May 17th

Israeli army demolishes 2 illegal W. Bank outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 17, 2012 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli police and army units evacuated and razed two illegally-built structures in two West Bank outposts near Ramallah overnight Thursday, due to what they said was lack of proper building permits. Police at the Ramat Migron and nearby Oz Tzion communities detained six Israelis at both areas on charges of trespassing in a closed military area, disturbing the peace, and interfering with a public employee, according to The Jerusalem Post.


Palestinians to hold municipal elections without Hamas' Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 17, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree to hold local elections in the West Bank, excluding the Gaza Strip where his rival Hamas movement holds sway, a Palestinian official said Thursday. The decree authorizes the reshuffled government, which was sworn in on Wednesday, to hold the municipal elections in stages, said Khaled Al-Qawasmi, minister of local governing.


Israeli tanks fire on Gaza Strip, 7 injured
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 17, 2012 - 12:00am


GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Seven people were injured on Thursday when Israeli forces fired artillery rounds at the northern and eastern Gaza Strip, medics said. Gaza medical spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya told Ma'an that two people were seriously wounded and five moderately injured when Israeli forces opened fire on Beit Lahiya, north Gaza, and east of Gaza City. Most of the victims were farmers, Abu Salmiya said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said forces opened fire toward "several suspects approaching the security fence."


Israel 'arrests TV director, confiscates equipment'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 17, 2012 - 12:00am


JENIN (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces arrested the director of a Jenin-based satellite channel on Thursday after raiding his home, the executive director of the channel said. Saher Qassem, chief of the Al-Asir channel, told Ma'an that a group of soldiers arrested Baha Khayri Ata Musa, 32, after raiding his home in Mirka village. Soldiers confiscated the TV station's broadcasting equipment from Musa's home, preventing the channel from being able to continue its coverage, Qassem said.


Several prisoners still on hunger strike in Israeli jails
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 17, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Several prisoners in Israeli jails are still on hunger strike, officials said Thursday, days after a deal was struck to end a mass hunger strike movement. Israeli Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman told Ma'an that Mahmoud al-Sarsak and Akram al-Rekhawi are refusing food. They are being held in Ramle prison clinic, she said.


Israel's unity government: How big was the shift to the center?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - May 15, 2012 - 12:00am


When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined forces last week with the centrist Kadima party to form one of Israel's largest-ever coalition governments, it appeared to give him maneuvering room to pursue Palestinian peace talks over the objections of his hardline political base.


US envoy to Israel: US ready to strike Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
May 17, 2012 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — Washington's envoy to Israel says the U.S. has plans in place to attack Tehran if necessary to prevent it from becoming an atomic military power. In remarks before the Israel Bar Association, Dan Shapiro said the U.S. hopes diplomacy and economic sanctions will pressure Iran to abandon its suspect nuclear program.


Palestinian PM reshuffles Cabinet in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Dalia Nammari - May 16, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad replaced almost half of his West Bank-based Cabinet on Wednesday, a clear sign that efforts to end the Palestinian political split are stuck. A unity deal reached in February was to have ended five years of separate Palestinian governments, one run by Fayyad in the West Bank and the other by the Islamic militant Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, President Mahmoud Abbas was to head an interim unity government ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections.


May 16th

NEWS: Palestinian officials say PM Fayyad will reshuffle his cabinet today, while Hamas condemns it as “illegal.” Palestinian “green” projects and environmentalist activists face numerous hurdles in the occupied territories. Palestine's chief corruption commissioner says Mohammed Rashid, a former financial adviser to the late Pres. Arafat, may have embezzled millions. Many Palestinians say the prisoners' hunger strike shows the potential for nonviolence to be effective against abusive Israeli policies. Israel says it has created mechanisms to get aid to Palestinians in the event of an earthquake. Israel's Interior Minister Yishai says all African migrants should be jailed. The Knesset approves another $12 million for settlement funding. Calls to abandon the two-state solution and the peace process in favor of imaginative alternatives are gaining ground. Jerusalem’s Al-Makassed hospital faces an acute cash crisis. ATFP Senior Research Fellow Hussein Ibish debates Reza Aslan at UCLA on the future of Israel and the Palestinians. COMMENTARY: Bradley Burston says Israelis should pay careful attention to the Nakba Day commentary by ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali. Benedetta Berti says, through hunger striking, Palestinians may have discovered the power of nonviolent protest. Zvi Bar'el says Israel isn't annexing settlements, it's the settlers who are annexing Israel. Chemi Shalev describes a lively debate between J Street's Jeremy Ben-Ami and William Kristol of the Emergency Committee for Israel. The Independent looks at a new play by A B Yehoshua on Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky. Osama Al Sharif says the "Arab Spring" has not been helpful to the Palestinians. Rami Khouri says, as the Palestinian struggle continues, we should expect more innovative measures such as international BDS and hunger striking. Hanan Ashrawi agrees that the hunger strikers have set an example that will probably be emulated in other nonviolent ways. Alex Fishman says the situation between Israel and the Palestinians is becoming explosive.

Arab Spring and the Nakbeh
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) May 15, 2012 - 12:00am


The Arab Spring has not been good to the Palestinian cause. It has deflected attention from Israel’s nefarious scheme to bypass the two-state solution by enforcing a unilateral settlement on the Palestinians.



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