May 11th, 2012

Israeli city bans girls from singing at conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
May 10, 2012 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — An Israeli newspaper says a central city has agreed to a request by an Orthodox religious group to ban girls from singing at a youth conference next week. The Haaretz daily reported Thursday that the Kfar Sava town council imposed the ban to respect the wishes of the Bnei Akiva religious youth group. Various youth movements are set to participate in the conference. Strictly Orthodox Jewish men do not listen to women singing for reasons of religious modesty.


Hamas shuts down Gaza literary festival, only to later apologize
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
May 11, 2012 - 12:00am


A leading Palestinian human rights group has condemned the Gaza Strip's Hamas government on Thursday for violently breaking up a Palestinian literature festival. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that armed Hamas men cut off electricity, confiscated cameras and dispersed the Palestine Festival of Literature near Gaza City. Participants said that speakers at Wednesday night's gathering had been critical of Hamas.


PA: Suspects in Jenin shooting attack detained
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 11, 2012 - 12:00am


JENIN (Ma'an) -- Security forces on Thursday arrested the perpetrators of a shooting attack on the home of the late governor of Jenin, a spokesman said. On May 1, assailants opened fire on Qaddura Musa's home in Jenin. The governor left his home with security chiefs to investigate when he suffered a heart attack that killed him, police spokesman Mujahid Rabiya said.


Lawyer: Halahla could die at any moment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 11, 2012 - 12:00am


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Prison doctors have told Thaer Halahla that he could die at any moment after 72 days on hunger strike, his lawyer Mona Neddaf said Thursday. Neddaf visited Halahla, 33, in Ramle prison clinic on Thursday, the prisoner rights group Addameer said in a statement. He is vomiting blood, bleeding from his gums and lips and has extremely low blood pressure, she said. His temperature is fluctuating at dangerous levels and the prison doctor said he also has an infection. He has refused food since Feb. 29 and now weighs 55 kilograms.


Palestinian leader warns Israel over hunger strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
May 10, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president says his people "will not be quiet" if any harm comes to a group of Palestinian hunger strikers held by Israel. Hundreds of prisoners are striking, including two men who have not eaten for 73 days. The strikers want better conditions and an end to an Israeli system of holding them for months without charge. President Mahmoud Abbas told a West Bank rally on Thursday that if anyone is harmed, "we will not be quiet ever." He did not elaborate.


The Palestinian taxi driver crucial to Jewish settlement in E. Jlem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - May 11, 2012 - 12:00am


Mohammed Nabulsi's paper trail has been catching up with him, which is making it difficult for Jewish settlers and their state patrons to take over East Jerusalem homes. Starting in the 1970s, Nabulsi, an East Jerusalem taxi driver, provided settler organizations with affadavits claiming that Palestinian owners of East Jerusalem homes were "absentees" residing in enemy countries, which the state used over and over to expropriate the properties and turn them over to settler organizations.


Netanyahu to convene special meeting to discuss bill legalizing Ulpana outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 11, 2012 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled on Thursday a special cabinet meeting for Friday with government members to debate on a law that would legalize a controversial West Bank outpost. Netanyahu called on the government members on Thursday to debate on the possibility of approving a bill to legalize the 30 Ulpana outpost homes in the West Bank, the Ha'aretz daily reported.


May 10th

NEWS: The murder of a respected West bank governor suggests lawlessness may be returning to towns like Jenin. Palestinians are hoping Egypt will help resolve the crisis over hunger striking prisoners. UNSG Ban says Israel should either charge prisoners or release them. Settlers are creating patrols in the West Bank, looking for Palestinian homes for Israel to demolish. The oldest Palestinian refugee camps run by the UN are slated for upgrades. The CEO of a construction company says settlers in "Ulpana" knew they were building on privately owned Palestinian land. A new Hamas force is reportedly thwarting rocket attacks against Israel. Palestine is attempting to participate in the upcoming United Nations Sustainable Development Conference as a state. A US congressional committee seeks to tighten controls on aid to the Palestinians and Egypt. Israel's separation barrier threatens an ancient way of life in West Bank villages. The Palestinian national air carrier, grounded since 2005, has resumed operations with flights between Egypt’s El-Arish and Amman. COMMENTARY: Fareed Zakaria says under PM Netanyahu Israel is now stronger than ever, but questions whether he can use his power for anything other than own survival in office. Gideon Levy says Israel's new coalition leaders are delegitimizing the country. The Boston Globe says the new government offers new hope for peace. Israel Harel predicts that the new coalition will mean that Likud's ideology shifts towards the center. Harriet Sherwood says Netanyahu outmaneuvered the militant pro-settler right in his own party. J.J. Goldberg says Kadima leader Mofaz got more out of the deal than Netanyahu. The Daily Star says Israel's unity government shows Palestinians also must reunify. Mya Guarnieri says African refugees and migrants have joined Palestinians as the most marginalized people in Israeli society. David Makovsky looks at how the new coalition might affect various Israeli policies. Yezid Sayigh says Hamas is struggling to turn the Arab uprisings into political gains.

Hamas Looks to the Future: With Gains Come Dilemmas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
by Yezid Sayigh - (Analysis) March 8, 2012 - 1:00am


Since the start of 2012, the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, has traveled to Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Qatar, Bahrain, and Iran. Six years after Hamas achieved victory at the Palestinian ballot box, it has received genuine regional recognition. 


Let's Make a Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) May 10, 2012 - 12:00am


Having spent the better part of two decades traveling the negotiator's highway, I've often thought about why some deals get made along the way and others don't. Granted, I've labored almost exclusively in the Middle East coal mines -- an often bizarre, idiosyncratic, and exceptionally dysfunctional place where deals rarely, if ever, get done.



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