Why Can’t Jewish Settlements Remain in a Palestinian State?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Hillel Halkin - (Opinion) February 13, 2013 - 1:00am


  “There’s no greater cliché,” I wrote in this column a month ago, “than the one that keeps insisting that the settlements are an obstacle to peace. They may have been that once, when they were few and sparsely populated enough to be removed. Now that they’ve long passed that point, any peace agreement will have to make room for their existence.”


Struggling Caribbean islands selling citizenship
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by David McFadden - February 12, 2013 - 1:00am


Hadi Mezawi has never set foot on the Caribbean island of Dominica, has never seen its rainforests or black-sand beaches. But he's one of its newest citizens. Without leaving his home in the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian man recently received a brand new Dominican passport after sending a roughly $100,000 contribution to the tropical nation half a world away.


Israel urges swift response to North Korea nuclear test
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jeffrey Heller - February 13, 2013 - 1:00am


Israel said on Tuesday that the international community must make clear to North Korea after its latest nuclear test that such activities cannot be tolerated. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the test, North Korea's third in defiance of U.N. resolutions, and a ballistic missile launch in December raised "grave concerns" about proliferation of nuclear and ballistic technologies.


Demography scare strengthens occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Dmitry Shumsky - (Opinion) February 13, 2013 - 1:00am


  The results of last month's election show that without a doubt, most Israelis are not afraid of a "binational" state.


Poll: 71.5% of young Israeli Arabs oppose national service
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - February 12, 2013 - 1:00am


More than 70 percent of Israeli Arabs between 16 and 22 who have heard of the national service project oppose taking part, according to a survey by the Mada al-Carmel Arab Center for Applied Social Research. The poll comes out as efforts increase to get more ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews to do army service, and more Israeli Arabs to do national service.


Does the Mossad still use the passports of immigrants to Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - February 12, 2013 - 1:00am


Despite repeated promises by the Israeli government that the Mossad will cease to use the passports and identities of citizens of foreign countries, it seems that the practice has continued in recent years. Among countries involved have been Australia, Britain, France and Germany.


Australia to Investigate Suspected Spy’s Death in Israeli Prison
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
February 13, 2013 - 1:00am


Australia’s foreign minister on Wednesday ordered an investigation into his government’s handling of the 2010 detention and death of an Australian immigrant to Israel who was known as Prisoner X and may have b


Abbas to issue decrees on elections, unity govt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 13, 2013 - 1:00am


President Mahmoud Abbas will issue decrees announcing elections and declaring a new unity government, a senior Fatah official said Tuesday. At a news conference in Ramallah, Azzam al-Ahmad said the two decrees would be issued at the same time. Abbas has already started consultations to form a unity government of technocrats, which will be sworn when the Central Elections Commission finishing updated the voter registry, by the end of March, al-Azzam told reporters.


Israeli airstrike on Syria shows strategic strength
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Daniel Nisman - (Opinion) February 11, 2013 - 1:00am


 


Election body: 70,000 register to vote in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 13, 2013 - 1:00am


Around 70,000 people have registered to vote in the Gaza Strip since the Central Elections Commission began updating the electoral roll two days ago, a statement from the group said Wednesday. Some 257 registration centers will be open for one week to update the electoral roll in the Gaza Strip, with an estimated 350,000 unregistered eligible voters living in Gaza. The roll has not been updated in Gaza since Jan. 2005 and the operation of the CEC in Gaza is seen as a boost to reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas.



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