October 22nd, 2012

Qatar's emir to head to Hamas-ruled Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - October 21, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The ruler of Qatar is expected in the Gaza Strip this week, in what would be a major stamp of legitimacy for the territory's Islamic militant Hamas rulers. » Read more

Israel's Netanyahu: no limit on Jerusalem building ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press October 21, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister vowed on Sunday to continue building in east Jerusalem, despite objections from Palestinians who claim the territory as capital of their hoped-for state. » Read more

Palestinians: Israeli airstrike kills 2 Gazans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press October 22, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli aircraft struck the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, killing two Palestinian militants, after mortar attacks targeted Israeli troops earlier in the day, officials said. » Read more

Israel Seizes Activist Ship en Route to Gaza Strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - October 20, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli Navy on Saturday seized a European ship headed to the Gaza Strip to try to break Israel’s maritime blockade against the Hamas-controlled region and diverted it to an Israeli port. » Read more

Analysts: Despite Hamas absence, elections still Fatah failure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 22, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The first elections held in the West Bank for six years reflect how frustrated Palestinians are with their political system and ruling party Fatah, political observers said Sunday. The poll was held on Saturday in 92 of the 353 municipalities in the West Bank. Other seats were uncontested, creating automatic winners, or failed to register any candidates in this round, and will hold polls next month. » Read more

Civic Duty and Economic Worries Drive Palestinian Voters in Parts of West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - October 21, 2012 - 12:00am AL BIREH, West Bank — More than half the Palestinians who participated in municipal elections on Saturday said they did so because they saw voting as a civic duty, twice the portion giving the next most popular reason. » Read more

Mixed Results for Fatah Amid Low Turnout in Municipal Elections in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Jodi Rudoren - October 20, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — The dominant Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority posted mixed results in municipal elections across the West Bank on Saturday, winning in some key cities and losing in others, but with the whole exercise appearing compromised by a relatively low turnout. » Read more

October 19th

Don't Neglect an Israeli-Palestinian Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Paul Pillar - (Opinion) October 18, 2012 - 12:00am Leon Hadar in these spaces has commended as a “sensible stance” toward the Israeli-Palestinian a policy, enunciated by a prominent American politician, that “we sort of live with it, and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it.” Hadar criticizes “some self-proclaimed foreign-policy realists,” implying that their belief that “Washington can and ought to help make peace between Israelis and Palestinians” somehow contradicts realist criticisms of neocon ambitions to remake the Middle » Read more

The Jewish refugee, hypothetically speaking ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Dmitry Shumsky - (Opinion) October 18, 2012 - 12:00am Let's consider the following hypothetical scenario: At the end of World War I the Allied Powers decide to offer national self-determination to the Arab entity of the Ottoman Empire, and give their blessing to the founding of a single, broad Arab state in the region. Immediately upon establishment, this new state halts Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel and begins a relentless persecution of the local Zionism movement, claiming that it threatens to rip the historic land from the Islamic nation.   » Read more

The Nakba, Then and Now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Raja Shehadeh - (Editorial) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am LYDDA, Israel — Last Friday, some 40 Israeli Jews and Arabs gathered in Lydda, a small mixed Arab-Israeli city less than 10 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, for “a study tour” featuring “Zionist testimonies from 1948.” It was part of the project Towards a Common Archive, sponsored by Zochrot (Hebrew for remembering), an Israeli organization that hopes to bring “awareness and recognition of the Nakba” to Jewish Israelis so that they can take “responsibility for this tragedy.” » Read more