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Hamas wants to replace PLO: strongman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Fares Akram - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement wanted to replace the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a Gaza-based leader said Wednesday. Secularism has been associated with the PLO's program, while Hamas' agenda "is based on Islamic ideology in the means and performance," said Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas strongman, in an interview with Xinhua. |
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Palestinian wounded in Israeli fire in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 13, 2011 - 1:00am A Palestinian elderly man was seriously injured when Israeli army dispersed villagers clashing with Jewish settlers in the West Bank Thursday, witnesses said. The Israeli army fired tear gas and rubber bullets towards Palestinians near the northern city of Nablus and a gunshot has wounded a Palestinian seriously, the witnesses told Xinhua. The clashes followed the settlers' attack on an agricultural land in Qussra village. The witnesses said that the settlers set fire to crops and threw rocks at the villagers, who responded also with throwing stones. |
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Paralyzed Palestinian girl given Israeli residency
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Josh Lederman - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am A Palestinian girl paralyzed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza will be allowed to remain in the country for medical care, according to a government document released Wednesday. The decision enables 9-year-old Marya Amen, along with her brother and father, to stay in Israel as temporary residents. The status ensures state-sponsored health insurance and compensation for the girl, who needs a respirator to breathe. A letter signed by Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai and obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday cites a "special humanitarian case" in granting the residency request. |
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Clinton: Israel makes its own decisions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Matthew Lee - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledged the limits of U.S. power Thursday in a combative exchange with an Al-Jazeera reporter, saying, "We can't stop a lot of countries from doing things that we disagree with and we speak out against." In the Qatari capital of Doha for a regional development conference, Clinton was asked why Arab countries should listen to her criticism when the U.S. can't even get its longtime ally, Israel, to make peace with the Palestinians. "Israel is a sovereign country and it makes its own decisions," Clinton responded. |
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Fatah investigation into Dahlan expanded
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 13, 2011 - 1:00am Fatah leaders heard the preliminary findings of a committee investigating what the Israeli media said were attempts by Mohammed Dahlan to engage a private militia in the West Bank. The two-day meeting, which ended Wednesday in Ramallah, saw Fatah leader and President Mahmoud Abbas and his top Fatah officials decide to appoint an expanded committee to open a deeper investigation. |
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PA security: Two-faced Hamas calling for Gaza calm
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 13, 2011 - 1:00am Spokesperson for the Palestinian security services in the Major General Adnan Dmeiri criticized Hamas on Wednesday, saying its leaders were adopting a two-faced and inconsistent policy, by calling for calm in Gaza and "escalating conditions" in the West Bank. "Israel gets a free-of-charge calm," Dmeiri said, referring to a series of urgent talks the party held with militant groups on Wednesday to pass on a warning from Arab leaders about firing rockets at Israel. |
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Settlers from evacuated outpost enter village
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 13, 2011 - 1:00am Fierce clashes erupted between villagers from Qusra, located south Nablus, and armed settlers entering the residential area of the village. Witnesses said tens of settlers entered the area, setting fire to civilian cars, throwing stones and opening fire on homes. Three were injured by the settlers, locals said, while Israeli news site Ynet said two 14-year-old children of settlers and a Palestinian were lightly hurt during the clashes. Qusra is located near an illegal settlement outpost that was evacuated by the Israeli military the day before. |
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The Future of Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Opinion) January 11, 2011 - 1:00am My in-box is filled with e-mails and press releases asserting that East Jerusalem, including and especially the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and including and especially the site on which the Shepherd Hotel stood until this past weekend, when it was bulldozed to make way for apartments for Jewish Israelis, is holy Jewish territory, part of the holiest city in Judaism, and therefore a place where Jews have a perfect right to build and live. |
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US must rejoin international community by recognizing the state of Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by John V. Whitbeck - (Opinion) January 12, 2011 - 1:00am On Jan. 7, Chile extended diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine as a free, independent, and sovereign state. This comes soon after the recent recognitions by Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, and Ecuador. (In each of those cases, the state of Palestine was recognized explicitly within the full pre-1967 borders, encompassing all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.) Chile’s recognition brought to 109 the number of UN member states recognizing the state of Palestine, whose independence was proclaimed on Nov. 15, 1988. |
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East Jerusalem housing project will stay Jewish-only
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am Bondholders of a troubled Israeli real estate company that is building Jewish housing in Arab-dominated East Jerusalem have rejected an offer from a Palestinian American entrepreneur to buy the firm, officials said Wednesday. Bashar Masri, a wealthy West Bank-born businessman, said in a telephone interview that he was disappointed at the decision of bondholders to instead accept a last-minute bid from an Israeli tycoon. |