This week in power: Border deal, Norway, Tent City, SF ban

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Hope for a new border deal?
Peace talks look promising now that Israel has signaled it is willing to negotiate with the Palestinians based on the 1967 border of the West Bank, ” title=”http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/08/02/a-dramatic-turnabout-by-netanyahu-on-peace-terms-not-quite/” target=”_blank”>said Tony Karon at Time. Yeah, there’s nothing new here, ” title=”http://arabnews.com/opinion/editorial/article482051.ece” target=”_blank”>Said an Arab News editorial: “Despite the hype from Washington and Tel Aviv, there is no sign that Netanyahu has changed his mind on any of this.”

Lessons from Norway
Two weeks ago, a bomber carried out attacks on Norway, leaving scores dead. What’s the takeaway from this terrible tragedy? “The link between far-right politics and support for Israel bodes poorly for European Jews, who in many lands already must contend with a virulently anti-Israel—and anti-Semitic—climate. It also offers little comfort to Israel and her supporters, who are increasingly isolated and stymied in their efforts to make their case in the court of European public opinion,” ” title=”http://www.hudson-ny.org/2310/terrorism-norway-israel” target=”_blank”>Alan Dershowitz at Hudson New York agreed: “The time is long overdue for Norwegians to do some deep soul searching about their sordid history of complicity with all forms of bigotry ranging from the anti-Semitic Nazis to the anti-Semitic Hamas. There seems to be a common thread.” But it’s not uniquely a Jewish problem, ” title=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/31/israelis-protest-high-cos_n_914264.html” target=”_blank”>protesting rising housing prices, a grass-roots movement that’s gaining steam in the street of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. “The atmosphere is Tahrir Square protests meets Woodstock, meets last-year’s-camping holiday in the South of France,” ” title=”http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=tent_city_revival” target=”_blank”>said Gershom Gorenberg at The American Prospect. “When the dust has settled, this may be among the most important, if unexpected, outcomes of a protest that began with an eviction notice slipped under the door of a young video editor who’d just had enough,” ” title=”http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/love-is-in-the-protest-air-1.376475″ target=”_blank”>love is in the air.

The fight over Shariah law
Some states are grappling with how to handle the application of Islamic law, and a fierce anti-Shariah movement has spouted up, ” title=”http://www.getreligion.org/2011/08/wheres-the-grass-roots-reporting/” target=”_blank”>asked Bobby at GetReligion. And the content of the story was misleading, too, ” title=”http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/29/local/la-me-circumcision-ban-20110729″ target=”_blank”>taken off the fall ballot. Judge Loretta M. Giorgi worried that the propsoed ban would violate citizens’ right to the free exercise of religion. Jews around the world celebrated the decision. “This measure to ban one of the most fundamental tenets of Judaism undermines our cherished American value of religious freedom,” B’nai B’rith president Allan J. Jacobs said,