February 11th

Israeli Goods Flood Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Rana B Baker - February 8, 2013 - 1:00am   » Read more

Palestinian delegation visits Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI) February 11, 2013 - 1:00am High-ranking Palestinian Authority officials are in Syria to discuss the plight of Palestinian refugees caught in fighting between government and rebel forces. The delegation, led by Zakaria al-Agha, was to meet with Syrian officials to discuss ways of keeping residents at the Yarmouk refugee camp in the city out of the two-year conflict in which more than 600 Palestinians have been killed, the Ma'an news agency reported. » Read more

Syria’s Palestinians Seek Refuge in Lebanon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Venetia Rainey - February 11, 2013 - 1:00am Like most conversations between strangers, it began with the weather.? Abul Nidal (not to be confused with the founder of Fatah, Abu Nidal) tells me there is a bizarre phenomenon occurring in the cramped confines of Sabra, one of Beirut’s refugee camps. “First it rains outside, on the roof. When it finishes raining there, it rains inside,” he says, pointing to the stains on the walls and ceiling.?? » Read more

Hamas: Egypt destroying Gaza smuggling tunnels by flooding them ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury - February 11, 2013 - 1:00am The Egyptian army has been destroying smuggling tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Sinai, said Palestinians who build them. The Egyptians have been flooding them, they said. » Read more

Hamas: Egypt imposed travel restrictions on Gazans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 10, 2013 - 1:00am   » Read more

Israeli troops detain AP photographer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Josef Federman - February 10, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli troops detained an Associated Press photographer during West Bank unrest over the weekend, handcuffing him and forcing him to sit on the ground without food or water or access to a bathroom for roughly five hours, according to eyewitness accounts. The photographer, Nasser Shiyoukhi, was released without charge after Saturday's incident. » Read more

Abbas thanks Pope for supporting Palestinian UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press December 17, 2012 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Pope Benedict XVI on Monday to thank him for supporting the recent UN resolution recognizing a Palestinian state. Abbas chatted privately with Benedict for 25 minutes Monday and then met with the Vatican's top diplomats. Abbas gave Benedict a mosaic of the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, with the inscription saying it was presented by the "President of the state of Palestine." » Read more

A Middle-Class Paradise in Palestine? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Armin Rosen - (Opinion) February 11, 2013 - 1:00am The sole outlet to Rawabi sits off a dizzying two-lane highway flanked by round, scraggly hills. In this part of the West Bank, just north of where the Jerusalem suburbs thin into a dry, granite-gray wilderness, the mountains seem to aid in the illusion that Israeli and Palestinian spheres of authority can remain perfectly, even harmoniously separate. » Read more

The Shin Bet's dream investigation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) February 10, 2013 - 1:00am Do military judges rely on decisions by their colleagues that conflict with the positions of the military prosecutor? More specifically, will one judge, Maj. Meir Vigisser use as precedent the decision of another judge, Col. Ronen Atzmon, who on Dec. 27, 2012 found a man innocent of assisting homicide because the incriminating witness fell asleep during a Shin Bet interrogation? In other words, the judge understood that the Shin Bet investigators engaged in the very common torture method of sleep deprivation, disrupting rather than furthering the pursuit of truth.  » Read more

Palestinian official rules out three-way summit during Obama visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 10, 2013 - 1:00am A Palestinian official on Sunday ruled out holding a meeting with Israeli officials on the sidelines of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to the region next month. "There are no preparations for a three-way meeting," said Saeb Erekat, senior Palestinian negotiator. "We were only told that Obama will visit the region in March and the reports about summits and new ideas and initiatives are journalistic analysis," Erekat said. » Read more