Catholic Church asks Israel’s president to help end attacks on Christian places of worship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
February 27, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — A top Roman Catholic official has taken the rare step of asking Israel’s president to help put an end to attacks on Christian holy sites. The custodian of holy places in the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, recalled in his letter sent Sunday to President Shimon Peres that vandals spray-painted “Death to Christians” and “We’ll crucify you” on the Baptist Church in Jerusalem and similar hate graffiti on a Greek Orthodox monastery in the city.

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Beating a dead horse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Chuck Freilich - (Opinion) February 20, 2012 - 1:00am

How long can you beat a dead horse? The peace process died some years ago and the only humane thing to do may be to allow it to rest in peace. Indeed, it is questionable whether this is an opportune time to consider revival, when the future of peace with Egypt and Jordan hangs in doubt, Palestinian elections portend a possible Hamas takeover in the West Bank, and Hamas' radical mini-state in Gaza is the embodiment of every Israeli nightmare.

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Lesson in extremism at Israel 'peace' school
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - February 13, 2012 - 1:00am

A school set up to promote peace and understanding between Arab and Jewish communities in Jerusalem has been hit by vandals who have daubed racist threats on its playground walls, including "Death to Arabs".

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Iran, Israel trade blame over embassy attacks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
by Mark Magnier, Edmund Sanders - February 13, 2012 - 1:00am

Reporting from Jerusalem and New Delhi—The technique had a familiar ring. A motorcyclist speeds toward a government vehicle, attaches a magnetic bomb and buzzes away moments before a fiery explosion. Last month, that's how an Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in Tehran. And on Monday, Indian officials said such an attack injured an Israeli diplomat's wife and three others in a well-guarded neighborhood of New Delhi near the Israeli Embassy.

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Official Statement from CRIHL in response to the acts of desecration of the Greek Orthodox Monastery
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land
February 7, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM--The Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land condemns the acts of desecration and graffiti of the Greek Orthodox Monastery in Jerusalem last night. The Council calls upon people from all faiths – Christians, Jews and Muslims – to respect all Holy Places and sites for all three religions, and strongly discourages extremists’ behaviour that exploits or involves religious holy places in a political/territorial dispute. In the name of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, The Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs at the PA and The Heads of the Local Churches of the Holy Land,


Israel is being hijacked
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Brizon - (Opinion) January 25, 2012 - 1:00am

Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni said in weekend interviews that Israel faces three existential problems: One on the diplomatic-security front, another on the socioeconomic front, and yet another on the religious-cultural front. Ms. Livni is both right and wrong. The three issues are in fact three sides of one problem: What will Israel look like in the future and who will be shaping its national character?

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Sexism and the state of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - (Analysis) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am

As dusk falls in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem's most pious neighbourhood, black-clad and hatted Jewish men hurry home along the narrow streets lined by medieval-style houses where lights burn dimly in darkened windows. Less than half a mile away, young Israelis mix in bustling bars in central Jerusalem, anathema to this religious ultraorthodox community that has tried its hardest to hide itself away from the temptations of secular life, and ensure a rigorous separation between men and women.

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If the extremists get their way
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) January 9, 2012 - 1:00am

One recent high-profile solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the establishment of a binational state instead of two states. Its logic is comparable to an effort to put two people who couldn't agree on the placement of their two separate beds into one bed. The idea has been put forth by people who see no hope for peace. It has also been advocated by proponents of a "state of all its citizens," but particularly by those who subscribe to the concept that they must "possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you."

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Israel Police struggling to suppress Jewish extremists in West Bank, says senior officer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson, Jonathan Lis - January 5, 2012 - 1:00am

Israel Police has been unsuccessful in running its agents in the West Bank, a senior police officer said Thursday, adding that officers have been struggling to gather evidence on crimes committed by right-wing activists. Haim Rahamim, head of the investigations and intelligence wing of the Judea and Samaria District in the West Bank, made the statement during a discussion at the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee on law enforcement in the territories.

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Israel’s new enemy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Hussein Shobokshi - (Opinion) January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

The extremism that has shamefully started to appear now in some media outlets does not come from the Middle East, and does not come from countries inside the Islamic world; rather it comes from inside Israel itself. Today the voices of violence, domination and force are coming from the traditional orthodox Jews, who make up nearly 10 percent of the current Israeli population. They now have the loudest voices and are influencing the street more effectively.

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