Medics: 3 injured by Israeli shelling in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 8, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli tank shelling injured three Palestinians Wednesday east of Gaza City, medics said. The three hurt in the incident, near the Karni crossing, were not identified. An Israeli military spokesman said that "an IDF force fired tank rounds toward a number of suspicious individuals who approached the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. "The men were approaching the fence with the intention of planting explosive devices," he added. "The force confirmed that the suspects had been hit and there were no injuries to IDF soldiers." |
UN concerned over closure of Gaza NGO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The United Nations expressed concern Tuesday over Hamas authorities' closure of the Sharek Youth Forum, a large independent NGO in Gaza. "I am very concerned about the recent forced closing of Sharek Youth Forum in Gaza. Sharek is an important NGO partner of the United Nations in its work on behalf of children and the youth in Gaza," said Maxwell Gaylard, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the Palestinian territories. |
US admits defeat on Israeli settlement freeze. Can it still broker peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The US admission that it has given up on securing an Israeli settlement freeze, coupled with Latin American's growing support for Palestinian statehood – with or without a peace deal – has pushed the faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process to the brink. Late yesterday, a senior US diplomat said that the Obama administration, which had made a settlement freeze the kingpin of its peacemaking efforts, had dropped its bid to secure a second moratorium from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose right-wing coalition partners had strongly opposed such a measure. |
U.S. abandons push for renewal of Israeli settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karen Deyoung - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The Obama administration has abandoned its effort to persuade Israel to renew a settlement construction freeze, which U.S. diplomats had hoped would invigorate moribund peace talks with the Palestinians. With senior Israeli and Palestinian negotiators scheduled to hold talks in Washington next week, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton due to deliver a major Middle East speech Friday, it was unclear what direction the administration's policy will now take. |
U.S. Drops Bid to Sway Israel on Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mark Landler - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am After three weeks of fruitless haggling with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Obama administration has given up its effort to persuade the Israeli government to freeze construction of Jewish settlements for 90 days, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The decision leaves Middle East peace talks in flux, with the Palestinians refusing to resume direct negotiations absent a moratorium, and the United States struggling to find another formula to bring them back to the table. It is another setback in what has proved to be a star-crossed campaign by President Obama. |
Jailed Palestinian atheist sorry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Diaa Hadid - December 7, 2010 - 1:00am A Palestinian atheist jailed for more than a month for sharing his anti-Islam views on the Internet has apologized for offending Muslims, and a Palestinian military spokesman said he expected "positive" developments in the case. Rights groups have criticized his arrest as a demonstration of the limits on free speech under the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which has trawled Internet sites like Facebook as part of a crackdown on dissent and unpopular views. |
Top Israel rabbis: Don't sell property to non-Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Amy Teibel - December 7, 2010 - 1:00am Three dozen top Israeli rabbis threw their support Tuesday behind a religious ruling barring Jews from selling or renting homes to non-Jews — an indication of growing radicalism within the rabbinical community at a time of mounting friction between Israeli Arabs and Jews. |
Israel upset by Argentina Palestinian recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Daniel Estrin - December 7, 2010 - 1:00am Israel expressed disappointment Tuesday with Argentina's recognition of a Palestinian state in territories Israel occupied in 1967, saying they undercut American-led efforts to create such a state through negotiations with Israel. Argentina said its move, announced Monday just days after Brazil took a similar step, reflected the country's deep frustration with gridlocked peace efforts. But Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said unilateral recognition was "counterproductive" to peacemaking. |
Hamas court orders execution of 'collaborator'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 7, 2010 - 1:00am A Gaza military court has convicted three men of collaborating with Israel, sentencing one to death and two more to prison terms, the Hamas interior ministry said on Monday. "The military court handed down a death sentence against one collaborator with the occupation, and prison terms of seven years and three years for two other collaborators," the ministry said in a statement. No additional details on the men were provided. |