PLO calls on election commission to prepare for elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 8, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Wednesday called on the Central Elections Commission (CEC) to start preparing for holding the general elections in the Palestinian territories. The CEC should begin the process of registration of voters in Gaza and the West Bank, the PLO executive committee said in a statement issued after a meeting held in Ramallah and chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

'No unity talks until Fatah can operate in Gaza' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am Talks over the formation of a Palestinian unity government will remain suspended until Hamas allows the Palestinian Central Elections Commission to operate in the Gaza Strip, a Fatah leader in the West Bank said Wednesday. Fatah and Hamas agreed two weeks ago to delay the talks over the formation of a unity government that would be headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as envisaged by the Qatari-brokered reconciliation agreement between the organizations. Since then, the two sides have traded allegations over who was responsible for the delay. » Read more

Jordan FM hears Palestinian 'no' to renewed talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press March 7, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian leaders have told Jordan's visiting foreign minister they will not resume Mideast peace talks without an Israeli settlement freeze. Jordan's Nasser Judeh explored the possibility of resuming talks in a meeting Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In January, Jordan hosted low-level Israeli-Palestinian talks that broke down in acrimony. Staunchly pro-Washington, Jordan has considerable sway as one of the Palestinians' most important allies. » Read more

Israelis criticize PM's Iran-Holocaust parallels ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Daniel Estrin - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli prime minister's linking of Iran to Nazi Germany evoked ringing applause this week at a gathering of a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington. Back home, though, it drew some heavy criticism. The Nazi Holocaust of World War II is a delicate and charged topic in Israel, and many felt Benjamin Netanyahu's repeated equating of the Nazis with the possible modern-day threat of a nuclear-armed Iran went too far. » Read more

Israel's "tunnel rats" brace for new guerrilla war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Lianne Gross - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am SIRKIN SPECIAL FORCES BASE, Israel, March 8 (Reuters) - Fearing a surge in tunnel and bunker construction by Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian militants, Israel is training its troops to hunt below ground with robot probes and sniffer dogs. Such preparations reflect concerns that should Israel or the United States carry out attacks on Iran's disputed nuclear programme, Tehran may retaliate through its allies on the Jewish state's borders. "You can see a growing threat," said a major from the Israeli engineering corps' Yahalom ("Diamond") commando unit. » Read more

Israeli troops, Palestinians clash in protest calling for release of hunger-striking prisoner ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press March 8, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Several dozen Palestinians demanding the release of a hunger-striking detainee clashed with Israeli troops Thursday, part of growing protests against the practice of holding Palestinians without formal charges. Soldiers fired tear gas and aimed a water cannon at about 50 women marching in support of Hana Shalabi, a 30-year-old West Bank woman who has gone without food for 22 days. The stream of water knocked down one of the women, while Palestinian teens threw rocks at the soldiers from behind the women’s march. » Read more

Hamas ties to Syria and Iran in flux as region shifts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karin Brulliard - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am GAZA CITY — Political expression in this seaside strip is firmly regulated by the ruling Islamist militant group Hamas, and the authorities recently approved a robust street rally against an unlikely target: the government in Syria, long Hamas’s benefactor and host. The demonstration, as well as Hamas leaders’ statements in support of Syrian protesters and the abandonment of their Damascus offices, was an indicator of the Gaza-based movement’s stark break with Syria — and of the rapidly shifting partnerships of a changing Middle East. » Read more

Mideast Din Drowns Out Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - March 7, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — In the 14 months since revolution has spread across the Middle East and tension has soared over Iran’s nuclear program, the Palestinian leadership has found itself orphaned. Politically divided, its peace talks with Israel collapsed and its foreign support waning, the Palestinian Authority is sidelined, confused and worried that its people may return to violence. » Read more

IDF soldier moderately hurt after stabbed during West Bank arrest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gili Cohen - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am A Palestinian man was shot and thought to have been killed by Israel Defense Forces on Thursday after stabbing a soldier in a West Bank village near Hebron. The incident took place in the village of Yatta during an operation carried out by soldiers belonging to the Kfir infantry brigade, geared at arresting Khaled Mahmara, who was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange swap. » Read more