September 14th

Israeli Bedouin to protest anti-Islam film ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury - September 14, 2012 - 12:00am Bedouin in Israel's Negev will hold a protest march on Friday against the anti-Islam movie that has sparked a wave of demonstrations across the Muslim world. The demonstration, which is slated to leave from the mosques in the city of Rahat and will end in the center of the city, comes against the backdrop of violence in the Arab world, including in Egypt, Yemen and Libya, where U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday. The violence may have been sparked by an anti-Muslim film, "Innocence of Muslims." » Read more

Gazans join protests against anti-Muslim film ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Rushdi Abu Alouf - September 12, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA STRIP -- Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza Strip on Wednesday burned an American flag in front of the United Nations headquarters to protest a U.S. film mocking the Islamic prophet Muhammad. About 100 members of the militant group Popular Resistance Committees chanted anti-American slogans and called for the death of the California filmmaker behind the movie. “We call upon Arab and Islamic countries to expel American ambassadors until Obama administration apologizes to Muslims around the world,” said one protester, who would only identify himself as Abu Mussab. » Read more

Among the ruins of Bedouin al-Araqib ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Charlotte Alfred - September 10, 2012 - 12:00am AL-ARAQIB, Negev (Ma'an) -- Saba Ismail Araqib, heavily pregnant, strides purposefully around the ruins of her destroyed village in the Negev desert of southern Israel. "This tent was demolished a few weeks ago, and this one was my father's house," she says, gesturing to broken wooden beams and tarpaulin strewn around the dusty hill, until reaching her flattened marital home on the edge of the plateau. » Read more

Slain US envoy 'understood Palestinian situation' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by George Hale - September 14, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian negotiators on Thursday remembered US ambassador Christopher Stevens as fair-minded and described his death in Libya as a major loss for American foreign policy. Stevens, who was killed with three colleagues late Tuesday in an attack on US institutions in Benghazi, served years earlier as a political officer at the US consulate in Jerusalem. » Read more

In Israel's Tel Aviv, missiles seem like a distant notion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Anat Shalev - September 13, 2012 - 12:00am   JERUSALEM, Sep. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nobody seems to be thinking about a nuclear Iran or a possible missiles attack on the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel, this week. Everything seems normal, and mundane urban life seems to continue its daily routine in the " city that never stops." However, there is still a tangible threat of a looming war with Iran. Or at least, that is what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have tried to signal over the past few months: prepare for war. » Read more

PM: I'm not interfering in US presidential election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - September 14, 2012 - 12:00am Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu dismissed as “completely groundless” allegations he is manufacturing a crisis with US President Barack Obama just before the November 6 American election to influence the outcome in favor of Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Netanyahu, in a Rosh Hashana interview with The Jerusalem Post that will appear in full on Sunday, said his call for the United States and the international community to set red lines for Iran was not at all connected with the US political campaign. » Read more

Israeli court: Settlers can return to Hebron home ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press September 13, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — An Israeli court has ruled that Jewish settlers can return to a home in the West Bank city of Hebron from which they were evicted four years ago. The settlers claimed they had legally bought a four-story structure in Hebron, a city that has become a flashpoint in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinian owner claimed the purchase documents were forged. The settlers had to move out in 2008. » Read more

September 13th

Liberman calls Abbas a 'liar, a coward and a wimp' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - September 13, 2012 - 12:00am Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman kept up his campaign against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, calling him a "liar, coward and wimp" who would quit if he had any modicum of self-respect. Liberman, who last month sent a letter to the Quartet calling for Abbas' replacement, said at a briefing with reporters that the PA leader neither represents anyone nor controls anything. He repeated his charge in the letter to the Quartet that Abbas was engaged in diplomatic terrorism, which he said was even worse than conventional terrorism. » Read more

For first time, Israeli state agency opposes segment of West Bank separation fence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Zafrir Rinat - September 13, 2012 - 12:00am The Israel Nature and Parks Authority has reneged on its consent to construction of the separation fence near the Palestinian village of Battir, south of Jerusalem. It is the first time a government agency has expressed opposition to the construction of a segment of the fence. In a document sent recently to the Defense Ministry, the INPA cited damage to the landscape and to relations with residents of the Palestinian village, and demanded that the Defense Ministry find an alternative way of ensuring security in the area. » Read more

Israel takes cut of Palestinian tax revenues ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by George Hale - September 13, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities have seized millions of shekels in tax revenue for the Palestinians to compensate for an Israeli company's unpaid electricity bills, officials said Wednesday. Finance Ministry officials say Israel kept 35 million shekels ($9 million) of the 260 million shekels ($66 million) in customs taxes it collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in September. The Israeli Ministry of Finance confirmed the deduction. » Read more