February 6th

PA to submit Israeli sites to World Heritage List ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - February 6, 2012 - 1:00am Failure to make progress during the latest round of talks between the Palestinians and Israel led the Palestinian leadership to examine new ways in which to gain recognition in the international arena. One such effort is focused on submitting nominations of heritage sites – both on Palestinian and Israeli territory – for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The Palestinian Authority was admitted as a full member of UNESCO in October 2011, which enables it to make bids for historic monuments and locations to be classified as World Heritage Sites. » Read more

Palestinian aids Israeli soldier left behind in raid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters February 3, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Feb 3 (Reuters) - An Israeli soldier stranded after a raid in occupied territory was escorted to safety by a Palestinian man in the same village the troops had targeted, witnesses and media reports said. The Israeli military said Friday a batallion commander had been suspended from duties for the soldier having been abandoned on enemy turf in the raid this week, an infraction which Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz saw as a "serious incident". » Read more

No Israeli Decision on Iran Attack, Obama Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Scott Shane - February 5, 2012 - 1:00am President Obama said Sunday that he did not believe Israel had made a decision on whether to attack Iran to disrupt its nuclear program and that diplomacy remained the “preferred solution” to resolving the standoff over what Western leaders believe is Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. » Read more

When Talk of War Transcends Idle Chatter ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - February 5, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Israelis like to say that when it comes to military and security operations, those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know. But the intense and increasingly public debate about whether to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities is challenging that piece of conventional wisdom. The standard view has been that successful attacks rely on secrecy and surprise, so the more talk there is about an operation, the less likely it will occur. » Read more

Final member of Damascus-based Hamas politburo leaves Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) February 5, 2012 - 1:00am A senior member of the Hamas movement politburo, Imad el-Alami, previously based in Syria, returned to the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Hamas sources said he was the last remaining member of the movement's Damascus-based politburo to leave Syria. Hamas decided to leave Syria in order not to be seen as endorsing the regime of President Bashar Assad in his bloody crackdown against his own people. » Read more

Israeli premier to visit US to address lobby ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press February 5, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says he will visit the U.S. next month for the annual conference of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby. A statement by Netanyahu's office Sunday said the prime minister would speak at the conference. It was not immediately clear if Netanyahu would meet U.S. President Obama during his visit. The visit comes at a time of deadlock in Israel-Palestinian talks and growing international concern that Israel could soon launch an attack on Iran's nuclear program. » Read more

Israel 'denied residency to thousands of Palestinians' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 6, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli policies have arbitrarily denied thousands of Palestinians the right to live in or travel to and from the West Bank and Gaza, an international rights group said Sunday. “Israel’s control over the population registry has significantly reduced the registered Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza, probably by hundreds of thousands of people,” the report by Human Rights Watch said. » Read more

Abbas to head unity government as factions sign agreement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 6, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- President Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal penned an agreement in Qatar on Monday which will see the Fatah leader head a unity government. The agreement stipulates that the current President will head an interim government to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections. It also included agreements on reforming the Palestinian National Council and activating the PLO for the next elections, Palestine TV said. » Read more

February 3rd

Tunisia as a Model ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am In early 1994, I visited Tunisia. I was sent there by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and then-foreign minister Shimon Peres to pay condolences to Yasser Arafat and the PLO leadership in the aftermath of the horrendous Hebron massacre committed by Baruch Goldstein. It was obviously not an easy trip, but an occasion for me to get acquainted for the first time with the PLO leader, and to encounter a new Arab country. It is with the latter that this article will deal. » Read more

U.S. Jews should put themselves before Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am The second-richest Jew in the world is once again in the spotlight. Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miri have together donated $10 million to Winning Our Future, the political action committee supporting Newt Gingrich's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, and the pundits are asking how one man and his wife can be allowed to sway an election with the weight of their money. » Read more