Hamas chief to make first visit to Gaza on Friday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal al-Mughrabi - December 5, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal will make his first visit to the Gaza Strip on Friday to attend the Palestinian Islamist group's 25th anniversary rally, Hamas sources said on Wednesday.

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How Obama Can Get Tough With Bibi
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) December 5, 2012 - 1:00am

Recently, the European Union adopted harsh new Iran sanctions, strongly supported by Israel. Shortly thereafter, Israel announced new East Jerusalem settlement construction. The EU’s top official Catherine Ashton, who was about to visit Israel, condemned the announcement in measured terms; Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, publicly told her, in effect, to shove it.

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Merkel to warn Netanyahu: Promote peace process or face world seclusion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - December 5, 2012 - 1:00am

With Israel and European Union states embroiled in a diplomatic crisis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday night in Berlin.

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Senate amendment penalizing Palestinians for U.N. status does not pass
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
December 5, 2012 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A U.S. Senate amendment that would have penalized Palestinians for seeking non-member state status at the United Nations was not attached to its intended law.

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Israel, Palestinians escalate settlement showdown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - December 5, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Palestinians and Israelis hardened their positions Wednesday over a contentious new settlement push around Jerusalem, with Israel going full throttle on plans to develop the area and the Palestinians trying to block it through an appeal to the U.N. Security Council.

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PA to use new UN status to create 'international front'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – The Palestinian Authority will seek to take advantage of the qualitative support by some European countries against Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territory through creating an international front to urge countries to take more strict positions against Israel, says the Palestinian minister of foreign affairs.

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Israel takes a harder line
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
(Editorial) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am

When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would seek recognition from the United Nations for a Palestinian state, Israel complained that Abbas should have pursued that objective in face-to-face peace negotiations and warned of grave consequences, threatening to expand

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Cheering U.N. Palestine Vote, Synagogue Tests Its Members
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Joseph Berger, Sharon Otterman - December 4, 2012 - 1:00am

Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, a large synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is known for its charismatic rabbis, its energetic and highly musical worship, and its liberal stances on social causes.

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Palestinian war crimes case faces long road
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - December 4, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Days after winning upgraded status at the United Nations, the Palestinians are threatening to join the world's first permanent war crimes court and pursue charges against the Israelis.

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Israel faces lowest point in Europe relations in decades
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor
by Christa Case Bryant - December 4, 2012 - 1:00am

Jerusalem-The unusually strong European rebuke of Israel’s plans to tighten its grip on land sought for a Palestinian state marks at least a 30-year low point in relations, say Israeli foreign policy scholars. While the nature of Europe’s complaint is not new, the tone reflects both heightened urgency about salvaging the two-state solution, and accumulated impatience with a government seen as diplomatically tone deaf.

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