February 15th

Protecting Israel from its citizens ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avirama Golan - February 14, 2011 - 1:00am On Tuesday, a Knesset committee is due to approve on second and third readings the bill combating boycotts against Israel - another hysterical proposal by the right wing and Kadima MK Dalia Itzik designed to protect our weak and tiny country, which is being attacked from within and without. » Read more

Knesset passes 'Bishara bill' following stormy session ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Rebecca Anna Stoil - February 14, 2011 - 1:00am Despite impassioned opposition by Meretz and the Arab parties, a law that allows the committee to revoke the salary of any MK who fails to report for questioning when summoned by the police sailed easily through its final readings on the Knesset floor Monday evening. The bill, sponsored by Yisrael Hasson (Kadima), Yariv Levin (Likud) and co-sponsored by a number of MKs empowers the House committee to vote to deny the salary, pension payment, and any additional payments paid to a current or former MK. » Read more

Machsom Watch activist: Removing checkpoints doesn't remove the occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury - February 15, 2011 - 1:00am Susan Lourenco has volunteered for the Machsom Watch organization for seven years, so she is familiar with virtually every Israeli army checkpoint in the West Bank. She is extremely well-acquainted with the Hawara crossing near Nablus - one of the symbols of the occupation and its control over the Palestinian civilian population - having spent many long hours there together with other women active in the organization. » Read more

Encountering Peace: Thank you in advance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) February 14, 2011 - 1:00am Congratulations to the people of Egypt! They have shown the real power of the people. Their success was, of course, linked to the fact that their feeling of being disenfranchised and without the ability to improve their lives was shared by the army. Tahrir Square was filled with young people who had no job, so their energies and frustrations were poured into the struggle for freedom, human rights, economic justice and democracy. They won also because their cause was just and they clearly held the higher moral ground. » Read more

'Defense Ministry keeping lawmakers in the dark about West Bank construction laws' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - February 15, 2011 - 1:00am The Defense Ministry is withholding information from the Knesset in violation of the law and preventing oversight of its operations, Knesset members and staff from the Knesset's Research and Information Center contend. » Read more

News Analysis: Palestinian elections a thorny issue ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - February 15, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinians will head for the polls by September for presidential and legislative elections, according to an announcement by an aide to Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas. Fatah member Yasser Abed Rabbo called on parties to put aside all of their differences and to focus on conducting the elections in September at the latest. However, Hamas, who controls the Gaza Strip, has already rejected the idea and claimed that Abbas does not have the authority to decide when to hold elections, since his four-year term as president ended in 2009. » Read more

Abbas to Step Aside for Next Generation in PA Elections, Abed Rabbo Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line (Interview) February 14, 2011 - 1:00am Yasser Abed Rabbo is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee and is a senior adviser to Mahmoud Abbas. He was interviewed on February 13, 2011, by The Media Line’s Felice Friedson. The Media Line: The Palestinian Authority has taken a noticeably low-key position during the unrest in Egypt. How should that be viewed? » Read more

UN says Gaza unemployment rate at 45% ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 11, 2011 - 1:00am The unemployment rate in Gaza has continued to climb in 2011, reaching 45.4%, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told reporters in Gaza City on Wednesday. At a news conference for the UN Relief and Works Agency, Gunness warned that the increasing unemployment was a sign of a hugely fragile Gaza economy, which he described as on the "brink of collapse." Israel's continued siege on the coastal enclave, Gunness warned, would push the economy over the edge. » Read more

Reading Hebron – review ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Michael Billington - February 14, 2011 - 1:00am No one could accuse this theatre of ducking the Arab-Israeli conflict. A year ago it staged an absorbing play, Ben Brown's The Promise, about the Balfour Declaration of 1917 supporting the principle of a Jewish homeland. Now it brings us a 15-year-old play by Toronto-based Jason Sherman about a massacre that took place in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in 1994. While it would be comforting to say Sherman's play feels like old news, what is shocking is just how urgently relevant it seems. » Read more

Israel to build more East Jerusalem homes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 15, 2011 - 1:00am Jerusalem's municipal council on Monday approved the construction of 120 new homes in the Jewish settlement neighborhood of Ramot in annexed East Jerusalem, a councilor told AFP. "It's not good news," Pepe Alalu of the opposition Meretz party said. "They approved 120 housing units in Ramot... there were two permits authorized, one for 56 housing units and another for 64." » Read more