November 6th

Hamas denies preventing Fatah official from leaving Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 6, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Ministry of Interior in Gaza on Tuesday denied reports that security forces had prevented a Fatah official from leaving the Gaza Strip a day earlier, a statement said. Central committee member Amal Hamad waited at the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing for two hours before she was turned back, Fatah said on Monday.

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Teacher strike closes West Bank schools
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 6, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The teachers union undertook large scale strike action on Tuesday, forcing most schools in the West Bank to close for the day. The union had announced Saturday that it would hold half-day strikes for two weeks, blaming the Palestinian Authority government for ignoring their salary demands. Union head Muhammad Sowan had told Ma'an that school teachers would leave at 12 p.m. each day starting Sunday, and on Tuesdays teachers would not go into work at all.

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3 Israeli soldiers wounded in bombing on Gaza border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 6, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Three Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were wounded in a bombing by Palestinian militants along the southern Gaza border early Tuesday. The IDF said in a statement sent to Xinhua that one of the soldiers sustained moderate wounds and the other two were hurt lightly in the blast, which took place near Kibbutz Nirim.

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Turkish court tries Israelis in Gaza flotilla case
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
November 6, 2012 - 1:00am

ISTANBUL —A Turkish court on Tuesday opened a trial in absentia of four former Israeli military commanders in the killing of nine people aboard a Turkish aid ship that tried to break a Gaza blockade. Prosecutors have demanded life in prison for several officers in command at the time of the 2010 Israeli raid, but it appears unlikely that any sentence could be carried out.

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Syria shutters Hamas offices in break with group
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
November 6, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip —A spokesman for Hamas says the Syrian government has sealed its offices in Damascus, finalizing the break between the Islamic militant group and its former patron. Spokesman Ayman Taha said on Tuesday that the move had been expected after Hamas openly switched sides to support the armed rebellion against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Taha says Monday's move by Damascus was "a result of our siding with the Syrian people in their just struggle." Taha spoke from Cairo.

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Israel moves ahead building of 1,200 settler homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - November 6, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Tuesday that it was pushing forward with construction of more than 1,200 new homes in Jewish settlements, in an apparent warning to the Palestinians to rethink their plan to ask the United Nations to recognize an independent state of Palestine.

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Senior Israeli ministers to discuss 'retaliatory actions' against Palestinians over UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 6, 2012 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's forum of nine senior ministers will meet on Tuesday to discuss the Palestinian Authority's decision to request an upgrade of its status at the United Nations. During the meeting, the country's most senior ministers will consider a range of retaliatory actions against the Palestinian leadership, an official in Jerusalem said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to request the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade Palestine's status to "non-member observer state" during November.

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Israel preparing to ‘ensure collapse’ of Palestinian U.N. bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
November 6, 2012 - 1:00am

Israel is preparing to counter a Palestinian bid for enhanced United Nations status later this month, a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Tuesday. The comments came as Israel’s private Channel 10 reported that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman last month pledged to ensure the “collapse” of the Palestinian Authority if the bid for non-member status at the General Assembly goes forward.

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Netanyahu Says He’d Go It Alone on Striking Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - November 5, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reiterated his willingness to attack the Iranian nuclear program without support from Washington or the world, returning to an aggressive posture that he had largely abandoned since his United Nations speech in September.

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November 5th

NEWS: Remarks by Pres. Abbas on Israeli television are denounced by Hamas and left-wing factions and dismissed by PM Netanyahu. Israeli media suggests Netanyahu was considering military action against Iran in 2010, but was overruled by security officials. Palestinians reject Netanyahu's demands they drop a renewed UN bid, and the Arab League encourages them to go forward with it. Israeli forces kill a mentally ill Palestinian man near the Gaza border. 20 are killed in fighting in a Damascus Palestinian refugee camp. Swiss investigators visit the tomb of the late Pres. Arafat in preparation for possible exhumation. Israel releases a Palestinian teenager improperly jailed for six months. Despite a new promise of aid from the UAE, no date is set for paying PA employees. Newly released documents illustrate the range of Palestinian reactions to early Zionist settlement. A once-thriving Palestinian village has been turned into a virtual ghost town by the separation barrier. COMMENTARY: Ha'aretz says Israel needs to say "yes" to Abbas' overtures, but the Jerusalem Post says the whole affair proves the Palestinians aren't ready for peace. Hussein Ibish says Abbas didn't say anything new and explains the official Palestinian position on refugees. The National praises Abbas' "realism and openness to calculated compromise." The New York Times says a new Palestinian bid for greater UN recognition won't help anyone, and Netanyahu seems unwilling to make any substantial compromises. Issam Younis writes an open letter of complaint to Hamas. Christa Case Bryant says US-Israel relations have never been stronger, and don't depend on presidential personalities. Saeb Erekat says whoever wins tomorrow's US presidential election may be the last American leader with a real chance of securing a two-state solution. Zvi Bar'el says with Pres. Morsy distracted by domestic politics, a volcano of violence may explode in Sinai. Jamal Zahalka calls for international sanctions against Israel, but Adel Safty says a boycott campaign is pointless. Danny Rubinstein says the visit to Gaza by the Emir of Qatar is a devastating and possibly fatal blow to the PA. George Hale describes the pitfalls of trying to report on corruption in the West Bank.

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