October 2nd, 2012

Pro-settler vandals deface Jerusalem monastery ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 2, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Suspected hardline Israelis scrawled pro-settler graffiti and religious insults on a monastery outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday, police said, in the latest of a series of attacks on non-Jewish sites. The vandals wrote the phrase "price tag" in Hebrew on the gate of the Monastery of Saint Francis on Mount Zion - a reference to a violent campaign supporting unauthorised settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. » Read more

Palestinians: 2 teams to probe Arafat's death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - October 1, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank —Investigators from France and Switzerland will conduct parallel probes into the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Palestinian officials said Monday. His remains will be exhumed, at a date kept secret, to give each team a chance to draw samples to test for poisoning. The two teams are acting separately on behalf of Arafat's widow Suha Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, who each had misgivings about the other's investigation. » Read more

Official: Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Elizabeth Kennedy - October 2, 2012 - 12:00am A Lebanese security official says a Hezbollah commander and several other fighters from the militant group have been killed in Syria. The Shiite Muslim group is a strong ally of the Syrian regime. The Syrian opposition has long accused the group of assisting President Bashar Assad crack down on the 18-month-old uprising, a claim the group has denied. » Read more

US warns European governments against supporting Palestinians at UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - October 1, 2012 - 12:00am   The United States has warned European governments against supporting a Palestinian bid for enhanced status at the United Nations, saying such a move "would be extremely counterproductive" and threatening "significant negative consequences" for the Palestinian Authority, including financial sanctions. » Read more

October 1st

Hamas cracks down on saggy pants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel by Ilan Ben Zion - September 30, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas is cracking down on a new threat to the well-being of the citizens of the Gaza Strip: low-riding pants. Several Gazan teenagers from Rafah were recently arrested by Hamas police because the clothes they wore were “foreign to Palestinian society, and contradicted the culture, values, and ethical code of the Strip’s residents,” the Hebrew daily Maariv reported on Sunday. The perpetrators had adopted “Western street fashion” and wore pants that rode so low as to show their underpants. » Read more

Palestinian authority aims to securitize $200 million of debt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Martin Dokoupil, Sylvia Westall - September 30, 2012 - 12:00am KUWAIT (Reuters) - Palestinian authorities are aiming to securitize an initial $200 million of some $1.3 billion worth of government debt by the first quarter of 2013 to help reduce state borrowing from local banks, a top banker said on Sunday. » Read more

Jordan appoints new ambassador to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) September 30, 2012 - 12:00am (JTA) -- Jordan reportedly has appointed a new ambassador to Israel. The appointment late last week of career diplomat Walid Obeidat was reported by the French news service AFP and Ammon News. The position has been vacant since mid-2010, when Ali al-Ayed left to become the country's minister of media affairs. Jordan did not fill the position immediately, citing the lack of progress in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. » Read more

Yasser Arafat's exhumation may answer questions over his death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - October 30, 2012 - 12:00am Within the guarded walls of the Palestinian presidential compound, known as the Muqata, the body of Yasser Arafat lies inside a gleaming limestone and glass mausoleum. It is here that political figures, dignitaries, devotees and tourists come to pay their respects to a man who was revered and reviled across the world as the face of the Palestinian struggle for decades. » Read more

Barak: Lieberman's comments on Abbas harm Israel's interests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz September 30, 2012 - 12:00am Defense Minister Ehud Barak harshly criticized Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman over the weekend, for naming Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as “the biggest obstacle to peace.” » Read more

Poll: 72 percent plan to vote in October's local elections ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 29, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A new poll shows 72 percent of Palestinians plan to vote in elections taking place in three weeks, but supporters of Hamas are much less likely to participate in the vote, which is being boycotted by the party. In a poll published on Saturday by the Arab World for Research & Development, 85 percent said they support holding local elections, which will take place on Oct. 20 in the West Bank only. » Read more