December 7th

Fatah: No elections until unity government formed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 7, 2011 - 1:00am RAMALLAH -- Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad said Wednesday that a unity government must be formed before elections can be held. During a meeting in Cairo on Nov. 24, Fatah leader and President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal approved a two-page document saying they would establish a joint government after elections in May 2012. But on Wednesday, al-Ahmad told Voice of Palestine radio: "It is illegal to run elections while we have two governments." » Read more

Settlers torch West Bank mosque ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 7, 2011 - 1:00am SALFIT (Ma'an) -- A mosque was set on fire on Wednesday by settlers in the West Bank village of Bruqin, near Salfit, local officials said. The governor of Salfit Isam Abu Bakr told Ma'an that at 2.00 a.m. a number of settlers sprayed racist anti-Arab slogans on the mosque walls and torched a car belonging to local resident Muatasim Samarah. Abu Bakr said that the attack came "after Israeli forces issued demolition warrants against the mosque claiming it was built without a license." » Read more

Israeli officials expel Hamas lawmaker from Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - December 6, 2011 - 1:00am REPORTING FROM RAMALLAH, WEST BANK – Israeli police following military court orders Tuesday expelled a Hamas lawmaker from Jerusalem and sent him to the West Bank city of Ramallah. Ahmad Attoun, who was elected to the Palestinian Authority parliament in 2006, was brought before an Israeli military court near Ramallah on Tuesday morning, which ruled to expel him. He was later taken to the Kalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah, where he was ordered to cross into the West Bank with clear instructions not to enter Jerusalem again. » Read more

December 6th

Israel demolishes 2 homes in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 6, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli forces demolished two Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, locals said. In Beit Hanina, troops bulldozed the temporary residence of a man who took shelter there after he could not get a permit from the Israeli municipality to build his house, the official PA news agency Wafa reported. In Silwan, Israeli forces tore down the house of Burhan Burqan, that was home to nine people. "Israeli troops came at five in the morning to demolish the house and were done by 7 am. They also demolished our barn that had some poultry in it," Burqan said. » Read more

Israeli lawmaker says McCarthy was right ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) December 5, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli lawmaker who sponsored a bill to limit funding to left-leaning NGOs said Joseph McCarthy “was right in every word he said.” Likud lawmaker Ofir Akunis told a political television show Sunday night that McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator who presided over a U.S. Senate committee in the 1950s that investigated Americans suspected of sympathy with the communists, "was right in every word. The fact is, there were Soviet agents." » Read more

Israel to forcibly remove bedouin communities in settlements push ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - December 6, 2011 - 1:00am Around 20 bedouin communities between Jerusalem and Jericho are to be forcibly relocated from the land on which they have lived for 60 years under an Israeli plan to expand a huge Jewish settlement. The removal of around 2,300 members of the bedouin Jahalin tribe, two-thirds of whom are children, is due to begin next month. The Israeli authorities plan to relocate the families from the West Bank to a site close to a municipal rubbish dump on the edge of Jerusalem. » Read more

Hamas barred from international political group ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Lahav Harkov - December 6, 2011 - 1:00am Hamas members will not be allowed to represent the Palestinian Authority in the International Organization of Parliaments (IPU), the group’s secretary-general, Andres B. Johnsson, told Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin on Sunday. “Fatah is a recognized political movement, but Hamas is a terrorist organization. The PA must choose a side. Hamas is trying to use the IPU to pave its way to international recognition,” Rivlin told Johnsson. » Read more

Israel to reward Abbas in phase 2 of Shalit deal? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - December 6, 2011 - 1:00am The second phase of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap, which will see the release of another 550 prisoners, will be completed in the next two weeks, with Israel seeking to use the occasion to boost Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' status. Sources familiar with the issue told Ynet that officials in Jerusalem are seeking to link the upcoming prisoner release to a previous Israeli pledge to Abbas, whereby Israel will release Fatah detainees rather than Hamas prisoners. » Read more

Artists call to scrap ministry prize for 'Zionist' works ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Elad Samorzik - December 6, 2011 - 1:00am Hundreds of dancers, authors, filmmakers and other artists have signed a petition calling to cancel the NIS 50,000 prize initiated by Culture Minister Limor Livnat intended to "reflect Zionist values and history" and give the prize money to "the meager coffer supporting free artistic work in Israel." The artists say a prize in the Zionism field is controversial, as its criteria do not pertain solely to artistic quality. » Read more

No peace talks with Israel without settlement freeze: Palestinian official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua December 6, 2011 - 1:00am There would be no peace negotiations with Israel without a settlement freeze and a two- state solution, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday. "These are not Palestinian conditions, they are Israeli Phase I Roadmap obligations," Erekat said during a meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman. "The Palestinian bid to get a full membership at the United Nations would continue," said Erekat, quoted by a statement issued by his office.. » Read more