February 27th

'Israel doesn't need recognition as Jewish state' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Greer Fay Cashman - (Opinion) February 27, 2012 - 1:00am Former Mossad Chief Efraim Halevy doesn't think that Israel needs to insist on having the Palestinians or anyone else for that matter recognize Israel as a Jewish state or approve its right to exist. Halevy who was speaking at Jerusalem's Kehilat Moreshet Avraham on Sunday night noted that Israel is a Jewish State and that any treaty or agreement signed with Israel by any other state or entity is tantamount to recognition. It doesn't have to be spelled out. » Read more

Palestinian activists plan massive march on Israel's borders next month ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) February 26, 2012 - 1:00am You probably have not yet heard about the Global March to Jerusalem (GM2J) planned in less than five weeks for March 30, but its organizers believe that it will focus the world's attention on Israel's oppression of the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank. » Read more

Netanyahu's latest Mideast peace push was nothing more than a swindle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) February 27, 2012 - 1:00am The Natan Eshel affair, in which the head of the Prime Minister's Bureau resigned and admitted to harassing a female subordinate, turned the three senior aides who blew the whistle on him into the heroes of a Greek tragedy. The three - Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, Military Secretary Yohanan Locker and chief media adviser Yoaz Hendel, who has since resigned - must have known what they were getting into for ratting on a darling of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara. Nevertheless, they put themselves in harm's way and reported Eshel's misdeeds to the attorney general. » Read more

AP Interview: Hamas out of Syria, leader says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - (Interview) February 26, 2012 - 1:00am CAIRO — The Hamas leadership has left its longtime base in Syria because of the regime's crackdown on opponents there, the No. 2 in the Islamic militant movement said in an interview Sunday at his new home on the outskirts of Cairo. Moussa Abu Marzouk also told The Associated Press that a unity deal between Hamas and its political rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, faces steep obstacles despite optimistic assessments made by both sides in public. » Read more

Israel report: West Bank Palestinians may turn to violence if peace talks freeze persists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - February 27, 2012 - 1:00am The stalled peace process and instability in the Middle East are liable to push the Palestinians in the West Bank to turn increasingly violent toward Israel, the Foreign Ministry said in its annual intelligence assessment. The assessment also states that a potential Israeli military operation in Gaza would generate a severe response from Egypt. » Read more

Israel draws plan for 475-kilometer rail network in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - February 27, 2012 - 1:00am Israel Railways has prepared a major plan for providing train service throughout the West Bank to serve both Israelis and Palestinians. The plan, prepared at the request of Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, calls for establishing 11 new rail lines, according to a map that Haaretz has obtained. Katz has on several occasions expressed his intention to build a railway network in the West Bank. » Read more

Hamas, Qatar to sign 250 million USD deal to rebuild Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 26, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Gaza's Hamas leaders will sign a deal with the Qatari government to get more than 250 million U.S. dollars for reconstruction projects in the Gaza Strip, a Hamas minister said on Sunday. The deal is being finalized and will be signed in a week, said Yousef al-Mansi, Hamas minister of housing and public work. Under the agreement, 5,000 houses will be built and 55,000 would be repaired, he told Xinhua, explaining that these houses were damaged during Israel's major military offensive more than three years ago. » Read more

Israel nixes solar energy for Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - February 25, 2012 - 1:00am AL-THALA, West Bank — Electricity from solar panels and wind turbines has revolutionized life in rural Palestinian herding communities: Machines, instead of hands, churn goat milk into butter, refrigerators store food that used to spoil and children no longer have to hurry to get their homework done before dark. » Read more

Cairo speech a symbol of Hamas's split with Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Bradley Hope, Hugh Naylor - February 26, 2012 - 1:00am Hamas's Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, symbolically chose Cairo's Al Azhar Mosque, a spiritual and intellectual centre for global Islam, to declare Hamas had formally split with Syria, a former ally and once home to the Palestinian group's headquarters in exile. Friday's declaration by Mr Haniyeh to thousands of Islamist supporters in the Egyptian capital, condemning Syria's bloody bid to quash an uprising against President Bashar Al Assad is perhaps the strongest indication of the group's realignment in a revolutionary Middle East. » Read more

Gaza's Hamas PM voices support for Syria protests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - February 24, 2012 - 1:00am CAIRO — The Hamas prime minister of Gaza on Friday expressed support for Syrian protesters seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad, the first time a senior Hamas leader has publicly rebuked the group's longtime patron. Ismail Haniyeh said after Friday prayers at Egypt's Al-Azhar Mosque that Hamas commends "the brave Syrian people that are moving toward democracy and reform." » Read more