February 19th

Is Qatari cash keeping the calm in Gaza? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Lappin - February 19, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli deterrence has so far successfully kept Hamas from violating the cease-fire reached after an eight-day round of violence in November, but a second factor might also be playing a role in upholding the unprecedented calm along the Gaza-Israel border: economics. » Read more

Taking a hike in the Holy Land on the Jesus Trail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - February 17, 2013 - 1:00am For Christian pilgrims in hiking boots, Israel’s 36-mile Jesus Trail offers glimpses of the kind of biblical scenery the master Christian may have seen as he made the rounds in verdant Galilee. » Read more

Netanyahu seeks broad coalition to push forward Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - February 18, 2013 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to establish as broad a coalition as possible to promote an agreement with the Palestinians, he told a meeting of Likud ministers Sunday morning. » Read more

Rivals' pact in Israel blocks Netanyahu from forming coalition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - February 17, 2013 - 1:00am A new odd couple in Israeli politics has become the biggest obstacle to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's effort to form the next government. » Read more

Senior official: Just a handful of prisoners held in Israel without public's knowledge ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ofra Edelman - February 15, 2013 - 1:00am In recent decades a handful of prisoners have been held in detention in Israel under fictitious name and without it being a matter of public's knowledge, a senior legal source with knowledge of the Ben Zygier case said Thursday. While some of these cases ultimately were made public, others were never publicized, the source said. » Read more

Girl hospitalized after acid attack in Nazareth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ben Hartman - February 19, 2013 - 1:00am A teenage girl from Nazareth is hospitalized in serious condition after a man threw acid in her face Tuesday morning. Police arrested a 51-year-old man shortly afterwards who reportedly attacked the woman because she refused a marriage proposal either from him or a member of his family. Police said the 15-year-old girl was lying in her bed when she heard a knock at her bedroom window Tuesday morning. When the girl opened the window the man threw acid in her face and then fled the scene, Northern District Police Spokesman Yehuda Maman said Tuesday. » Read more

Palestinians struggle to farm in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - February 17, 2013 - 1:00am Zuhair Al Manasrah sat in his office where he manages plantations of 20,000 date palms and described the risk he took as a Palestinian investing in agriculture. "It's difficult to farm anything when you're under occupation," said Mr Al Manasrah, 69, who spent stints as the governor of Bethlehem and Jenin before turning full-time to farming. » Read more

Outcry over Israel soldier's photo of boy in crosshairs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters February 19, 2013 - 1:00am An Israeli soldier has provoked an outcry by publishing a photograph that appeared to show the back of a Palestinian boy's head seen through the crosshairs of a rifle. Israel's army said on Tuesday it would hold an investigation into the conduct of the soldier, who posted the picture on the online photo-sharing website Instagram. Israeli media identified the soldier as a 20-year-old conscript serving in the occupied West Bank. » Read more

West Bank teachers to strike Sunday, Thursday ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 16, 2013 - 1:00am All schools across the West Bank will be on general strike Sunday and Thursday, the general union of West Bank teachers announced Saturday. Secretary of the union of south Nablus area teachers Izz Dawabsha told Ma’an the decision to go on strike was taken unanimously in a meeting the union of West Bank teachers held Saturday. The move, he said, comes to protest failure of the Palestinian government to pay January wages, highlighting that Thursday's strike will be cancelled if salaries are paid before then. » Read more

Israel: Obama to Receive Award ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - February 18, 2013 - 1:00am President Shimon Peres plans to give President Obama a special award at a state dinner next month when Mr. » Read more