October 17th

Hebron tunnel was loaded with arms
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

Several hundred kilograms of explosives and weaponry were found in a tunnel that the IDF blew up in Hebron on Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Thursday. The 150-meter-long tunnel was discovered by Palestinian Authority security forces on Monday and was immediately reported to the IDF, which sent an Engineering Corps force to destroy the structure. IDF sources and defense officials said Tuesday that the tunnel had been found empty and that it was unclear what its purpose was.

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Colonial Zionism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zeev Sternhell - October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

For the past 30 years I have considered the settlements a destructive phenomenon that raises a large question mark over Israel's future. In fact, the settlement enterprise is an ideological, political and social phenomenon that has succeeded in creating an original androgynous creation: colonial Zionism.

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Financial crisis is divine punishment for US - Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

The leader of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas said on Friday that the global financial meltdown was God's way of punishing the United States for its support of Israel and its occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. "We see it as God's punishment for the criminals (U.S. and its Western allies). Nothing is more unjust than occupying an Islamic state. Nothing is more unjust than keeping the Palestinian people under occupation for over 60 years," Ismail Haniyeh told worshippers before Friday prayers in the Gaza Strip.

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3 Akko residents arrested on suspicion of damaging cars
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Hagai Einav - October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

Three Jewish Akko residents were arrested Friday morning on suspicion of vandalizing a number of vehicles during the clashes which broke out between Jews and Arabs in the northern city on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. The Akko Magistrates' Court decided to place one of the suspects under house arrest and to extend the remand of the other two. Although calm was restored in the city six days ago, the police continue to search for inciters and residents involved in the damaging of property.

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When settlers strike, Palestinians point and shoot video
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

Nahla Mohammed says that it happens almost every weekend. Right-wing Israeli settlers from nearby Yitzhar come to vandalize houses such as hers, which are on the edge of the Palestinian village of Asira il-Qabliya. When she hears them coming, she makes sure her children are inside, locks up, and waits with a small video camera that she was given by Btselem, a human rights group. She tries to capture them cutting water mains, breaking windows, or scrawling graffiti on the sides of the Arab houses.

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Palestinian youth shot dead by Israeli forces
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian and wounded another early on Thursday near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian emergency services reported. Abdul Aziz Beerat, 20, was killed when Israeli soldiers in a jeep opened fire in the village of Kafr Malik, northeast of Ramallah, the sources said. Another man, who was not identified, was shot in the back and taken to hospital, where his condition was listed as serious.

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Hamas likely to extend truce with Israel, say Gaza sources
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

Hamas is likely to seek to extend its truce with Israel for another six months, Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip predicted Thursday. The current six-month truce, brokered by Egypt, expires in December. A senior Hamas official told Haaretz that the Islamic group has not yet made a decision on extending the truce.

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October 16th

USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore makes a pledge at ATFP’s Third Annual Gala to transfer $550 million to the Palestinian Authority (1). The Wall Street Journal covers Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s recent trip to Washington and the business investments made for the West Bank (2). The BBC reports on the network of smuggling tunnels servicing the Gaza strip via Egypt (3). Palestinian-Israel security forces cooperate in the destruction of a recently discovered tunnel running under the West Bank town of Hebron (8).

Two Palestinian girls detained in Israel without trial for months
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Fadi Eyadat - October 15, 2008 - 8:00pm

On the night of June 5, someone knocked on the door of the Salah house in Khader, near Bethlehem. Had it not been 2 A.M., nobody in the family would even have been suspicious. Nevertheless, said Siham Salah, her eldest daughter, Salwa, opened the door. "Soldiers and a [Shin Bet security service] officer entered," Siham related. "They sat down calmly and began to ask questions about members of the household. They asked how many children we had and about the fact that there are problems in our neighborhood. Suddenly, they went outside, brought in female soldiers and took my daughter.

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Abbas rejects request by Egypt for talks with Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 15, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has turned down an Egyptian proposal to hold separate talks with Hamas officials in Cairo before the end of the month, a senior PA official in Ramallah said Wednesday. Abbas's decision drew sharp criticism from Hamas, which said this provided further evidence that the PA president and his Fatah faction were not really interested in ending the power struggle between the two parties.

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