PA Minister: Palestinians Who Work on Settlements to Be Punished ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Ben Caspit - (Interview) January 2, 2011 - 1:00am Dr. Hasan Abu-Libdeh, the Palestinian Minister of National Economy urges world boycott of settlement goods TML: Dr. Abu-Libdeh, a short time ago, legislation was passed that makes it a criminal act for a Palestinian to work in an Israeli community located on land Israel acquired control over in the 1967 war -- settlements. At that time, Palestinian workers protested that the law took away their livelihood, but failed to provide an alternative. What’s the status of the law? » Read more

Rejectionist Front ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv by Ben Caspit - January 3, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced yesterday that he was willing to discuss all the core issues with Abu Mazen in closed meetings, and said that if he were to go into the room with the Palestinian leader he would sit down and discuss all the issues with him “until white smoke rises.” Ma’ariv has found that in reality, the situation is the complete opposite: In the past weeks, Israeli representatives, including Netanyahu, have repeatedly rejected official documents that their Palestinian counterparts have tried to submit to them, with details of the Palestinian positions on all the co » Read more

Israeli airplanes attack two targets in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 5, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli warplanes on Tuesday attacked two targets in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants fired a missile into Israel, witnesses and security sources said. The airstrikes targeted a training site for the military wing of the Islamic Hamas movement which controls Gaza. There were no casualties in this raid that caused severe damage to the site, the witnesses said. Minutes later, the F-16 jets dropped a bomb on a smuggling tunnel beneath Gaza's southern border with Egypt and slightly injured a Palestinian man, the sources said. » Read more

US Homeland Security chief in Israel for working visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 5, 2011 - 1:00am U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano met with the Israeli president and other senior officials on Tuesday during a two-day working visit discussing Israel's homeland security threats and strategies. Napolitano's first stop was with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, where the two held what Peres' office described as a "working diplomatic meeting", that included improving strategic cooperation between the two countries, and the peace process. » Read more

Fall of Palestinian leader shows president's power ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am Not long ago, Mohammed Dahlan was a rising political star, a Gaza security chief and darling of the West. He advised the Palestinian president and was even considered a possible successor. But after a falling out with President Mahmoud Abbas, Dahlan has been essentially banished from the political scene. The campaign against him casts an unflattering light on the Palestinian president's low tolerance for dissent as peace talks with Israel falter. » Read more

Lieberman: No Mideast peace for 'at least a decade' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Philippe Agret, Charly Wegman - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am Israel's hard-right wing settler Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told AFP on Tuesday "at least a decade" would be needed to reach a peace accord with Palestinians. "I think that we have good cooperation (with the Palestinians) on the economy and security and we must continue cooperation on these two levels and postpone the political solution for at least a decade," he said in an exclusive interview. » Read more

Activists: Military claims over tear gas death 'ridiculous' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 5, 2011 - 1:00am Substantial evidence contradicts the army's version of the events surrounding the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah, activists said Tuesday, after Israeli military officials told international media that they believed some evidence in the case to be false. A statement from the Popular Organizing Committee said the facts contradicting the military spokesman's version of events made the situation "ridiculous," and published what it said was eyewitness testimony in direct contradiction to claims of the military. » Read more

Israeli police raid leftist homes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Mya Guarnieri - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli activists who participate in protests against their country's separation barrier came under state attack on Wednesday, with special forces entering homes in Tel Aviv. Israeli special police forces showed up outside one home in central Tel Aviv, shared by a number of left-wing activists. After spending some time outside the residence, forces attempted to enter and conduct a search. Activists said that they were not shown a search permit and refused to submit to the search. » Read more

Jerusalem boxing club unites Jews and Arabs in and out of the ring ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - January 4, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM - In a converted bomb shelter in a low-income Jewish neighborhood, Ismail Jaafari, a Palestinian boxer from across town, bobbed and weaved in the ring, trading punches with an Israeli opponent. They were sparring at a local boxing club that is something of an anomaly in this ethnically divided city: a place where both Jews and Arabs pursue a shared passion. Palestinians from East Jerusalem have earned their boxing credentials at the club, training with Russian-speaking Jewish immigrants, bearded yeshiva students and settlers from the West Bank. » Read more

Israel: An Appeal for a Spy’s Release ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - January 4, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday read aloud in Parliament a letter asking President Obama for clemency for Jonathan Jay Pollard, left, the American serving a life term in a United States prison for spying for Israel. The letter, which was sent this week, constitutes the first formal and public Israeli appeal for Mr. Pollard’s release. “Even though Israel was in no way directing its intelligence efforts against the United States,” Mr. Netanyahu wrote, “its actions were wrong and wholly unacceptable.” After 25 years in prison, he added, Mr. » Read more