Hamas blasts Palestinian official's Auschwitz trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 1, 2012 - 12:00am Gaza's ruling Hamas has criticized a Palestinian official for visiting a memorial at the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz and paying respects to its 1.5 million victims there, most of them Jews. Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum, expressing the Islamic militant group's position, claimed Wednesday that the Holocaust "is a big lie." He said last week's visit to the Auschwitz by Ziad al-Bandak, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, went against Palestinian public opinion. Abbas and Hamas are political rivals. » Read more

Is Romney ready for prime time? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) August 1, 2012 - 12:00am Mitt Romney’s overseas tour got off to a poor start in London, where he succeeded in insulting nearly the entire country, but did little harm beyond getting a headline in the country’s largest newspaper calling him “Mitt the twit,” and sullying his reputation as not being ready for prime time. » Read more

Palestinian women outraged by marketplace killing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Dalia Nammari - August 1, 2012 - 12:00am The brutal killing of a battered wife in front of horrified witnesses in an open-air Bethlehem market prompted angry accusations Wednesday that Palestinian police and courts ignore violence against women. Nancy Zaboun, a 27-year-old mother of three, had her throat slashed Monday after seeking a divorce from her abusive husband of 10 years. The husband was arrested at the scene and is the prime suspect, West Bank officials said. » Read more

Settlers yearn for 'environment without borders' - and without Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zafrir Rinat - (Opinion) August 2, 2012 - 12:00am In the last two years, Jewish settlers in the West Bank have made a concerted PR effort to showcase their commitment to the environment. At the heart of this campaign, headed by NGOs and regional councils operating on the other side of the Green Line, is the call to separate politics from the environment. According to the settlers, it is important to create Palestinian-Israeli cooperation in order to tackle problems hurting both sides. » Read more

Palestinians brace for repercussions over UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - August 2, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinians are bracing for possible punitive reactions by the U.S. and Israel if they go ahead with plans to seek U.N. General Assembly recognition of "Palestine" as a non-member observer state, according to an internal document obtained Thursday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, backed by the Arab League, is ready in principle to take this step, but hasn't decided whether to submit the request when the General Assembly convenes in September or to wait until after the U.S. presidential election in November. » Read more

Former Israeli spymaster: Iran should be worried ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 2, 2012 - 12:00am A former Israeli spymaster on Thursday cautioned Iran not to dismiss Israel's talk about possibly attacking Iranian nuclear facilities. The next 12 weeks will be "very critical" to Israel's decision on whether to strike, Ephraim Halevy said. That time frame coincides with the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. "If I were an Iranian, I would be very worried about the Israeli talk about a possible attack, because Israel's threats sound serious and credible to me," Halevy, who left the Mossad a decade ago, told Israel Radio. » Read more

An Israeli Arab's home is his castle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Noam Dvir - (Opinion) August 2, 2012 - 12:00am During his last visit to Wadi Ara in January 2012, Dr. Kobi Peled was surprised to discover dozens of Corinthian-style pillars on the facades of private homes. While some were structural, it was clear that many were not weight-bearing, but merely placed there to lend an appearance of classical beauty and sanctity to the house, or sometimes, to make homes look like public or government buildings. » Read more

U.S. and Israel Intensify Talks on Iran Options ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Elisabeth Bumiller, Jodi Rudoren - August 1, 2012 - 12:00am A series of public statements and private communications from the Israeli leadership in recent weeks set off renewed concerns in the Obama administration that Israel might be preparing a unilateral military strike on Iran, perhaps as early as this fall. » Read more

Decoding Bibi's West Bank agenda ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ron Pundak - (Opinion) August 1, 2012 - 12:00am The prime minister’s policy of de facto annexation of the West Bank will end badly for everyone, and there will be no way out. It took a while, but the prime minister’s political ideology seems to have been decoded. The designation of a university in the West Bank city of Ariel, Judge Edmond Levy's report that Israel is not an occupier, the construction of more than a thousand new buildings in the settlements and intensive Israeli activity in Area C in the West Bank, all indicate the fundamental political principles that guide Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

Capitalism, not culture, drives economies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Fareed Zakaria - (Opinion) August 1, 2012 - 12:00am Mitt Romney has explained that his comments abroad were simply truth-telling. “I tend to tell people what I actually believe,” he said. With regard to one much-debated comment — on the cultural differences between Israelis and Palestinians — many agree with him. The Wall Street Journal editorial page and columnists including Marc A. Thiessen and John Podhoretz all applauded. Podhoretz wrote: “Anyone who publicizes his remark is helping Romney win the election.” » Read more