January 13th

Difficult position for the PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am The choices facing Palestinian leaders as they try to navigate their responsibilities while the 44-year-long Israeli occupation continues are difficult. » Read more

Hamas: What is Allowed in the Bank is Prohibited in the Strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Abdullah Iskandar - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am So it is thus that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is busy “forcing” the other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to commit to the settlement with Israel, based on the “assessment of general interest and the protection of the Palestinian people and their capabilities” according to the movement’s spokesman. This came in response to the launching of rockets on Israel and the eruption of clashes with its army, after which the Hebrew state threatened to wage a wide-scale operation in the Strip if this situation were to continue. » Read more

'Invigorated' Abbas has regained his authority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am Aides describe his mood as "invigorated". Rights activists say his security forces are fighting dissent more effectively. And while staking his credibility on negotiating with Israel, analysts say the recent failure of direct Israel-Palestinian peace talks has yet to damage his popularity. For a leader who is rumoured regularly to be on the brink of quitting, the political fortunes of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, no longer seem so gloomy. » Read more

Pregnant TV reporter objects to 'humiliating' Israeli security checks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am A pregnant newswoman from the Arab Al Jazeera television network walked out of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's annual foreign press conference after security officials asked her to remove her bra. » Read more

Jerusalem’s Christian Get Help From Church in Buying a Home ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Miller - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am Attempting to curb the flight of Palestinian Christians from Jerusalem, the city’s Latin Patriarchate is taking an unusual role in developing real estate projects that will provide affordable housing to its flock and others. » Read more

Social Affairs Minister: Israel today feels like Alabama in the 1940s ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz January 13, 2011 - 1:00am Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog [Labor] on Thursday compared the recent outbreak of racial tensions across Israel to Alabama in the 1940s and urged President Shimon Peres to intervene and prevent the deterioration of Israeli democracy. "Shimon Peres must use his public consensus to be a leader in this struggle," Herzog told an annual conference for the Conservative Movement, citing the rise in anti-Arab and migrant demonstrations and oppression of human rights organizations. » Read more

Abbas: U.S. not working hard enough for Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz January 13, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday accused the United States of lagging in its commitment to seeing the establishment of a Palestinian state. Abbas told Al-Jazeera that the Palestinians would agree to return to peace talks with Israel only if the United States agreed to recognize a state within 1967 borders and adhere to security accords reached during the Bush administration. Fielding criticism to the same regard in Doha, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters that the U.S. was determined to work toward achieving a separate state for the Palestinians. » Read more

Hamas wants to replace PLO: strongman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Fares Akram - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement wanted to replace the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a Gaza-based leader said Wednesday. Secularism has been associated with the PLO's program, while Hamas' agenda "is based on Islamic ideology in the means and performance," said Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas strongman, in an interview with Xinhua. » Read more

Palestinian wounded in Israeli fire in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 13, 2011 - 1:00am A Palestinian elderly man was seriously injured when Israeli army dispersed villagers clashing with Jewish settlers in the West Bank Thursday, witnesses said. The Israeli army fired tear gas and rubber bullets towards Palestinians near the northern city of Nablus and a gunshot has wounded a Palestinian seriously, the witnesses told Xinhua. The clashes followed the settlers' attack on an agricultural land in Qussra village. The witnesses said that the settlers set fire to crops and threw rocks at the villagers, who responded also with throwing stones. » Read more

Paralyzed Palestinian girl given Israeli residency ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Josh Lederman - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am A Palestinian girl paralyzed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza will be allowed to remain in the country for medical care, according to a government document released Wednesday. The decision enables 9-year-old Marya Amen, along with her brother and father, to stay in Israel as temporary residents. The status ensures state-sponsored health insurance and compensation for the girl, who needs a respirator to breathe. A letter signed by Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai and obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday cites a "special humanitarian case" in granting the residency request. » Read more