PLO: If Netanyahu wants our holy sites, he can't have peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

The Executive Committee of the PLO will not support talks with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu government in light of its decision to declare sites in Palestinian areas "Israeli heritage sites," the body announced after a meeting Wednesday. "We will reject any kind of negotiations, even indirect talks," Secretary General of the PLO body Yasser Abed Rabbo said after the meeting in Ramallah.

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US slams Israel over designating heritage sites
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

The Obama administration criticized Israel for designating two shrines on Palestinian territory as Israeli national heritage sites. The criticism came as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she hopes long-stalled peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians will resume. Clinton told a congressional committee that groundwork is being laid to restart the talks with the help of US envoy George Mitchell. She did not say exactly when the negotiations might resume, but her remarks come amid a flurry of US diplomatic activity in the region.

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March to mark Goldstein massacre
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Greer Fay Cashman, Yaakov La, Tovah Lazaroff - February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

Amid heightened tensions in Hebron, Palestinians plan to march in the city on Thursday, to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the Baruch Goldstein massacre. On February 25, 1994, the Israeli American physician killed 29 Muslims who were praying at the mosque that is part of the Cave of the Patriarchs complex. He wounded another 150 before being beaten to death. The march comes after the cabinet on Sunday added the Cave of the Patriarchs to the list of Jewish heritage sites marked for renovation and preservation.

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More Clashes Over Israeli Claim to Shrine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - February 25, 2010 - 1:00am

Dozens of Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli forces for a fourth day on Thursday at various locations in this volatile city over the inclusion of a hotly contested religious shrine here, the Cave of the Patriarchs, in a list of places earmarked for renovation as Jewish heritage sites.

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ATFP Senior Fellow Gives Graduate Seminar at Georgetown
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - February 22, 2010 - 1:00am

ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish lectured at a graduate seminar at Georgetown University on Islam, perceptions of Islam and Islamophobia in the United States on February 16, 2010. Ibish gave the Georgetown graduate students a brief rundown on the essential elements of the Islamic faith, but concentrated most of his talk on the evolution of Western perceptions of Islam and Muslims.


Jordan condemns Israel's plans to annex West Bank sites
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 22, 2010 - 1:00am

Jordan on Monday condemned Israel's plans to annex historical sites located in the West Bank to its heritage list, the state-run Petra news agency reported. On Sunday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau announced that Israel would annex Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi and Rachel's Tomb in Hebron in the West Bank. Al Haram Al Ibrahimi is one of the holiest shrines in Islam and Rachel's Tomb is known to the Muslim world as Belal Mosque. The two sites are scared to both Jews and Muslims.

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UN official "concerned" as Palestinians outraged over West Bank shrines
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 22, 2010 - 1:00am

A senior UN official on Monday voiced his concern over the Israeli government's decision to include two West Bank shrines into the Jewish state's list of heritage sites. In a statement sent to the media, Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said he was " concerned" since the two sites are located "in occupied Palestinian territory and are of historical and religious significance not only to Judaism but also to Islam, and to Christianity as well."

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Palestinian Christian priests call for non-violent resistance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - February 11, 2010 - 1:00am

The voice of Father Jamal Khader coming over the waves of Radio Mawwal in Bethlehem was soothing and confident. A caller asked him to explain the words of Jesus, “to love your enemy”, in light of the occupation and walls built by Israel and the injustice against Palestinians. Father Khader, who was being interviewed along with Rifaat Kassis, the coordinator of a new initiative by 16 Jerusalem-based Christian leaders, said that Christians are committed to these words without reservation.

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An ‘Israeli Remix’ of a Palestinian Scarf
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Robert Mackey - (Blog) February 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Two years ago, under pressure from conservative bloggers, Dunkin’ Donuts called off an ad campaign featuring Rachael Ray because she was photographed wearing a black and white scarf that looked like a keffiyeh. One of the bloggers, the conservative columnist Michelle Malkin, argued that the scarf was inappropriate because “the keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad.”

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Mixed Views of Hamas and Hezbollah in Largely Muslim Nations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Pew Research Center
February 4, 2010 - 1:00am

Across predominantly Muslim nations, there is little enthusiasm for the extremist Islamic organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, although there are pockets of support for both groups, especially in the Middle East.

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