January 27th

At the very least, a de facto two-state solution is needed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) January 27, 2011 - 1:00am If it weren't sad, it would be funny. Once every few years, some report appears about some Israelis and some Palestinians holding negotiations on some final-status arrangement. If you examine the report carefully, you see immediately that the negotiations in question, like all the previous ones, failed to solve the problems of the refugees, Jerusalem and demilitarization. They provided no solutions to the Hamas challenge, evacuating the settlers or the weakness of the Israeli and Palestinian governments. » Read more

Palestinians call for UN to examine Israeli digging in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 26, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday called on the UN to send a fact-finding mission to inspect Israel's excavations in Jerusalem, an official said. Ahmed Al-Rouidi, Jerusalem's unit chief at President Mahmoud Abbas' office, said the Palestinian contacts with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and international parties to "work immediately to stop digging more tunnels beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque." » Read more

Israeli troops avoid jail in Palestinian shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press January 27, 2011 - 1:00am An Israeli military court on Thursday sentenced two soldiers convicted in the close-range shooting of a bound and blindfolded Palestinian man, but spared them jail time. Lt. Col. Omri Borberg, caught on video holding the arm of Ashraf Abu Rahmeh while he was shot with a rubber-coated bullet, cannot be promoted for the next two years, or command troops for one year, the military said. The sergeant who pulled the trigger has completed his military service, but was demoted to private. » Read more

Studio used by Al Jazeera ransacked in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ali Sawafta - January 26, 2011 - 1:00am Armed men damaged a studio used by Al Jazeera television in the West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses said, linking the attack to the channel's coverage of documents that have embarrassed Palestinian leaders. Four men carrying guns arrived at the studio in Nablus, operated by the Palestinian media company Palmedia, after Al Jazeera had used it to broadcast a live interview with a critic of the President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA). » Read more

PA-controlled office in Gaza ransacked ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 27, 2011 - 1:00am Unknown assailants entered the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority-controlled Civil Administration building in the northern Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, sacking the office, officials said. The Civil Administration, which in Gaza remains under the control of the West Bank Palestinian Authority government, is charged with coordinating with Israel on matters relating to the crossing terminals. The office targeted by the vandals was in charge of liaising with the Israeli Civil Administration office around the Erez crossing in the northern Strip. » Read more

Medics: Settler kills Palestinian protester ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 27, 2011 - 1:00am An Israeli settler killed a young Palestinian protester in the northern West Bank on Thursday, officials said. Medics identified the victim as Ady Maher Qadous, 19. He suffered several gunshots to the chest and died of internal bleeding at Rafidiyeh Hospital in Nablus, they said. Approximately 70 villagers and other locals had marched out toward the illegal Yitzhar settlement and were protesting when a settler opened fire, a Palestinian Authority official said. » Read more

Fayyad set to take Al-Jazeera to court ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 27, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Justice announced Thursday that it was preparing to file a suit against Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news station for its role in the publication of documents that the ministry said "aimed at tarnishing the image" of the government. On Sunday, the news station, along with the London based The Guardian newspaper, began publishing reports on a set of 1,600 leaked documents said to be copies of maps, transcripts and communications from over a decade of negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials. » Read more

Turkey releases report on flotilla incident, accusing Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Scott Peterson - January 25, 2011 - 1:00am Antagonism between Turkey and Israel is being reinvigorated as each nation's report about the lethal storming by Israeli commandos of the Mavi Marmara ship last May is made public. Eight Turks and an American citizen of Turkish descent were killed during the 4:26 a.m. raid on the humanitarian aid flotilla, which was cruising 72 miles off the coast in international waters on its way to break Israel's Gaza blockade. » Read more

WEST BANK: Palestinian Authority versus Al Jazeera: Damage control seems to be working ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) January 26, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority has mobilized its forces, hidden and otherwise, to head off serious fallout from the publication of secret negotiation documents leaked to Qatar's Al Jazeera. The satellite TV station has been broadcasting rigorous coverage and analysis of the leaked documents. » Read more

WEST BANK: Palestinian Authority versus Al Jazeera: Damage control seems to be working ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) January 26, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority has mobilized its forces, hidden and otherwise, to head off serious fallout from the publication of secret negotiation documents leaked to Qatar's Al Jazeera. The satellite TV station has been broadcasting rigorous coverage and analysis of the leaked documents. » Read more