Hamas official: Mashaal will not run for re-election
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 12, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hamas' chief-in-exile Khaled Mashaal will not run for re-election as leader of the Islamist movement, a group official said Wednesday, reiterating a position outlined several months ago. |
Israel to withhold Palestinian funds until March, at least
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 12, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel will withhold tax revenues from President Mahmoud Abbas's administration until March at least in response to his statehood campaign at the United Nations, Israel's foreign minister said. Under interim peace deals, Israel collects some $100 million a month in duties on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank -- money that is badly needed to pay public sector salaries. |
Report: Jordan to host peace talks in February
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 12, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian and Israeli officials will meet in Jordan in February in efforts to support the peace process, King Abdullah II of Jordan was quoted as saying by Al-Hayat newspaper on Wednesday. Officials from both sides will meet under the auspices of the European Union and United States, the Jordanian King said while visiting the United Kingdom on Tuesday, Al-Hayat reported. |
Vandals target Jerusalem monastery, Palestinian cars in price tag attacks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua December 12, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Two price tag attacks occurred overnight as vandals sprayed hate slogans on a monastery in Jerusalem and torched and spray painted a car in Ramallah, local news outlets reported Wednesday. |
Israeli FM further slams EU critique over settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua December 12, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman continued Wednesday to slam the European Union's critique on Israel's construction in the settlements. |
Gaza's tunnels rebound from Israeli offensive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - December 12, 2012 - 1:00am RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Rafah's biggest industry is back in business: Gazans are rebuilding the network of underground smuggling tunnels crisscrossing the Egyptian border that were pummeled in a recent Israeli offensive, restoring the illicit conduit for consumer goods and weapons so crucial to Hamas rule. |
West Bank: Israeli Military Raids 3 Palestinian Organizations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - December 12, 2012 - 1:00am Israeli soldiers raided three Palestinian nongovernmental organizations in Ramallah before dawn on Tuesday, seizing computers and other equipment from two of them: Addameer, which supports Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees. |
Israel's leaders need to make smarter decisions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Miami Herald by Frida Ghitis - (Opinion) December 11, 2012 - 1:00am You have seen the headlines from the Middle East. Now imagine listening to the same stories as you stand in Israel, just a few miles from Syria, Egypt, Gaza, the West Bank. Considering the range of unhappy outcomes the Israeli people may have to face, it is stunning to see their political leaders create unnecessary problems for their country. |
Keeping the Flame Alive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Frank Jacobs - (Opinion) December 10, 2012 - 1:00am Recent developments have ruined one of Golda Meir's favorite jokes. The former Israeli prime minister was known to quip: "Know why Jews don't like Moses? For 40 years he leads them through the desert, and then he brings them to the only place in the Middle East without oil!" |