Collaboration in Gaza Leads to Grisly Fate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - December 2, 2012 - 1:00am


RAFAH, Gaza Strip — When Fadel Shalouf’s family went to pick up his body at the morgue the day after he was executed on a busy Gaza street corner, they found his hands still cuffed behind his back. Hamas, the militant faction that rules Gaza, did not provide a van to carry the body to burial, so they laid him on two men’s laps in the back of a sedan.


Amid Euphoria Over U.N. Vote, Palestinians Still Face Familiar Challenges
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 2, 2012 - 1:00am


RAMALLAH, West Bank — “Now we have become a state!” Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, announced Sunday to a crowd of thousands in the courtyard of his headquarters in this Palestinian city.


Netanyahu brushes off world condemnation of settlement plans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Maayan Lubell - December 2, 2012 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday brushed off world condemnation of Israel's plans to expand Jewish settlements after the Palestinians won de facto U.N. recognition of statehood.


UN chief: Israel's construction plans 'fatal blow' to two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
December 2, 2012 - 1:00am


UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday Israel's plans to build 3,000 new homes in East Jerusalem and West Bank settlements "would represent an almost fatal blow to remaining chances of securing a two-state solution." Ban said in a statement that in the interest of peace, any plans for construction in the "E-1" corridor must be rescinded.


Britain, France, Sweden summon Israeli ambassadors over settlement expansion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - December 3, 2012 - 1:00am


Britain, France, and Sweden summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their countries on Monday to express their condemnation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to move settlement construction ahead in the area known as E1, between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem.


Britain, France 'consider recalling Israel envoys'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
December 3, 2012 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Britain is considering recalling its ambassador to Israel to protest at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building, a diplomatic source said on Monday. Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that France was also considering withdrawing its envoy, and the two countries were coordinating discussions over a number of punitive steps.


France, UK summon Israeli ambassadors over settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
December 3, 2012 - 1:00am


PARIS (Reuters) -- France and Britain on Monday summoned their Israeli ambassadors to express concerns over Israel's plans to expand Jewish settlements after Palestine won de facto UN recognition of statehood. "The ambassador has been summoned in order to express our disapproval," French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said. The Israeli embassy also confirmed the meeting.


For Obama, Difficult Timing of an Israeli Plan Is Nothing New
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - December 30, 2012 - 1:00am


WASHINGTON — For President Obama, the news on Friday that Israel is planning to construct Jewish settlements in a geographically sensitive area east of Jerusalem came as a rude shock.


Israel withholds tax revenues from Palestinian Authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - December 2, 2012 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM -- Israel said Sunday it would withhold more than $100 million in tax revenue this month from the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, the latest reaction to last week's U.N. vote recognizing the Palestinian territories as a "nonmember observer state."


Israel: E1 Zone No-Build Policy 'No Longer Relevant'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Laura Rozen - December 2, 2012 - 1:00am


As Israel announced that it was withholding tax payments to the Palestinian Authority on Sunday, an Israeli official told Al-Monitor that Israel considers its 2009 understanding with the Americans that it would not build in the sensitive E1 zone of East Jerusalem “no longer relevant.”



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