February 21st

NEWS: Palestinian protesters supporting hunger striking prisoners clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. (AP) Mustafa Barghouti says the death of a hunger striker could lead to another intifada. (YNet) A new poll finds that a huge majority of Palestinians want new elections immediately, and support for Fatah remain steady but Hamas' numbers have declined. (PNN) A trial reveals much about Hezbollah's operations in Europe, including looking for Israeli targets. (New York Times) Egypt says it is determined to stop the flow of weapons between Gaza and Sinai, and is reportedly flooding smuggling tunnels with sewage. (New York Times) Hamas says it will not accept any agreement that includes a ban on arms smuggling. (Xinhua) Israeli forces are training for potential subterranean warfare with Hezbollah. (Jerusalem Post) Fatah officials are reportedly angered by indirect Israeli-Hamas negotiations. (Jerusalem Post) A Gaza resident immolates himself outside a Hamas headquarters. (Ma'an) Israel approves drilling for oil in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. (AP) The Netanyahu government is deeply uncomfortable with two Oscar-nominated films on the conflict, "The Gatekeepers" and "5 Broken Cameras." (Reuters) Israeli officials fear US budget cuts might mean a loss of military aid. (Xinhua) DFLP chief Hawatmeh is lightly injured in a bomb explosion in Damascus. (Ma'an) Settlers are accused of torching six Palestinian cars near Nablus. (Ma'an) Witnesses say Israeli occupation forces shot one man and detained two others near Jenin. (Ma'an) Palestinians say they have little confidence that new Israeli justice minister Livni, who is also in charge of negotiations, will be able to have much of an impact on Israel's policies towards them. (The National) Senior PLO and Israeli officials are visiting Washington in preparation for Pres. Obama's upcoming Middle East trip. (JTA)

COMMENTARY: Jeffrey Heller says Livni will face an uphill struggle to make any progress on peace with the Palestinians. (Reuters) Adam Gonn says Netanyahu is taking a risk including Livni in his new government. (Xinhua) Ian Black says Livni "won't be a fig leaf" for Netanyahu if he doesn't want peace. (The Guardian) The National says it fears the new Israeli coalition, including Livni, is indeed a missed opportunity. (The National) The LA Times interviews Likud party centrist figure Meridor. (LA Times) Ari Shavit says if the Bennett-Lapid alliance continues, there will be no let up in settlement activity and it will be very bad for peace. (Ha'aretz) Gideon Levy says before anybody starts talking about the "peace process" again, serious confidence building measures are urgently required. (Ha'aretz) Gershon Baskin insists Israeli-Palestinian peace is still possible. (Jerusalem Post) Paul Hirschson says Israeli-Arab business relations are good for peace. (Jerusalem Post) Jay Michaelson says trying to censor views critical of Israel backfires. (The Forward) George Hishmeh says if Obama does not seize the initiative on peace in his second term, it may be a final opportunity squandered. (Gulf News) Joseph Kechichian says Obama must realize that nothing can advance US interests in the Middle East like the creation of a Palestinian state. (Gulf News) Michael Jansen thinks Pres. Morsi is "playing the Israeli and US game" in Gaza. (Jordan Times)

Palestinians’ negotiator Erekat, Israeli security chief Amidror visiting D.C.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
February 20, 2013 - 1:00am

Saeb Erekat, the top negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, and Yaakov Amidror, the Israeli national security adviser, are visiting Washington. Erekat will meet this week with David Hale, the top U.S. official handling Middle East peace talks, the State Department said in a statement Wednesday. Israeli officials confirmed that Amidror also is in Washington, but would not identify with whom he is meeting. The meetings comes ahead of President Obama's planned visit next month to Israel and Palestinian areas next month.


Palestinians have little faith Livni can influence peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

Palestinians are not optimistic about the influence of Tzipi Livni as Israel's negotiator in talks with them after her appointment in the emerging coalition government of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mrs Livni, a former foreign minister, was the leader of the opposition until March last year, when she formed her own party on a platform critical of Mr Netanyahu and his government's policy of expanding Jewish settlements.

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Witnesses: 1 shot, 2 detained in Israeli raids in Jenin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli forces shot a Palestinian in his leg and detained two people in raids in the Jenin district overnight Wednesday, witnesses said. Soldiers detained Samid Abu Haija from his home in al-Yamun, northwest of Jenin, and 24-year-old Mohammad Naser al-Sadi from Jenin refugee camp. In Birqin village, west of Jenin, soldiers surrounded the home of Mohammad Qablawi and ordered residents to leave the house.

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Official: Settlers torch 6 cars in Nablus village
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

Armed settlers attacked a village south of Nablus overnight Wednesday and torched six cars, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said dozens of residents of the Esh Kodesh settlement outpost entered Qusra village firing heavily. They torched six cars, belonging to Raed Musbah, Abed Taher, Yousef Odeh, Yasser Abu Rida, and Nashat Fawzi, Daghlas told Ma'an.

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DFLP chief hurt in Damascus explosion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

The head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine was lightly injured on Thursday in a car bomb that shook central Damascus and killed several people, a DFLP official said. Nayef Hawatmeh, 74, suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment when the bomb exploded near DFLP offices in Syria, DFLP central committee member Khalid Atta told Ma'an. Atta said the bomb had not targeted the DFLP office, which was damaged in the attack.

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Israeli officials fear impending U.S. budget cuts to trim military aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli officials are concerned that the United States' budget cuts due to begin on March 1 will reduce its military aid to the Jewish country, economic Globes reported on Wednesday. The report said the planned budget cuts will approximately chop 250 million U.S. dollars from the aid and will halt the U.S. assistance to Israel's missile programs.

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Israel's Oscar bid discomforts Netanyahu government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

An Oscar-nominated Israeli documentary has brought little joy to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the focus of the film's criticism of Israel's policy toward the Palestinians. Featuring searingly confessional interviews with six former chiefs of the shadowy security service Shin Bet, "The Gatekeepers" portrays the 46-year-old West Bank occupation and Jewish ultranationalism as threats to Israel's survival.

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Israel gives OK for oil drilling in Golan Heights
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

Israel says it has given the go-ahead for a gas exploration project in the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau it captured from Syria in the 1967 war. Israel's Energy and Water Resources Ministry said Wednesday it has issued a permit for the American-Israeli company Genie Energy to drill for oil on the plateau. The company is headed by Effi Eitam, a hawkish former Israeli Cabinet minister.

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Gaza man self-immolates in government office
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

A man set himself on fire at a government office in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, wounding himself and four others, witnesses and medics said. The man was seriously wounded after he self-immolated at an office for the Ministry of Social Affairs in Jabalia, witnesses told Ma'an. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said four others were wounded in the incident, including two female staff members and an elderly man. The wounded were taken to Kamal Udwan Hospital and Shifa Hospital, al-Qidra said.



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