Israeli committee mulls bill to thwart future settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 20, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation debated Sunday a bill that would make it nearly impossible for defense chief to impose a freeze on settlement construction, local media reported. According to The Jerusalem Post, the committee discussed the bill that calls to apply Israeli law to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which are currently subject to military rule. » Read more

Settlements complicate Palestinian state's building: UN official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 21, 2011 - 1:00am A senior United Nations official on Monday said that Jewish settlement complicates the process of building a Palestinian state. Maxwell Gaylard, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, reiterated the UN position that settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal. "We don't only call for an end to settlement construction, we want them not to be in the Palestinian territories," Palestinian official news agency, Wafa, quoted Gaylard as saying, following a tour in the West Bank city of Nablus. » Read more

Hamas orders male hairstylists out of lady salons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press February 21, 2011 - 1:00am A Gaza rights group says the ruling Hamas militant group has barred male hairdressers from working in women's salons. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said Monday that five male hairdressers were interrogated and forced to sign declarations that they wouldn't work in women's salons. Male hairdressers for women are rare in conservative Gaza where genders rarely mix in public. Hamas tried to impose a similar ban last March, but backed down after an outcry. » Read more

Israeli official warns over probe of leftist groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 21, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein said on Sunday that a planned Knesset parliament vote to set up a probe of funding sources of left-wing NGO's could violate basic human rights. The Knesset is set to vote next week whether or not to establish two inquiries panels to run such an investigation. » Read more

Israel, US successfully test Arrow missile ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Matti Friedman - February 22, 2011 - 1:00am Israel and the U.S. carried out a successful test of the Arrow anti-missile system off the coast of California, Israel's Defense Ministry said Tuesday. Israel's Defense Ministry said the Arrow detected, intercepted and destroyed a target missile launched from an offshore platform inside a U.S. Navy firing range in a test carried out late Monday. Tuesday's statement said the trial, the latest in a series of successful tests of the system, "provides confidence in operational Israeli capabilities to defeat the developing ballistic missile threat." » Read more

Palestinians will not spurn US despite veto - Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters February 19, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he would continue to cooperate with the United States despite Washington's veto of a U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements on occupied land. "We do not seek to boycott the American administration and it is not in our interest to boycott anyone," Abbas told Palestinian Wafa news agency in Ramallah. Abbas later told George Mitchell, the U.S. Middle East envoy, in a telephone call that he remained committed to the peace process with Israel, Wafa reported. » Read more

Fayyad: US veto obstructed Palestinian efforts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 22, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian Authority Prime Minster Salam Fayyad on Sunday said the US veto of a UN anti-settlement resolution was a clear obstruction to Palestinian efforts to end Israel's occupation. All 14 other Security Council member states voted in favor of the resolution condemning illegal settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land. US President Barack Obama's administration used its veto to torpedo the motion after Obama failed to convince President Mahmoud Abbas to abandon the resolution in a last minute appeal. » Read more

Novelist Ian McEwan criticizes Jewish settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press February 20, 2011 - 1:00am Renowned British novelist Ian McEwan has accepted an Israeli literary prize in Jerusalem with harsh criticism of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. At an acceptance ceremony for the Jerusalem Prize, McEwan praised Israel's technological and artistic advances but asked: "Where is Israel's political creativity?" He criticized Israel's 1967 annexation of east Jerusalem, the part Palestinians claim as the capital of a future state. McEwan is the author of the best-selling book Atonement and has won numerous literary prizes for his books. » Read more

Top Netanyahu aide quits after reported jobs row ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters February 20, 2011 - 1:00am A senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned on Sunday after reports of a high-level dispute over whether he would be named the Jewish state's next ambassador to Britain. Uzi Arad, a former Mossad agent and ex-leader of a prestigious Israeli think-tank on foreign policy, asked to step down as national security adviser, "so that he could return to academia," a statement from Netanyahu's bureau said. » Read more

Hamas pours scorn on Fatah call for unity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from February 22, 2011 - 1:00am Hamas on Monday shrugged off calls for reconciliation with Fatah, saying its secular rival must prove its seriousness by freeing prisoners. "These declarations lack seriousness and credibility, they make no sense in light of the continued arrests and torture [of Hamas members] in Fatah prisons in the West Bank," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, in response to an appeal by Fatah for the two factions to start talking. » Read more