December 8th

Palestinian leadership turns to UN to halt Jewish settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
December 8, 2011 - 1:00am


RAMALLAH, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) decided Wednesday to apply to the United Nations to freeze Jewish settlement activities. After a meeting in Ramallah, the PLO executive committee announced that it will go to the UN Security Council and the General Assembly to force Israel to commit to the two-state solution and stop settlement construction.


Israel OKs new settler homes in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 8, 2011 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel has approved construction of a new Jewish enclave in the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood of annexed East Jerusalem, state-owned Channel One TV reported Wednesday. The channel said the 14-home project, to be named Maale David, was approved late Wednesday by the Jerusalem city council's planning committee and was likely to spark fresh international condemnation of Israel's settlements policy. It is to be sited in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, near an existing Jewish settlement of 1,000 people, the report said.


Israel hands confiscation, demolition orders in Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 8, 2011 - 1:00am


HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces handed confiscation orders to ten landowners in villages near Hebron on Thursday, locals told Ma'an. The troops also handed demolition orders for 14 houses in southern Hebron village Susiya, residents said. Israeli authorities told four landowners in Surif village, which neighbors Susiya, that their land would be seized. The lands belong to Ismael Musa Othman Ighnnimat, Atef Atallah Ibrahim Ighnimat, Mohammad Abdullah Ahmad al-Qadi, and Mohammad Ibrahim al-Hour, a Ma'an reporter said.


Medics: 2 killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 8, 2011 - 1:00am


GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- An Israeli airstrike killed two people in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics and security officials said. Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said two people died and two others were wounded after the explosion, which witnesses said hit a car parked near Omar al-Mukhtar street. A Ma'an reporter named those killed as Issam Subhi al-Batsh and Subhi Alaa al-Batsh.


In subtle messages, Palestinians promote statehood bid in Christmas celebrations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
December 8, 2011 - 1:00am


BETHLEHEM, West Bank — At Christmas time the world looks to Jesus’ traditional birthplace of Bethlehem, and this year the Palestinians hope to use some of that attention to boost their quest for independence. They’re trying to be subtle about it, with just a hint of politics in this year’s Christmas slogan, “Palestine celebrating hope,” a veiled reference to their bid this fall to win U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state.


Hamas uncertainty as Syria slides closer to civil war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Bill Law - December 8, 2011 - 1:00am


The unrest in Syria has raised serious questions over whether the political leadership of the militant Islamist group Hamas can remain in Damascus. However, the group's options are limited. The assumption that Hamas is poised to exit its headquarters in Damascus and sees Cairo as a likely new home may be based more on wishful thinking than fact. Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant Islamist organisation, was formed in 1987 at the beginning of the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israel's occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.


December 7th

NEWS: Israel expels a Hamas leader from occupied East Jerusalem. Settlers are accused of torching another West Bank mosque. Fatah officials say no elections can be held before a national unity government is formed. An Israeli NGO says it's almost impossible for Palestinians to successfully pursue claims against occupation forces. Israeli troops kill a Palestinian militant in Gaza, and arrest 21 Palestinians in the West Bank. Quartet representatives will meet in Jerusalem next week.Though he has strongly denied it, some reports suggest PM Fayyad may be mulling a run for president. The British advertising oversight board has censured the PLO mission over maps not including Israel. Tensions are running high at a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon after a violent incident.Politico looks at increasing criticism of Israel's policies among some Washington liberal groups. COMMENTARY: Ha'aretz says Israel must stop changing the landscape of occupied East Jerusalem. Bradley Burston says a recent vote in Berkeley shows Jewish Americans are increasingly intolerant of diverse views on Israel. Chemi Shalev says by today's standards, the late Prime Minister Rabin would've been considered a dangerous heretic. The Jerusalem Post denounces recent comments by American officials about Israel, but Michael Berenbaum says criticism of Amb. Gutman and Sec. Panetta is unfair. Jonathan Guyer says a deep chill is setting into US-Israeli relations. Hugh Naylor agrees Israel is becoming dangerously isolated. Tony Karon says Israel's bellicose rhetoric towards Iran makes no sense. Mohammed Najib says Israel's control of 80% of Palestinian income in terms of tax revenues makes life impossible for the PA. Newt Gingrich says the Obama administration is “devoted to criticizing Israel.”

Why Is the Obama Administration So Devoted to Criticizing Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Human Events
by Newt Gingrich - (Opinion) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am


At a fundraiser in New York last week, President Obama said his administration “has done more in terms of the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration.” Is the President looking at the same record we are? Last week’s news abounded with evidence that his administration often coddles forces opposed to Israel’s very existence while his officials publicly brutalize Israel in the diplomatic arena.


Already having an impact
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Mohammed Najib - (Opinion) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am


The Palestinian Authority's latest financial crisis--which Palestinians widely believe was punishment for President Mahmoud Abbas' request for statehood at the United Nations in late September--has seriously impacted various sectors within the Palestinian community, including both civil sector employees and West Bank security personnel.


Israel's war drums over Iran drown out common sense
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am


It has become an article of faith among Israeli leaders and their neoconservative partners in Washington that the only way Iran can be persuaded to back down in the nuclear standoff is if Tehran believes it's in real danger of being bombed. Hence the relentless war drums pounded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak, despite the obvious misgivings of the Obama administration.



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