April 23rd

UN: Israel displaced 67 Palestinians in a week ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 23, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel forcibly displaced 67 Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem over the last week, UN agencies said Sunday. On Wednesday, Israeli forces evicted two Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem's Beit Hanina. Jewish settlers moved into the homes the same day. Also on Wednesday, Israeli authorities destroyed the homes of seven families in al-Khalayleh in East Jerusalem, displacing them for the third time in six months. » Read more

Palestine becomes member of IMF body ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 23, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced Monday that Palestine has joined an IMF initiative to disseminate statistics to the public. Palestine became a member of the Special Data Dissemination Standard, or SDDS, on April 19, becoming the fifth Arab state to join after Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. SDDS is a standard by the International Monetary Fund to guide countries in the dissemination of national statistics to the public. Palestine's membership, listed as the West Bank and Gaza, indicates the maturity of PA institutions, Fayyad said. » Read more

EU in Jerusalem condemns eviction of Arab family ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press April 21, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The European Union has condemned an Israeli eviction of an Arab family in east Jerusalem. Israeli police evicted a family from a home in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina Wednesday. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said the property belonged to Jewish owners. The European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah issued a joint statement Saturday announcing they "are deeply concerned by the plans to build a new settlement in the midst of this traditional Palestinian neighborhood." » Read more

Military chief: Israel increases covert operations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press April 22, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's military chief of staff says he has ordered his forces to step up covert operations in enemy countries. Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz made the remarks Sunday in an interview published in Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily. "You almost won't find a point in time where something isn't happening somewhere in the world," he said. "I am escalating all those special operations." Gantz did not identify any of the countries or give any further details. He said 2012 is a critical year in the standoff between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program. » Read more

Israeli commandoes raid ship searching for arms ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ian Deitch - April 22, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israeli military officials say navy commandoes have raided a ship flying a Liberian flag on suspicion it was carrying weapons destined for anti-Israel militants. Israeli media reported the ship was searched and then released after no weapons were found. The officials said that Israeli forces boarded the vessel Sunday about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off Israel's coast. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. They said the ship was suspected of smuggling arms but would not disclose further details, calling the raid "routine." » Read more

Netanyahu downplays Egyptian natural gas cutoff ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - April 23, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in his first comments about the cutoff of Egyptian gas to Israel, played it down Monday, saying it was the result of a commercial dispute. "We don't see this gas cutoff as something that is born out of political developments," he told a group of Israel Bonds leaders on Monday. "This is actually a business dispute between the Israeli company and the Egyptian company." » Read more

Christians of the Holy Land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CBS News by Bob Simon - (Interview) April 22, 2012 - 12:00am Christianity may have been born in the Middle East, but Arab Christians have never had it easy there, especially not today. In Iraq and Egypt, scores of churches have been attacked, hundreds murdered. In Syria, revolution seriously threatens Christian communities. The one place where Christians are not suffering from violence is the Holy Land: but Palestinian Christians have been leaving in large numbers for years. » Read more

Egypt Cancels the Delivery of Gas to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David Kirkpatrick - April 22, 2012 - 12:00am CAIRO — Egypt’s state-owned natural gas company said Sunday that it was ending a deal to ship gas to Israel because of a payment dispute. Israeli officials responded by warning that the termination cast a new shadow over the bilateral peace treaty. The gas deal, signed in 2005, has become a target here in Cairo for broader resentment of the supportive relationship with Israel that was forged by Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president. » Read more

April 20th

Fewer Israelis Immigrate to U.S. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - April 19, 2012 - 12:00am The various laws of return seem to be working. Fewer Israelis are moving to the United States while a growing number of American Jews are immigrating to the Jewish state and more Israelis living abroad are making their way back home, new immigration statistics show. The numbers seem to herald a victory for Israel, which has taken bold steps to keep its citizens from moving away. But the immigration data may be more indicative of America’s economic woes than of Israel’s growing attractiveness. » Read more

Danish Protester: ‘No One Would Care if a Palestinian was hit with a Rifle’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - April 20, 2012 - 12:00am Without the video, all Andreas Ias would have to show for his weekend bicycle ride in the Jordan valley would be two stitches and a slightly swollen lower lip – plus a hardening anger about the treatment by Israeli soldiers of Palestinians. But a few seconds of footage uploaded to YouTube catapulted the 20-year-old Danish activist into the media spotlight, drew statements from the Israeli prime minister, president and chief of staff, led to the disciplining of an Israeli army officer, and prompted debate over the use of video cameras as a weapon of modern warfare. » Read more