December 8th

Medics: 3 injured by Israeli shelling in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Israeli tank shelling injured three Palestinians Wednesday east of Gaza City, medics said. The three hurt in the incident, near the Karni crossing, were not identified. An Israeli military spokesman said that "an IDF force fired tank rounds toward a number of suspicious individuals who approached the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. "The men were approaching the fence with the intention of planting explosive devices," he added. "The force confirmed that the suspects had been hit and there were no injuries to IDF soldiers."

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UN concerned over closure of Gaza NGO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The United Nations expressed concern Tuesday over Hamas authorities' closure of the Sharek Youth Forum, a large independent NGO in Gaza. "I am very concerned about the recent forced closing of Sharek Youth Forum in Gaza. Sharek is an important NGO partner of the United Nations in its work on behalf of children and the youth in Gaza," said Maxwell Gaylard, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the Palestinian territories.

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US admits defeat on Israeli settlement freeze. Can it still broker peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The US admission that it has given up on securing an Israeli settlement freeze, coupled with Latin American's growing support for Palestinian statehood – with or without a peace deal – has pushed the faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process to the brink. Late yesterday, a senior US diplomat said that the Obama administration, which had made a settlement freeze the kingpin of its peacemaking efforts, had dropped its bid to secure a second moratorium from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose right-wing coalition partners had strongly opposed such a measure.

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U.S. abandons push for renewal of Israeli settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Karen Deyoung - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The Obama administration has abandoned its effort to persuade Israel to renew a settlement construction freeze, which U.S. diplomats had hoped would invigorate moribund peace talks with the Palestinians. With senior Israeli and Palestinian negotiators scheduled to hold talks in Washington next week, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton due to deliver a major Middle East speech Friday, it was unclear what direction the administration's policy will now take.

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U.S. Drops Bid to Sway Israel on Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

After three weeks of fruitless haggling with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Obama administration has given up its effort to persuade the Israeli government to freeze construction of Jewish settlements for 90 days, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The decision leaves Middle East peace talks in flux, with the Palestinians refusing to resume direct negotiations absent a moratorium, and the United States struggling to find another formula to bring them back to the table. It is another setback in what has proved to be a star-crossed campaign by President Obama.

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December 7th

Israel is upset of series of diplomatic recognitions of Palestine by Latin American states and says it damages the prospects for peace. 20 international diplomats attend a hearing for a leader of Palestinian nonviolent process. A Hamas court orders the execution of an alleged collaborator. A group of leading Israeli rabbis says land should not be sold or rented to non-Jews. A Palestinian blogger who has been arrested but not charged apologizes for blasphemous remarks. Pres. Abbas says dissolving the PA is not an option. Fatah and Hamas bicker over new reconciliation talks. Akiva Eldar says European aid over the fire proves that their boycotts are indeed against the occupation and not Israel. Gershon Baskin says the occupation is a much bigger threat than any fire. Palestinians discuss establishing a US lobby group. Hussein Ibish says the struggle over a Palestinian road in Area C is an indication of how state building confronts the occupation.

Jailed Palestinian atheist sorry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Diaa Hadid - December 7, 2010 - 1:00am

A Palestinian atheist jailed for more than a month for sharing his anti-Islam views on the Internet has apologized for offending Muslims, and a Palestinian military spokesman said he expected "positive" developments in the case. Rights groups have criticized his arrest as a demonstration of the limits on free speech under the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which has trawled Internet sites like Facebook as part of a crackdown on dissent and unpopular views.

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Top Israel rabbis: Don't sell property to non-Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Amy Teibel - December 7, 2010 - 1:00am

Three dozen top Israeli rabbis threw their support Tuesday behind a religious ruling barring Jews from selling or renting homes to non-Jews — an indication of growing radicalism within the rabbinical community at a time of mounting friction between Israeli Arabs and Jews.

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Israel upset by Argentina Palestinian recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Daniel Estrin - December 7, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel expressed disappointment Tuesday with Argentina's recognition of a Palestinian state in territories Israel occupied in 1967, saying they undercut American-led efforts to create such a state through negotiations with Israel. Argentina said its move, announced Monday just days after Brazil took a similar step, reflected the country's deep frustration with gridlocked peace efforts. But Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said unilateral recognition was "counterproductive" to peacemaking.

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Hamas court orders execution of 'collaborator'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 7, 2010 - 1:00am

A Gaza military court has convicted three men of collaborating with Israel, sentencing one to death and two more to prison terms, the Hamas interior ministry said on Monday. "The military court handed down a death sentence against one collaborator with the occupation, and prison terms of seven years and three years for two other collaborators," the ministry said in a statement. No additional details on the men were provided.

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