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. |
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. |