about the Palestinians. In part, that reflects the shifting geopolitical sands and the effectiveness of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in changing the subject — when he came to Washington to meet with newly elected President Barack Obama in 2009, Netanyahu wanted to talk about Iran, but Obama insisted he talk about settlements and the Palestinians; when Netanyahu met Obama in Washington three weeks ago, Iran dominated the agenda.

»

Show, Don't Tell: Why the Apartheid Analogy Falls Flat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) March 26, 2012 - 12:00am

A series of recent articles have pointlessly debated whether or not Israel can accurately be described as “an apartheid state.” But the problem with the apartheid analogy is less its inaccuracy, and more that, however emotionally appealing some people may find it, it’s just not useful in ending the occupation and advancing the Palestinian cause.

»

Show, Don't Tell: Why the Apartheid Analogy Falls Flat
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Daily Beast (Opinion) - March 26, 2012 - 12:00am

A series of recent articles have pointlessly debated whether or not Israel can accurately be described as “an apartheid state.” But the problem with the apartheid analogy is less its inaccuracy, and more that, however emotionally appealing some people may find it, it’s just not useful in ending the occupation and advancing the Palestinian cause.

»

A Leftist's Critique of BDS
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Naomi Paiss - (Opinion) March 15, 2012 - 12:00am

What do you call a movement that polarizes and even penalizes the progressive community, increases the intransigence of ordinary Israelis, and provides political cover for the most extreme right-wing ultra-nationalists? These days, progressives should call that movement Global BDS.

»

Gaza’s Blood Traders Fighting Assad’s Battle?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) March 14, 2012 - 12:00am

Whilst the world is in a state of shock with regard to the massacres that continue to be carried out against the Syrian people at the hands of the Bashar Assad regime, “tinplate” rockets were being fired from Gaza into Israel, and the Israelis, of course, responded to this with violence, and then suddenly it was announced that the Egyptians had mediated and therefore the situation had calmed, and then Hamas announced that it was involved in this. So why did what happen, happen? Why was the Egyptian mediation accepted in the first place?

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017