February 17th, 2012

Nablus Village at the Center of Settler Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Charlie Hoyle - February 17, 2012 - 1:00am

ASIRA AL-QIBLIYA (Ma'an) -- A drive along the northern section of route 60 paints a telling picture of the physical geography of settlements and settler violence in the West Bank. Winding through picturesque Nablus countryside, the main north-south highway acts as a boundary between Israeli settlements on one side and Palestinian villages on the other. Overlooked by these illegal hilltop residences, local Palestinians are all too familiar with the disadvantages of the neighborly proximity, especially given that the Nablus district experienced the majority of settler violence in 2011.

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Whose city is it anyway?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Esther Zandberg - (Analysis) February 16, 2012 - 1:00am

The photos are recognizable from everyday life. In one corner of a public park, boys are getting ready for a ball game, setting up goals and marking off territory that strangers should not dare approach. In other corners, large groups gather for birthday parties or family picnics and mark off a patch of grass with flags and balloons. Others light barbecues under the trees despite the signs warning against doing so.

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Striking Iran's nuclear program is out of Israel's league
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) February 17, 2012 - 1:00am

Our favorite duo, Bibi and Barak, operate like Sylvester Stallone's Rambo. Real macho men who win in every movie. Against his powerful enemies, Rambo sweats, gets a black eye or two, bleeds, but in the end he wins, to the appropriate background music. Rambo's weakness, at least early in his films, is that he doesn't seem to think ahead, even when he's bleeding after what happened to him. The viewers in the movie theater know that the blood is paint and in the end he'll be victorious.

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Fayyad: PA Operating in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 17, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The prime minister in Ramallah said Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority was working inside occupied East Jerusalem, despite Israeli restrictions on PA activities. The PA is continuously trying to allocate resources inside the city, which Israel occupied in 1967, Salam Fayyad said. The Israeli government is trying to impose its policies to control Jerusalem and its institutions, which is contrary to international law and signed agreements, Fayyad said.

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Condolences Pour in After Deadly Crash
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 17, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Condolences poured in from near and far Thursday, as Palestinians mourned the deaths of at least five children in a fiery accident south of Ramallah. Some 39 others were injured in addition to the five children and their teacher who perished when a school bus and truck collided on a field trip, Palestinian medical officials said. Israeli leaders were among the first to extend condolences; President Shimon Peres phoned his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to express sorrow, Israeli media reported.

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Airport security can't treat Arab Israelis like suspicious objects
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) February 17, 2012 - 1:00am

Yara Mashour wanted to return to her home in Israel. A natural-born citizen and the editor of a popular Israeli weekly, she arrived at an El Al counter in a Milan airport this week, her passport and an airline ticket in hand. What happened next is what happens to almost every Arab Israeli traveler: She was singled out, put through rigorous security checks, asked ridiculous, humiliatingly intimate questions and had her baggage thoroughly searched. But when it reached the stage of a body search, Mashour, a proud citizen, refused, choosing instead to give up her flight.

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Palestinians Mourn Schoolchildren in Bus Attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - February 17, 2012 - 1:00am

REPORTING FROM RAMALLAH, WEST BANK –- At least six people, including five Palestinian chidren, were killed Thursday when their bus collided with a truck and overturned outside Ramallah during a school field trip. Palestinian police and medics said the children, ages 4 to 7, and their teacher were killed instantly and another 30 children were injured, seven seriously. The accident, in which the bus caught fire after the collision, took place in rainy and foggy conditions.

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Muslim Brotherhood Threatens to Review Treaty With Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by David Kirkpatrick - February 16, 2012 - 1:00am

CAIRO — The Islamist party that leads the new Egyptian Parliament is threatening to review the 1979 peace treaty with Israel if the United States cuts off aid to the country over a crackdown on American-backed nonprofit groups here. The pact is considered a linchpin of regional stability, and the statements, from at least two senior leaders of the party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, represent the first time that Egyptians have explicitly raised it during an escalating standoff over the crackdown.

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February 16th

NEWS: At least 8 Palestinian children are killed in a bus crash in the occupied West Bank. Israel again accuses Iran of being responsible for attacks, and attempted attacks, against its diplomats. Thai officials agree that Iran was trying to target Israeli diplomats. In a reversal, PM Netanyahu says sanctions against Iran are proving ineffective. Netanyahu visits Cyprus. Gaza's only power plant is shut down due to a shortage of smuggled fuel from Egypt. A Palestinian citizen of Israel journalist says she won't fly El Al again after the way she was searched on her last flight. The Obama administration is seeking a waiver on the prohibition of US funding of UNESCO following Palestine's admittance as a member. Significant rifts are developing between American and European umbrella Jewish organizations. A leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad held prisoner by Israel is reportedly near death due to a hunger strike. COMMENTARY: Fareed Zakaria says the idea that Israel and the United States have to act against a potentially nuclear Iran is wrong because deterrence works, but Benny Morris says they face a stark choice. George Hishmeh says troubling though the Syrian crisis is, the Israeli-Iranian imbroglio is potentially more dangerous to Middle Eastern stability. Osama Al Sharif says if Israel attacks Iran, it will be intentionally triggering a regional war, and may wish to do so. Ari Shavit says that recent developments mean that peace will be the result of a slow and grinding end to the occupation rather than diplomatic breakthroughs. Gideon Levy says both Israel and Iran are using terrorism, including against each other. The National says no one should jump to conclusions in the exchange of Iranian-Israeli accusations. Carlo Strenger says there are interesting parallels in the radicalization of both the Israeli and the American political right. Tamar Hermann says Israeli society is fragmented but not tribalist. Houriya Ahmed says the Hamas-Fatah deal might sideline PM Fayyad.

Moving backward in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Houriya Ahmed - (Opinion) February 16, 2012 - 1:00am

After a year in which Arabs have fought and died for democracy, the Palestinian Territories seem to be the one place in the region where autocracy is on the ascendancy.

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