Hamas fighter dies in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Hamas’ armed wing said one of its members died early Wednesday during what it described as a “Jihad mission” in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. In a statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades said 37-year-old Yasser Sabri Radi, a resident of the An-Nuseirat Refugee Camp, died during the mission. The statement did not disclose further details. On Monday night a member of Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, was killed when a car exploded in the Ash-Shati Refugee Camp near Gaza City. The Israeli military said it had no connection to the blast.


Israeli settlers scuffle with govt inspectors
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 1, 2009 - 1:00am

Residents of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday scuffled with government inspectors who had come to enforce a moratorium on construction, a military official said. "There were several scuffles between residents of various Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and site inspectors," a senior military official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "But the authorities will continue to work to apply the decision."

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Tribute to Kahane planned by Israeli legislators
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Jonathan Cook - November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

A plan by right-wing legislators in Israel to commemorate the anniversary this month of the death of Meir Kahane, whose banned anti-Arab movement is classified as a terrorist organization, risks further damaging the prospects for talks between Israel and the Palestinians, US officials have warned. A move to stage the commemoration in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, is being led by Michael Ben-Ari, who was elected this year and is the first self-declared former member of Kahane's party, Kach, to become a legislator since the movement was banned 15 years ago.

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Poll: Record high support of peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
November 18, 2009 - 1:00am

According to the monthly War and Peace Index, some 75% of the Jewish public in Israel support holding peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. This marks the highest support rate recorded on the War and Peace index in recent years. Despite the optimistic numbers, the public is split vis-à-vis the demand to freeze construction in settlements in order to advance negotiations.

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To two faiths, a holy patch of land; to the world, a powder keg
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - November 17, 2009 - 1:00am

It is one of the most watched pieces of real estate in the world, 35 acres where an under-the-breath prayer or a whiff of a rumor can rouse warnings of war. In both Judaism and Islam, the area known respectively as the Temple Mount and the Noble Sanctuary is considered a formative location. Jews believe it to be the site of Solomon's Temple and key biblical events. Muslims regard it as the spot where Muhammad was brought by the angel Gabriel before embarking on a trip to heaven to visit the other prophets.

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IDF Chief Rabbi: Troops who show mercy to enemy will be 'damned'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - November 16, 2009 - 1:00am

The Israel Defense Forces' chief rabbi told students in a pre-army yeshiva program last week that soldiers who "show mercy" toward the enemy in wartime will be "damned." Brig. Gen. Avichai Rontzki also told the yeshiva students that religious individuals made better combat troops.

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Unusual Partners Study Divisive Jerusalem Site
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - November 15, 2009 - 1:00am

At the heart of this contested city, the holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, has become, for many, the epicenter of the conflict between Israel, the Palestinians and the wider Muslim world. The mere mention of the place stirs passions and memories of centuries of bloodshed. Its alternative names evoke the depth of religious devotion and the competing claims.

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Mideast radicals fill space left by peace impasse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Marjorie Olster - November 13, 2009 - 1:00am

Iran's closest allies in the Middle East are seizing on a deadlock in U.S.-backed peace efforts to try to sway a frustrated Arab world to their side.

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West Bank rabbi: Jews can kill Gentiles who threaten Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
November 9, 2009 - 1:00am

Just weeks after the arrest of alleged Jewish terrorist, Yaakov Teitel, a West Bank rabbi on Monday released a book giving Jews permission to kill Gentiles who threaten Israel. Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement, wrote in his book "The King's Torah" that even babies and children can be killed if they pose a threat to the nation. Shapiro based the majority of his teachings on passages quoted from the Bible, to which he adds his opinions and beliefs.

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Israel moves to rein in right-wing extremists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Shvut Rachel, West Bank - A US native from this isolated settlement was arrested by Israeli security services nearly a month ago amid allegations that he killed two Palestinians more than a decade ago and attempted to murder two others more recently. The local media are calling it the latest case of Jewish terrorism.

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