Jenin: Israeli forces herd men into town square
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces carried out a wide-scale detention campaign east of Jenin overnight Wednesday, targeting young men in the village of Deir Abu Daif. Israel's military said 15 were detained from across the West Bank, but local sources said troops seized 20 men during the raid. Thirteen were released by Thursday morning, according to locals.

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Report: Barghouti to be freed only if deported
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roee Nahmias - December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Will Israel free Marwan Barghouti but keep him away from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ? London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper on Wednesday quoted sources involved in the negotiations for a prisoner exchange deal as saying that Israel was willing to discuss the release – and deportation – of the former Tanzim secretary-general in the West Bank. According to the sources, the talks on Barghouti are still going on, but if Israel insists on deporting him from the West Bank, it will be entirely up to him.

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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.


Peres accuses Hamas of holding up Shalit deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

President Shimon Peres accused Hamas on Wednesday of holding up a deal for the release of Gilad Shalit, amid reports that talks have hit a snag over 50 prisoners whom Israel refuses to free in return for the abducted Israeli soldier. "The delay is not caused by the Israeli government but rather by the other side - there are internal disagreements within Hamas," Army Radio quoted Peres as saying in speech to students at Kibbutz Yotveta.

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Israel Arrests Settlers Fighting Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

EFRAT, West Bank — The Israeli police made their first arrests on Wednesday as part of the state’s effort to enforce a temporary construction freeze in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, briefly detaining the mayor of a settler council and at least two Jewish protesters. Both sides are trying hard to show how determined they are — the state in enforcing the moratorium, and the settlers in thwarting the state’s plans.

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David Makovsky / Obama and Netanyahu: Lessons of 2009
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by David Makovsky - (Opinion) December 1, 2009 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON - The announcement of a moratorium on building in the settlements ends the first chapter of U.S.-Israel relations during the Obama era. There are lessons for all. The move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is clearly a bid to improve U.S.-Israel relations as much as it is an effort to restart negotiations with the Palestinians. It may also be a counterbalance toward Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, against a potential prisoner swap with Hamas for Gilad Shalit.

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Editor's Notes: Salam Fayyad builds Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

To one side stood Sen. Joe Lieberman, the former vice presidential candidate. To the other stood Rep. Howard Berman, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And as these two staunch Jewish supporters of Israel nodded their encouragement, the Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister Salam Fayyad explained at a press conference in Ramallah on Sunday precisely how he was preparing the Palestinians for statehood.

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USA steps in, expresses concern over Israeli arrest of PA officers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 20, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli forces detained six Palestinians from Nablus and Salfit overnight including the commander and four officers of the Palestinian Authority Intelligence Services. High-level negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli officials have been ongoing since dawn in an effort to have the men released, with American officials entering the debate shortly after 11am local time, expressing "concern" over the Israeli actions, reportedly approved by Israeli government officials before the raids took place, Palestinian security sources said.

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CIA launches TV campaign to recruit Arab-Americans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

There's a swirl of activity in a spacious, modern kitchen as final meal preparations are made. An older man tries to swipe a felafel off an appetizer plate but instead gets a loving hand slap from a woman. The happy, well-dressed guests move to a table full of food in a dining room adorned with Middle Eastern wall-hangings.

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Israeli warplanes strike Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

Gaza/Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli warplanes bombed the Gaza Strip in three locations early on Thursday, according to the country’s military and Palestinians in the coastal Strip. A military spokesperson said the strikes targeted a “weapons manufacturing facility in the southern Gaza Strip and two smuggling tunnels in the Rafah border area.” Sources in Gaza confirmed that two tunnels were bombed, in addition to a facility said to be operated by Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.

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