December 6th

PA: Settlers kidnap shepherd near Nablus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 6, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli settlers on Monday kidnapped a 60-year-old shepherd after attacking him in Orif village south of Nablus, officials said. Village council head Fawzi Shehadeh said six residents of Yitzhar settlement attacked Salim Jamil Shehadeh near the local high school and took him away in a car. The settlers stole all 50 of his sheep, the councilor added. Palestinian Authority settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas told Ma'an the government was conducting intensive negotiations with Israeli officials to secure the shepherd's release. » Read more

Suspects in 'honor' killing deny charges ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 6, 2011 - 1:00am Four men accused of the honor killing of 20-year-old Ayah Ibrahim Baradiyya, whose remains were found in May 2011, told a jury on Monday that their confession was obtained through torture. The four men, an uncle and three other relatives of the victim, were attending the first court hearing in the murder trial of the young student who went missing in April 2010. “I am guiltless and I have nothing to do with this charge which I denounce. What happened was that detectives tortured me and broke my jaw to make me confess," the victim's uncle said in court. » Read more

Abbas aide: PA won't yield to 'extortion' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 6, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority "will not yield to extortion," presidential adviser Nimir Hammad said Tuesday of threats by Israeli officials to withhold Palestinian money again. Hammad's comments followed reports in Israel that the government would refuse to pay Palestinian tax revenues if the PLO applied again for full UN membership. Citing political sources, Israel radio reported Tuesday that the Israeli government would consider withholding Palestinian money in the event of another UN bid. Hammad told Ma'an radio that the PA "will not yield to such extortion." » Read more

The fragility of the Palestinian economic situation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by David Brodet - (Opinion) December 5, 2011 - 1:00am The mood in the Palestinian Authority recently changed radically in the space of a few weeks. In September 2011, the attention of Palestinians and the world was directed toward the United Nations, where the Palestine Liberation Organization submitted its request to be accepted as a state by the UN and Palestinian spirits were at an all-time high. » Read more

Ultimately crippling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) December 5, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority has been plagued this year by various financial troubles that are affecting, in turn, its ability to fulfill some of its financial obligations. The most recent source of these problems has been a decline in PA revenues. The Palestinian budget is usually composed of two sources of income. One is external funding ($1.83 billion annually) from donors, and the other is made up of domestic revenues, direct ($812 million a year) and indirect ($1.442 billion annually collected by Israel). » Read more

Ultimately crippling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) December 5, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority has been plagued this year by various financial troubles that are affecting, in turn, its ability to fulfill some of its financial obligations. The most recent source of these problems has been a decline in PA revenues. The Palestinian budget is usually composed of two sources of income. One is external funding ($1.83 billion annually) from donors, and the other is made up of domestic revenues, direct ($812 million a year) and indirect ($1.442 billion annually collected by Israel). » Read more

Not central to independence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) December 5, 2011 - 1:00am Revelations concerning the Palestinian financial crisis of recent weeks touch upon three issues. The most obvious one is the seeming inability of the Palestinian Authority under Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to accumulate sufficient reserves to withstand a few weeks' shortfall in income. Put differently, it is the PA's huge reliance on donor-nation funds and on taxes collected for it by Israel. » Read more

US criticism will only benefit Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Linda Heard - (Opinion) December 6, 2011 - 1:00am It appears that the Obama administration is playing “good cop, bad cop” with the Israeli leadership. While the President Barack Obama goes out of his way to prostrate himself before the powerful pro-Israel lobby in the run-up to next January's election, his minions are sending a different message — a message Obama has no doubt blessed behind the scenes. Publicly, the president is muffled. » Read more

Secrets of Ben-Gurion's Leadership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Gal Beckerman - (Opinion) December 5, 2011 - 1:00am The most revealing conversation that Shimon Peres ever had with his mentor, David Ben-Gurion, was perhaps his first. Peres was a young activist in Ha’Noar Ha’Oved, the Labor Zionist youth movement, when he asked the powerful and charismatic chairman of the Jewish Agency for a lift up the coast to Haifa from Tel Aviv. They spent most of the ride in silence, but then, just as they were approaching their destination, Ben-Gurion decided, out of nowhere, to tell the young man why he preferred Lenin to Trotsky. This was, for sure, a surprising admission. » Read more

Terror Out of Zion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily by Elliot Jager - (Opinion) December 6, 2011 - 1:00am There is no love lost between the British Foreign Office and Israel. In a report to parliament last month, Foreign Minister William Hague condemned Israel for building in Jerusalem, being in the West Bank, and treating the present Gaza regime like the enemy it is. Hague's report mentioned Hamas only to blame Israel for the Islamist group's obduracy. » Read more