May 24th

Israel denies offering nuclear weapons to Apartheid South Africa ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz May 24, 2010 - 12:00am Israel on Monday vehemently rejected claims in a British newspaper that it offered to sell nuclear warheads to Apartheid-era South Africa in 1975. "There exists no basis in reality for the claims published this morning by The Guardian that in 1975 Israel negotiated with South Africa the exchange of nuclear weapons," the president's office said in a statement. » Read more

MESS Report / Palestinian villagers trapped by permanent red light ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - May 24, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's defense establishment is not permitting residents of the Palestinian village of Sheikh Sa'ad, southeast of Jerusalem, to leave the town in their cars. There are even restrictions on walking out of the village, a privilege reserved for residents with Israeli identity cards. » Read more

3 wounded during West Bank weekly anti-wall demonstration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 22, 2010 - 12:00am Three Palestinians were injured and five others detained during the weekly protests against the separation wall that Israel is building in the West Bank, witnesses and medical sources said Friday. The witnesses said that the Israeli army dispersed by rubber bullets and tear gas canisters a demonstration near the village of Bel'ein, west of Ramallah, in the West Bank. » Read more

Palestinians, Israelis dispute size of land swap ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by David Harris - May 23, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinians and Israelis have agreed to the principle of swapping land in any peace deal, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Ramallah on Saturday. This is the one concrete advance made public following the launch of indirect peace talks between the two neighbors that took place last week. U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is heading the proximity talks, which at this stage are between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

Gaza assailants vandalize UN summer camp ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Rizek Abdel Jawad - May 23, 2010 - 12:00am Armed assailants in black masks burned and vandalized a U.N. summer camp site Sunday and left behind three bullets next to written death threats against U.N. officials — the latest escalation of tensions between Islamic extremists and U.N. representatives in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Also Sunday, a U.N. agency reported that three-quarters of the damage inflicted on Gaza by Israel's war against Hamas more than a year ago has not been repaired or rebuilt. The report warned that the international community is being increasingly sidelined in Gaza because of Israel's blockade of the territory. » Read more

Settlement goods no longer sold in Italian grocery chains ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 22, 2010 - 12:00am The Italian Coalition Against Carmel-Agrexco announced Saturday that two major Italian supermarket chains, COOP and Nordiconad, said they would suspend the sale of products from a settlement good exporter. Products from Agrexco, what the coalition calls a "principal exporter of produce from Israel and the illegal Israeli settlements" will be cleared from stores by the end of the month, the director of Nordiconad told the coalition. » Read more

Australia expels Israeli diplomat over Mabhouh hit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 24, 2010 - 12:00am Australia has expelled an Israeli diplomat after a probe revealed Israel was behind the forging of four Australian passports linked to the murder of a Hamas operative in Dubai, various media outlets reported Monday. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told parliament that Israel's conduct was "not the actions of a friend," the British Broadcasting Corporation reported. » Read more

Israeli army to ease some restrictions on WB movement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 24, 2010 - 12:00am The Israeli army said Monday evening that it would relieve some of the restrictions placed upon travel in the West Bank, after meeting with Palestinian Authority officials, a statement read. The apparent "good will gestures" include the entry of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship and ID cards through all checkpoints into the West Bank, and Tulkarem via the 104 checkpoint at weekends. Restrictions will be eased on senior Palestinian businessmen going through checkpoints and 60 roadblocks will be lifted throughout the West Bank, the army said. » Read more

Borders key to peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Houston Chronicle by EDWARD P. DJEREJIAN - May 22, 2010 - 12:00am As U.S. Middle East peace special envoy George Mitchell holds proximity talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, he will have to immediately address two of the timeliest issues in the conflict: the future borders of Israel and a Palestinian state and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The settlements — which are illegal under international law — have been described by both Republican and Democratic administrations as an obstacle to peace. » Read more

Hamas faces financial crisis after three-year Israeli blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Erin Cunningham - May 21, 2010 - 12:00am Hamas has failed to pay in full the monthly salaries of its roughly 30,000 civilian and security employees in the past two months, signaling that the Islamist organization may be in the throes of its first financial crisis since it seized control of Gaza in 2007. "The government is facing a crisis," said Hamas lawmaker Jamal Nassar last month. "The siege on the [Hamas-run] Palestinian government has been tightened recently and because of this it has been unable to bring in funds from abroad." » Read more