February 17th

High Court to state: Expedite demolition in illegal West Bank outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am The High Court of Justice has ordered the state to provide a timetable for the demolition of illegal structures in two unauthorized West Bank outposts within 60 days. The decision to raze the structures drew harsh criticism due to the fact that one of the outposts in question is home to the widow and two children of fallen IDF officer Roi Klein, who was killed during the Second Lebanon War when he jumped on a grenade to save his comrades. » Read more

Pro-Mideast in America: Getting past 'Pro-Israel' and 'Pro-Palestine' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) February 17, 2010 - 1:00am Let's face it. Viewed from North America, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a dismal read. Seen in full context, the confrontation is suffocatingly complex. As literature, it is paralytic, sullenly wordy. The plot, for all its spasms and blood, goes nowhere. As drama, the Israel-Palestine morass is the geopolitical equivalent of James Cameron's 1997 film "Titanic": interminable, exorbitant, unwieldy, dumb without just cause. Titanic-like, it tempts the observer to bail out in mid-course, seething under the breath "Sink, already! Just #*%&-ing sink!" » Read more

'Illegal' Gaza tunnel owners suffer as Hamas economy grows ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am Owners of the smuggling tunnels bordering the Gaza Strip and Egypt have been suffering from financial problems due to their tunnels' inactivity, according to Palestinian sources. The reason, it turns out, actually stems from the overall success of smuggling tunnels in Gaza. Hamas has recently set up 'legal' tunnels, which they use to smuggle various merchandise. As a result, existing, non-Hamas run tunnels are suffering financially. » Read more

Five Israelis wake up as named 'Dubai assassins' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Danna Harman, Liel Kyzer - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am At least five Israelis awoke Tuesday morning to find their names tied to the assassination of senior Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his Dubai hotel room last month. All were stunned to find their names displayed on passports that police in the emirate said were used by the assailants. However, the people pictured in the photos released by police looked nothing like them. All denied involvement in the affair. » Read more

PA denies reported arrest of security officer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 17, 2010 - 1:00am A man reportedly detained for plotting to kill Palestinian Authority officials is not a member of the PA security services, a top security official said on Tuesday. PA security spokesman Adnan Ad-Dmeiri told Ma'an that Mujahed Nimer, a resident of Qalandiya refugee camp, has never been a member of the Ramallah government's forces. Nimer was arrested on criminal charges following a warrant issued by prosecutors, Dmeiri said, contradicting a report in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth that identified Nimer as "a top official in the Palestinian security apparatus." » Read more

Sources: Fayyad to reshuffle cabinet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 17, 2010 - 1:00am Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will dismiss members of his cabinet in the wake of a corruption scandal shaking the Ramallah-based Palestinian government, sources said on Tuesday. Officials said President Mahmoud Abbas approved Fayyad's recommendations at a cabinet meeting on Monday, which Abbas chaired, and offered Interior Minister Said Abu Ali the position of chief of staff. Abu Ali, however, has since denied knowledge of the offer. » Read more

Why the West Bank won't crown a Miss Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - February 16, 2010 - 1:00am The idea to mount the first-ever Palestinian beauty pageant was part political statement, part feminism, and part personal fantasy. When marketing entrepreneur Salwa Youssef began planning a Miss Palestine contest late last year, she knew she was pushing the boundaries of social convention in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where women often wear head scarves in public in deference to traditional Islam. » Read more

One long summer in Lebanon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Najla Said - (Opinion) February 17, 2010 - 1:00am Tuesday, July 11, 2006: I am in Beirut. My friend Alex calls and asks if I want to spend the day at the beach in Tyre with him and some other friends. A day on the most beautiful beach in Lebanon -- why would I ever say no? We get down to Tyre and swim in the bluest water you can imagine. » Read more

At least some Dubai photos of Hamas 'assassins' appear fake ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - February 16, 2010 - 1:00am At least some of the passport photos and information released by Dubai this week on 11 suspects in the assassination of an alleged Hamas arms dealer appears to be false, Irish officials and several Israeli citizens said Tuesday. The use of sophisticated fake IDs would match the professional manner in which the Jan. 20 slaying of Mahmoud Mabhouh was apparently carried out. » Read more

New Hints of Skulduggery in Hamas Killing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Robert Worth - February 16, 2010 - 1:00am BEIRUT, Lebanon — The murder was straight out of a cheap spy thriller. At least 11 professional assassins, some wearing wigs and fake beards, tracked a senior Hamas official to his Dubai hotel in January and killed him with cold precision, fleeing the country afterward on European passports, the Dubai police say. But even as the Dubai authorities called Tuesday for an international manhunt, questions emerged about the identities of the suspects, deepening the mystery around the killing. » Read more