January 3rd

Hamas: PA detained 3,000 members in 2010 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 3, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian Authority security forces detained 3,000 Hamas affiliates in the West Bank in 2010, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Sunday. At a press conference in Gaza City, Barhoum said 1,404 of those detained by PA forces had served time in Israeli jails, 49 were prominent Hamas leaders, 49 Imams of mosques, 405 university students and 24 professors. Those imprisoned also included 36 journalists, 12 businessmen, five pharmacists, seven women and 12 school children, he added. » Read more

Abbas: I’m not afraid of Wikileaks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 3, 2011 - 1:00am President Mahmoud Abbas said he was not concerned over any material that could be released about him or his government by the whistleblower site Wikileaks, saying follow-up with the site was not on his agenda. "I hear talk about it," Abbas told Ma'an, but said he had no personal interactions with the site, adding that the PA was "not afraid of any leaked document," because officials "say things in public and not in secret. If there’s anyone afraid of these documents, it would be the ones who say something in public while they have another position in secret.” » Read more

For statehood, Abbas to focus on Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 3, 2011 - 1:00am During his flight from Senegal to Tunis, President Mahmoud Abbas told journalists he would spend the coming weeks holding meetings with representatives of Israeli civil society organizations in an effort to side-step the Israeli government in the search for a peace deal. "I'm sure the majority of Israelis want peace," Abbas said, adding that it was unfortunate that the current coalition led by right-wing Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu had "thwarted US efforts to broker a peace agreement." » Read more

Israel warns Gaza missiles could provoke new offensive against militants ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - December 22, 2010 - 1:00am On the eve of the second anniversary of Israel's 23-day offensive against Hamas in Gaza, a period of relative calm in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been shattered by missile launches from the coastal strip and Israeli counterstrikes. » Read more

Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon becoming less of a hotbed for militancy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Nicholas Blanford - December 31, 2010 - 1:00am The murder of a senior Al-Qaeda-inspired jihadi and the exodus of other militants from here in recent months may herald some welcome stability for this impoverished Palestinian refugee camp. With some 70,000 Palestinian refugees squashed into little more than a square mile near Sidon, Ain al-Hilweh lies outside the jurisdiction of the Lebanese government and has long been plagued by Islamic radicalism and factional violence. » Read more

Palestinian mayor presides over boom times in Ramallah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Interview) December 25, 2010 - 1:00am The recent groundbreaking for a new Palestinian Authority presidential headquarters here in Ramallah underscored an unprecedented building and investment boom in the West Bank city. Land prices have tripled. International hotel chains are arriving. And master-planned housing projects are underway around town to accommodate a fast-rising population. » Read more

WEST BANK: Palestine National Orchestra has its debut ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) December 31, 2010 - 1:00am Today an orchestra, tomorrow a state. With these words, Suhail Khoury, director of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, introduced the Palestine National Orchestra in its debut Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. » Read more

West Bank: Calling for New Peace Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press December 31, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinian president called on the international community on Friday to draft a new formula for peace talks with Israel and set aside the current process, which he said was “managing the conflict but not solving it.” American mediators have turned to indirect talks to seek a way out of the impasse. But with those efforts in tatters and no clear way out, the president, Mahmoud Abbas, said in remarks in the West Bank that the international community should step in to devise a new vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - January 2, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man as he approached a checkpoint in the northern West Bank early Sunday holding a glass bottle, the military said. Palestinian officials condemned the killing, noting that it was the second death of the weekend in the West Bank. A Palestinian woman died Saturday after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli forces a day earlier at a protest in the village of Bilin against Israel’s separation barrier nearby. » Read more