October 1st, 2012

PA finance ministry to cut fuel prices from Oct. 1 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 1, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Ministry of Finance announced Sunday that fuel prices are set to be reduced, a statement said. The price cuts, which will be implemented on Oct. 1, will see a liter of diesel reduced from 6.95 shekels ($1.77) to 6.70 ($1.70). A liter of benzene will now cost 7.60 shekels ($1.93), down from 7.98 shekels ($2), and a 12kg canister of domestic-use gas will be reduced to 64 shekels ($16), down from 65. » Read more

Electricity company: Govt bodies have not paid bills ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 1, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Some Palestinian Authority government institutions have not paid their electricity bills for more than two years, the head of the indebted Jerusalem electricity company has revealed. The company, which supplies power to Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Jericho, still owes its Israeli supplier around 300 million shekels ($76 million), Director-General Hisham al-Umari told Ma'an on Sunday. The Israeli company has repeatedly postponed threats to cut power supplies. » Read more

Activists: Now, yes now, is the time for US to push for MidEast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor by Ariel Zirulnick - September 28, 2012 - 12:00am Cambridge, Mass. A major Israeli-Palestinian activist group is bucking conventional wisdom by arguing that now is the right time to engage Americans in the moribund Middle East peace process. The presidential campaign season is traditionally a terrible time to make any progress on foreign policy, especially during elections focused on pocketbook issues. » Read more

Daystar, TBN ready for Messiah in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - October 1, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — If the Messiah descends from the Mount of Olives as foretold in the Bible, America's two biggest Christian broadcasters are well-positioned to cover it live thanks to recent acquisitions of adjacent Jerusalem studios on a hill overlooking the Old City. » Read more

False Prophecy and Real History in the Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation by Norman Birnbaum - (Opinion) September 24, 2012 - 12:00am Kabuki theater, with its extremely stylized dramaturgy, and the Yiddish stage, with its lachrymose realism, are rarely joined. The Democratic National Convention succeeded, however, in fusing the two. A platform insertion terming Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel was gaveled through by a visibly unhappy mayor of Los Angeles, reportedly at the insistence of the White House, which sought to silence Republican charges that the administration is disloyal to our unruly client state. » Read more

Israel frees two Hamas lawmakers in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 30, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Israeli authorities on Sunday released two lawmakers in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in the West Bank. » Read more

Palestinian official criticizes U.S. position on U.N. recognition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - September 28, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank -- A Palestinian official Friday criticized President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for opposing Palestinians' bid for statehood recognition in the United Nations, and failing to give the issue more attention in their speeches this week before the international body. » Read more

The deeply disturbing Israel court ruling on Rachel Corrie ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Seattle Times by Cindy Corrie - (Opinion) September 29, 2012 - 12:00am LAST month, in a deeply disturbing ruling, an Israeli court dismissed the civil lawsuit brought by my family against the state of Israel for the wrongful death of my daughter Rachel Corrie. Born and raised in Olympia, Rachel was a human-rights defender and peace activist killed in 2003 by an armored Israeli military bulldozer as she stood for hours, visibly and nonviolently protesting the Israeli government’s policy of civilian home demolitions in Rafah, Gaza. » Read more

Vote on UN bid of recognizing Palestinian as non-member state to be "very soon": official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 30, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official on Sunday said that the vote on the bid of recognizing Palestinian as a non-member state by the United Nations will be "very soon." Chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, told Xinhua that the Palestinian delegation in New York began its contacts and consultations with Arab and foreign countries. » Read more

Gazans call on Egypt not to destroy tunnels ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 30, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinian notables and community leaders demonstrated on Sunday at the borderline area between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, calling on Egypt not to destroy dozens of smuggling tunnels. » Read more