Palestinians humiliated by their own
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) July 3, 2012 - 12:00am

The security men delivered a beating like there was no tomorrow, as if they were defending their lives. No, it wasn't the riot police in Tel Aviv, but rather the Palestinian police in Ramallah. On Saturday, cautiously and moderately in comparison with their Israeli counterparts, and again on Sunday with mounting brutality, the Palestinian police tried to prevent a small group of demonstrators from advancing on the grand presidential compound, the Muqata.

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PLO: Hamas pull-out from voter registration 'unjustifiable'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 3, 2012 - 12:00am

PLO officials gathered in Ramallah on Monday evening to discuss Hamas' decision to suspend voter registration in the Gaza Strip earlier in the day. Electoral officials were set to start registration on Tuesday, the first time rolls have been updated in Gaza since 2005. The meeting in the West Bank, headed by Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas, called the move an "unjustifiable decision which contradicts with all agreements reached in Cairo and Doha."

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Palestinians take anti-Oslo protest to Abbas HQ
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Hundreds of demonstrators marched on the offices of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to protest against diplomatic contacts with Israel and to denounce police violence at a previous rally. Chanting for an end to the Oslo accords, which were meant to pave the way to permanent peace with Israel, the flag-waving crowd cut through Ramallah's crammed city centre under the watchful eye of scores of plainclothes security officers.

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Palestinians detain dozens in weapons crackdown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub - July 2, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian self-rule government has detained some 200 people, including security officers, in recent weeks in the biggest crackdown on illegal weapons in the West Bank in five years, a spokesman said Monday. Officials say the campaign is unusual because it targets include alleged vigilante gunmen linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. Previously, security forces went mainly after armed supporters of rival groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

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Hamas suspends Gaza voter registration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Nidal al-Mughrabi - July 2, 2012 - 12:00am

Hamas suspended voter registration in the Gaza Strip on Monday in a setback to Palestinian plans for parliamentary and presidential elections and to forging unity with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. Hamas, the Islamist group that seized the enclave from Fatah forces in 2007, cited the continued arrest of its members in the West Bank by security forces of the Palestinian Authority, which is led by Abbas.

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PNA opens investigation into demonstrators' repression
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 2, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Monday opened an investigation into clashes between demonstrators and police in the West Bank city of Ramallah. At least 15 people were injured, including six journalists, when the PNA forces repressed demonstrations Sunday and Saturday when protestors called on President Mahmoud Abbas not to receive Israeli Deputy Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz in Ramallah. Mofaz's visit has been canceled.

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Israelis and Palestinians Share Intrigue over Cancelled Meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - (Opinion) July 1, 2012 - 12:00am

It has been almost two years since Israeli and Palestinian officials at the most senior level have sat down together. That was supposed to happen on Sunday, when Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas had invited Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz to come to Ramallah. But that meeting was called off after a series of domestic events in Israel and the Palestinian Authority made it impossible.

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Poll: Barghouti would defeat Abbas and Haniyeh in vote for Palestinian president
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' popularity has dropped significantly in the last three months, while support for Hamas has risen, according to a new poll released on Wednesday. The poll circulated by Khalil Shikaki's Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that if Abbas were to contend against Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for the Palestinian Presidency, he would win approximately 49 percent of the vote, while the latter would secure 44 percent.

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Palestinians' enforcers work together 'to crush dissent'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH // One is a longtime friend of the Palestinian president and stalwart of the powerful Fatah political faction. The other is a high-profile lawyer who once was officially rebuked for corruption. Together, Rafiq Alnatsheh and Ahmad Al Mughani are the face of Palestinian Authority (PA) justice.

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Palestinian Authority arrests more than 100 following death of Jenin governor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

Many family members of detainees from the Jenin refugee camp have been having trouble sleeping in recent weeks. Not because of their relatives held in Israeli prisons but rather because of their relatives held in Palestinian Authority prisons, and mainly because of rumors - which have been confirmed - of torture at the Preventative Security detention facility in Jericho.

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