February 24th

Distrust Divides Bibi and Barack on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) February 23, 2012 - 1:00am As President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepare to meet in Washington March 5 to thrash out their Iran differences, observers everywhere are scrambling to sort out exactly what the two men disagree about and what can be done to bridge the gaps. The answers, surprisingly, are: not much — and not much. What separates them is not serious disagreement, but deep distrust. And that’s not easy to fix. » Read more

400 protest to open thoroughfare to Palestinians in Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post February 24, 2012 - 1:00am Some 400 Palestinian and left-wing activists protested in Hebron on Friday, calling for the West Bank city's al-Shouhada Street to be opened up to Palestinian traffic. The day also marked eighteen years since Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians at the Ibrahim Mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs in 1994. IDF and Border Patrol forces prevented the protesters from marching to al-Shouhada Street by dispersing the crowd with stun grenades. » Read more

Israeli Forces Clash With Worshippers at Al-Aqsa ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 24, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday, exchanging a volley of tear gas and rocks. Israeli troops entered the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Compound) after the Friday noon prayer, and fired tear and and sound grenades, causing confusion amongst the large crowds who worship at the holy site on Fridays, a Ma'an correspondent said. Palestinian youth threw rocks at the forces, witnesses told Ma'an, adding that high security measures were imposed throughout Jerusalem. » Read more

Hamas Denies Involvement in Egypt’s Unrest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 24, 2012 - 1:00am CAIRO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haneya denied that the Islamic movement had involved in Egypt's unrest last year, as claimed by Egyptian former Interior Minister Habib Adly, state media reported Thursday. In the final day of ex-President Hosni Mubarak's trial, Adly blamed elements from Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and Islamic Hamas movement for sending infiltrators to break the line of peaceful protests, creating chaos and sabotaging. » Read more

News Analysis: Will Netanyahu's shaky coalition affect Israel's foreign policies? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Ronen Medzini - (Analysis) February 24, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A stormy political week in Israel may advance elections, originally scheduled for October 2013 to this year, and possibly impact crucial decisions on Iran's nuclear program and negotiations with the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's week of sorrows started on Sunday, with the forced resignation of his bureau chief and closest personal adviser, Natan Eshel, who signed a plea admitting to "unbecoming conduct" after harassing a female co-worker. » Read more

Why Israel wants to bomb Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Paul Findley - (Opinion) February 24, 2012 - 1:00am Will Iran bomb Israel into rubble, like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, if the Tehran regime is someday armed with nuclear weapons? No one of my acquaintances believes that will ever happen, nor do thoughtful Israelis. But many people believe Israel will soon use conventional bombs to disable Iranian nuclear research facilities. All of us should ponder why. » Read more

Hamas Denies Placing Barriers to Unity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 24, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas officials on Thursday played down reports that the movement was placing barriers in front of a reconciliation deal it signed with Fatah earlier this month. Party spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Hamas was moving forward with the deal in line with the terms agreed in Doha by President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal. Barhoum was responding to reports that a Hamas official said the group was setting new terms for implementing the deal, including demands for certain ministries. » Read more

If there were no Iranian threat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Doron Rosenblum - (Opinion) February 24, 2012 - 1:00am None of the people who, correctly, fear an Israeli attack on Iran and the war that would follow have considered the fact that "the next war" is already here. It has been entrenched in our consciousness and that of our leaders so deeply and for so long that most of the tension concerns its timing, not its probability. What was it that Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was quoted as saying this week? » Read more

Palestinian Unity Undermined by Geographic Divide ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jon Donnison - February 24, 2012 - 1:00am The two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, are still trying to thrash out the details of a unity deal to end five years of bitter division. Since 2007, Hamas has been in power in Gaza with Fatah left to govern the West Bank. So, Palestinians face not only a political divide, but also a geographical one. "I just want to see my father. We only have photos and phone calls. It's hard to remember what he's like," says 13-year-old, Uday al-Haddar. Sitting alongside his mother, Alya, and two younger brothers, Uday shows me the family album. » Read more

Engage Hamas’ moderates and test their newfound flexibility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Michael Broning - (Opinion) February 24, 2012 - 1:00am In the wake of revolutionary change in the Middle East, the forces of political Islam have scored one electoral victory after another. As the West grapples with the rapid rise of moderate Islamists in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt, the issue of Hamas’ role in the Palestinian territories looms large. The signing of a new unity deal between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ secular Fatah party earlier this month has heightened an unprecedented struggle within Hamas over its future course as an Islamist movement. How the West responds could very well influence the outcome. » Read more