Assad preparing to use chemical arms, says Israel's military intel chief ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gili Cohen - March 14, 2013 - 12:00am The head of Israel's military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, said on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad is preparing to make use of his chemical weapons cache, although he has yet to give an order for them to be used. » Read more

Obama’s Middle East trip: Lessons from Bill Clinton ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya by Joyce Karam - (Opinion) March 14, 2013 - 12:00am U.S. President Barack Obama has set low expectations for his upcoming trip to the Middle East, which seems devoid of any peace initiative or strategy for negotiations. Tactically, however, the trip will re-introduce Obama in a Clintonesque fashion as he tries to build credibility among Israelis, and get directly involved with the Palestinians. » Read more

Palestinian Shoe Industry Declines in Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Jihan Abdalla - March 13, 2013 - 12:00am Once a mainstay of the local economy, Palestinian shoemaking in the West Bank is in decline as businesses struggle to compete with an increasing influx in the local market of cheaper, Chinese-made shoes. For decades, the city of Hebron was renowned for its skilled cobblers, producing famously comfortable, durable, leather shoes and sandals. According to statistics compiled by the Chamber of Commerce in Hebron, from 1970 until 1990, the city boasted 1,200 lucrative shoe businesses, employing 40,000 people, a third of Hebron’s residents at the time. » Read more

Israeli Apartheid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Osman Mirghani - (Opinion) March 14, 2013 - 12:00am They yelled: “Dirty Arab. You want a state? Is that what you want?” Then they began to beat up the Palestinian worker, who later told the press about how he was attacked by a group of around twenty young Jews while he was working in Tel Aviv. A few days later, another Palestinian was attacked by eight Jewish youths while going for a walk with his wife, and when police arrested four of the suspects they found that two of them had also participated in the first attack in Tel Aviv. » Read more

World Bank Transfers $60.5M in Budget Support to PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from March 14, 2013 - 12:00am Wednesday 13th March, the World Bank transferred $60.5 million to the Palestinian Authority from the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan Trust Fund (PRDP-MDTF), a multi-donor budget support mechanism administered by the Bank, said a press release by World Bank. The statement said the funds contributed by the governments of the United Kingdom and Norway will help support the urgent budget needs of the PA, providing inter alia support for education, health care and other vital social services for the Palestinian people and for the economic reforms currently underway. » Read more

Lawyer: Issawi close to death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 14, 2013 - 12:00am Samer Issawi "could die at any moment," his lawyer warned Wednesday, after the prisoner escalated his seven-month hunger strike by refusing water. Medics at Kaplan Medical Center summoned lawyer Jawad Bulous and urged him to convince Issawi to resume taking fluids, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a statement. Issawi is suffering from a cardiovascular disorder, the society said. He has been on hunger strike for 224 days and was hospitalized in late February. » Read more

Settlers steal IDF tent erected to prevent Palestinian encampment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - March 14, 2013 - 12:00am Residents of the Yitzhar in the West Bank  stole a military tent near their settlement this week. The tent was intended as an Israel Defense Forces post to keep Palestinians from illegally setting up structures of their own in the area, IDF officials said. » Read more

This Court Case Was My Only Hope ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestine News Network March 14, 2013 - 12:00am At approximately 07:30 am on 5 January 2009, during 'Operation Cast Lead', Israeli forces fired a tank shell at the house of Hany Abdel Dayem. » Read more

Palestinian girl dies of burns after house fire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 13, 2013 - 12:00am A seven-year Palestinian girl died on Wednesday succumbing to her injuries sustained in a house fire in southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources said. The fire, sparked by a gas lamp, also left her brother dead and wounded three other children of one family. Hamas' Interior Ministry said it has opened an investigation into the incident, which took place as electricity was off in the area. » Read more

Hamas minister orchestrates plans to launch attacks against Israel: Israeli report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 14, 2013 - 12:00am Israel's Shin Bet security service said in a statement Wednesday that Hamas Interior Minister in the Gaza Strip, Fathi Hammad, is behind invigorated efforts to stage terror attacks against Israel from the West Bank, local media outlets reported. » Read more