May 30th

Palestinians see 'sharp increase' in demolitions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jon Donnison - May 29, 2012 - 12:00am "Wood-fired barbecue was our speciality. Delicious," says Ramzi Kasiyah as he picks his way gingerly over a pile of rubble and twisted metal. Broken glass crackles under his feet. "We had a beautiful terrace. Now I have nothing." Up until a few weeks ago Ramzi was the proud owner of the Palestinian Al Mukhrur restaurant just outside Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Now he presides over what looks like a bomb site, a grey scar in a beautiful, small valley, still lush from the winter's rains. » Read more

No charges on 'racist' King's Torah text ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - May 30, 2012 - 12:00am Israel's Attorney General has decided not to prosecute two rabbis who wrote a controversial religious text proposing circumstances in which it is permissible to kill non-Jews even if they pose no direct physical threat of violence. » Read more

Court determines Teitel murdered Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Joanna Paraszczuck - May 29, 2012 - 12:00am The Jerusalem District Court on Monday approved an unusual plea bargain made between the district attorney and lawyers representing Jack Teitel, and determined that the defendant had murdered two Palestinians and committed other violent crimes. Judges Segal, Moshe Hacohen and Moshe Yair Drori said that the court determined that Teitel committed the acts attributed to him in an amended indictment. » Read more

Kadima MK: Send human rights activists to prison camps ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Omri Efraim - May 29, 2012 - 12:00am If given the opportunity, some Israeli human rights groups "would be the first to put haredim and settlers on buses and transfer them," Knesset Member Yulia Shamalov Berkovich said Tuesday during a heated House Committee debate of on the influx of foreign migrants into the country. » Read more

Palestinians to ask UN to recognize West Bank village as World Heritage site ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - May 30, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority is expected to ask UNESCO on Wednesday to recognize the West Bank village of Batir as a World Heritage site and prevent the construction of the separation fence there. Haaretz has obtained a copy of the request, which seeks to preserve the village's ancient agricultural terraces.

Israel to return 91 bodies on Thursday ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 30, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority civil affairs minister said late Tuesday that Israel will return the bodies of 91 Palestinians buried in an Israeli cemetery on Thursday. Hussein al-Sheikh released a list of names agreed with Israel, whose remains will now be handed to the PA in what the minister described as the first stage of the return of 100 Palestinians. The hand-over of Palestinian remains was promised on May 14 by Ofir Gendelman, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as a "gesture" to President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Gaza journalist wins courage award ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 26, 2012 - 12:00am Gaza journalist Asma al-Ghoul has won an international award for courage in journalism, the International Women’s Media Foundation said. Al-Ghoul, 30, was awarded the 2012 IWMF prize alongside female journalists Reeyot Alemu from Ethiopia, Khadija Ismayilova from Azerbaijan and Zubeida Mustafa from Pakistan. She has worked for Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam and her popular blog, AsmaGaza, was discontinued in February for unstated reasons. » Read more

Israeli PM calls on Palestinians to "give peace a chance" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua May 30, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said he would like to restart the peace negotiations with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), but only if there is an answer from the Palestinian side. Speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Netanyahu blamed the PNA for the breakdown of negotiations and said that in spite of Israel's approach, peace is not "always reciprocated." » Read more

Israel gas finds launch navy into troubled waters ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Dan Williams - May 29, 2012 - 12:00am When Israeli economists contemplate their country's untapped natural gas finds far out in the Mediterranean, they dream of energy independence and lucrative export deals. Those charged with Israel's defence, however, worry that the navy - small and long a middling priority in budgets - may be hard put to protect the multinational drilling platforms and rigs out at sea. » Read more

Shuffling Through an Underground Artery to Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ruqaya Izzidien - May 29, 2012 - 12:00am They stood just outside the gates of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza, a couple of inconspicuous Bedouin men waiting for people to be denied entry. As the disappointed travelers retreated, the Bedouins whispered from behind the gates: “You want to go to the tunnels? Fifty dollars.” Their gaze fixed on the Egyptian border police officers, who turn a blind eye to the Bedouins so long as they do not mention the tunnels within earshot. » Read more