UN official "concerned" as Palestinians outraged over West Bank shrines ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 22, 2010 - 1:00am A senior UN official on Monday voiced his concern over the Israeli government's decision to include two West Bank shrines into the Jewish state's list of heritage sites. In a statement sent to the media, Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said he was " concerned" since the two sites are located "in occupied Palestinian territory and are of historical and religious significance not only to Judaism but also to Islam, and to Christianity as well." » Read more

Jordan condemns Israel's plans to annex West Bank sites ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 22, 2010 - 1:00am Jordan on Monday condemned Israel's plans to annex historical sites located in the West Bank to its heritage list, the state-run Petra news agency reported. On Sunday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau announced that Israel would annex Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi and Rachel's Tomb in Hebron in the West Bank. Al Haram Al Ibrahimi is one of the holiest shrines in Islam and Rachel's Tomb is known to the Muslim world as Belal Mosque. The two sites are scared to both Jews and Muslims. » Read more

Israel plans new Jerusalem-area settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 23, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli authorities have approved a plan to build 549 new homes for settlers on land across the Green Line in south Jerusalem, an advocacy group said on Monday. Ahmad Laban, an official with the Israeli-led group Ir Amim said a regional planning body in the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality approved the plan, which still needs to take further bureaucratic strides before it is finalized. The regional committee of organizing and building in the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem had approved to present a new settlement plan to build 549 housing units. » Read more

Israel renews ban on key West Bank bus line ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 23, 2010 - 1:00am A month after Israel rescinded a ban on foreign nationals using a main Bethlehem bus line, travelers say authorities are again pulling internationals off buses en route to Jerusalem. Mid-December, for reasons that remain unclear, tourists leaving the central West Bank city were banned from line 21, a route used predominantly by Palestinian holders of East Jerusalem residency cards. » Read more

From Israel, a plan to win friends and influence people by working on its image ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - February 22, 2010 - 1:00am Acknowledging that Israel's image in the world these days is perhaps not at its apex, the Israeli government is asking its citizens to be more proactive in shaping the image of the Jewish state around the globe. The government is launching a media campaign to get Israelis to "change the picture" of how they are portrayed through the global media, and dozens of workshops on how to conduct one-on-one discussions with people they meet when they travel abroad. » Read more

Journalist describes strange twists of 'German' suspect in Dubai hit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Batsheva Sobelman - (Blog) February 22, 2010 - 1:00am In Israel, much has been said and much more not disclosed about the fake European passports used by the assassins in Dubai. On Monday, Ronen Bergman, an Israeli journalist specializing in intelligence issues, shed some light on the one passport that has so far been found to be genuinely issued, a German passport allegedly used by one of the suspected assassins. Part of the details had previously been published in Der Spiegel. In an interview to Army Radio on Monday morning, Bergman says this is how it went: » Read more

Israel relies on a deadly specialty ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - February 22, 2010 - 1:00am When Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman faced questions Monday from European diplomats over Israel's suspected role in the Dubai assassination of a Hamas militant, he responded with familiar indignation: Why is Israel always the first to be blamed, he asked. » Read more