February 29th

Hebron Funeral Becomes Target of ‘Skunk’ Weapon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel News by Elior Levy - February 29, 2012 - 1:00am A funeral in Hebron this weekend became the target of a non-fatal weapon used by security forces to disperse crowds during violent protests. The funeral began as a protest marking the Cave of Patriarchs massacre's anniversary was ending. At a certain point during the rally, which was also in protest of the closing of a street to Palestinian traffic, clashes between protesters and IDF and Border Guard forces erupted. » Read more

Israel Capable of Defending Itself Against Iranian Salvos: Defense Expert ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 29, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Arrow missile defense system is capable of protecting the Israeli territory from an Iranian missile barrage, a former Defense Ministry rocket expert told Xinhua on Wednesday. "I can say it with assurance: we built those abilities into the Arrow warhead," Uzi Rubin, the Arrow's chief developer and head of Israel's Homa (Barrier) Missile Defense Agency between 1991 and 1999, when the first version of the missile was deployed. » Read more

How Israel might strike at Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jonathan Marcus - (Analysis) February 27, 2012 - 1:00am It is this that in large part has guided the development of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) over recent years. The IAF has purchased 125 advanced F-15I and F-16I warplanes, equipped with Israeli avionics and additional fuel tanks - tailor-made for long-range strike missions. In addition, Israel has bought specialised bunker-busting munitions; developed large, long-endurance, unmanned aircraft; and much of its training has focused on long-range missions. Israel has a track-record of pre-emptive strikes against nuclear targets in the region. » Read more

Fatah: Chief Justice Dies After Raid on Home ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 29, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The chief justice of the Palestinian high religious court died Tuesday of a heart attack two days after soldiers raided his home, the Fatah movement said. Sheikh Fahmi Asaad Jaradat died after soldiers occupied his home in the northern West Bank village of Zabuba, near Jenin, and took up positions on his roof, the movement said. Fatah said it held Israel responsible for the justice's death. The funeral, according to a statement from the movement, will be on Wednesday after midday prayer. » Read more

PA: No Decision on Security Coordination ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 29, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The the Palestinian Authority's minister of civil affairs, denied on Tuesday that the government had decided to end security coordination with Israel. Hussein al-Sheikh told the PA's Voice of Palestine radio that all options were under consideration, but decisions will wait until the president returns from abroad. The minister was responding to reports that the PA is planning to reconsider its security, political and economic agreements with Israel in the coming days, as a PLO official said Sunday. » Read more

The Decade-Long Demise of Palestinian Armed Resistance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Arieh O'Sullivan - (Analysis) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am But polls show that Palestinians can quickly change their minds Despite the eruption of bloody clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem over the weekend, support by Palestinians for armed struggle against Israel has seen an unprecedented demise over the past decade, a new poll shows. » Read more

Palestinian Leadership Lobbies for UN Resolution Against Jewish Settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 29, 2012 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership has started lobbying for a United Nations resolution against the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a Palestinian official said Wednesday. "The regional and international efforts aim at mustering as much as possible support to the draft resolution," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian peace negotiator. » Read more

Then came Cast Lead in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) February 29, 2012 - 1:00am Had the Palestinians produced a film in which Israeli doctors threw a wounded Palestinian out of hospital, after which policemen dumped the injured man out of a patrol car to die in the dark, the prime minister would have denounced his subjects for inciting against their masters. » Read more

Israel Criticizes Palestinians’ Invitation to Security Council to Visit Occupied Territories ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press February 28, 2012 - 1:00am UNITED NATIONS — The Palestinians have invited the U.N. Security Council to visit the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, a move Israel says is an attempt to try to divert attention from getting back to direct negotiations to settle the decades-old conflict. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer, told reporters after a council meeting on the Mideast on Tuesday that he sent a letter inviting the 15 council members “to see with their own eyes the reality of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory” including Israel’s “illegal” settlement building. » Read more

PA: Israel Seizing Broadcast Frequencies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 29, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) – The Palestinian Authority is describing Wednesday's raids on TV networks in the occupied West Bank as the possible beginning of a "frequency war" over limited broadcasting space. The confiscation of equipment from Watan TV and Al-Quds Educational TV deprives Palestinians of their right to have frequencies for building modern wireless communication networks, the PA says. Suleiman Zuheiri, undersecretary of the Palestinian ministry of telecommunication in Ramallah, said Israel had breached Article 36 of the Oslo agreement, which requires consultations with the PA. » Read more