Palestinian journalists shun press freedom reception by U.S. consulate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 3, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian journalists on Thursday boycotted a reception by the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, protesting against the lack of U.S. pressure on Israel to respond to demands of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners. |
New foot and mouth strain spreads to Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters May 2, 2012 - 12:00am ROME, May 2 (Reuters) - A new strain of foot and mouth disease (FMD) has reached the Gaza Strip and threatens to spread further after first being detected in Egypt and Libya in February, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday. FAO said sick animals had been detected on April 19 in Rafah, a town that lies on the border between the coastal Palestinian territory and Egypt. |
Hamas says it's holding talks with 5 EU countries
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Karin Laub - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am BEIRUT — Hamas has been holding secret political talks with five European Union member states in recent months, a senior official in the Islamic militant group told The Associated Press on Wednesday. If confirmed, such talks would be a sign that the isolation of the Gaza-based Palestinian movement is easing in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings that have brought Islamists to power in parts of the Middle East. The EU and the U.S consider Hamas a terror group and refuse to deal with it unless it renounces violence and recognizes Israel. |
Methodists Vote Against Ending Investments Tied to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Laurie Goodstein - May 2, 2012 - 12:00am The United Methodist Church, the nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination, voted against two proposals on Wednesday to divest from companies that provide equipment used by Israel to enforce its control in the occupied territories. |
ATFP Expresses Grave Concern Over Condition of Hunger Striking Palestinian Prisoners, Urges Urgent Measures to Diffuse Tensions
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - May 4, 2012 - 12:00am The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today expressed grave concern about the health of hundreds of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, and the rapidly deteriorating condition of several of the detainees. The Task Force noted that the crisis is adding to tensions in an already volatile atmosphere on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territories, and calls for urgent measures to defuse the situation. |
Israel in disarray
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am Since the criticism, last Friday, by a key secret service official of the right-wing Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wishy washy Labourite defence minister, Ehud Barak, the Israeli establishment appears to be in a serious state of disarray. |
The road to Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Ahmad Majdoubeh - (Opinion) May 3, 2012 - 12:00am I, like many who sympathise with the Palestinians during these particularly hard times, was extremely disappointed and saddened by the Islamists’ condemnation of the visit to Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem by the grand mufti of Egypt a couple of weeks ago. This condemnation is yet another evidence of Islamists’ shortsightedness and negative vision. |
Changing course in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) May 4, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing an unprecedented challenge. As Israel’s longest serving prime minister, who has been in office for more than three years, he had come to seem immovable. |
Explosive Dust-Up Over Iran Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) May 2, 2012 - 12:00am On a sunny Sunday afternoon in late April, Israel put its raucous, divided political culture on full exhibition in New York for a day — and New York did not like what it saw. |