February 22nd

Shin Bet warns of increased PA security involvement in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - February 22, 2011 - 1:00am Intelligence figures in the Jerusalem District Police and the Shin Bet security service are increasingly concerned about the growing involvement of Palestinian security authorities in East Jerusalem. Recent intelligence reports suggested that militant Palestinians may be trying to prevent the operation of community centers so that young Palestinians will roam the streets and disturb the peace. In another incident, the Palestinian security forces reportedly arrested a man in connection to a dispute between neighbors. » Read more

Netanyahu should view U.S. veto at the UN as a warning ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Opinion) February 19, 2011 - 1:00am After hesitating until the very last moment, U.S. President Barack Obama decided to have his envoy veto the UN Security Council resolution condemning the settlements. The Palestinian-initiated proposal would have declared the Israeli settlement enterprise in the territories illegal. Fourteen members of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, and only the U.S. veto kept it from being passed. » Read more

The UN is ripe for advancing the Palestinian agenda ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shlomo Shamir - (Editorial) February 22, 2011 - 1:00am A new era has dawned at the United Nations with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From this point on, new, different rules will characterize discussions of the conflict in the Security Council. The most important and, from Israel's standpoint, alarming change is this: In the one UN body that has the authority to forcibly enforce resolutions, a new alignment of forces is rapidly taking shape, and a new distribution of influence is emerging between the United States and the other four members of the exclusive club of states with permanent membership and veto power. » Read more

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