September 4th

Settlers evacuated from large West Bank outpost ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Alon Bernstein - September 2, 2012 - 12:00am Israel completed evacuation of a large unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost on Sunday, culminating years of legal wrangling in a case that has become a rallying cry for hardline settler groups opposed to any withdrawal from occupied land claimed by the Palestinians. By midday, all of Migron's roughly 300 residents had left, authorities said, two days ahead of a court-ordered deadline to clear out. » Read more

Egypt appoints new ambassador to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Tia Goldenberg - September 2, 2012 - 12:00am Egypt has appointed a new ambassador to Israel, choosing an experienced career diplomat, officials from both countries said, in what some took as sign of positive relations between Israel and Egypt under an Islamist president in Cairo. Atef Salem el-Ahl has been serving as Egypt's consul in the Israeli resort town of Eilat. He will replace Yasser Reda, whose four-year term ends this summer. Israel's Foreign Ministry and Egypt's state media confirmed the appointment Sunday. » Read more

Pro-Settler Vandals Attack West Bank Monastery ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - September 4, 2012 - 12:00am Vandals set fire to the doors of a Christian monastery in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday and daubed pro-settler graffiti on its walls in a possible retaliation for the eviction of families from an unauthorized outpost. The name of the unauthorized Migron outpost, cleared of Israeli settlers following a court order on Sunday, was scrawled on the well-known 19th century Latrun Monastery, alongside the words "Jesus is a monkey" in Hebrew, police said. » Read more

To Calm Israel, U.S. Offers Ways to Restrain Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David E. Sanger, Eric Schmitt - September 2, 2012 - 12:00am Israel openly debating whether to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, the Obama administration is moving ahead with a range of steps short of war that it hopes will forestall an Israeli attack, while forcing the Iranians to take more seriously negotiations that are all but stalemated. » Read more

Gaza: An Act of Despair ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 3, 2012 - 12:00am A Palestinian man has died after setting himself on fire, apparently in response to the economic hardships in Gaza, his family and the police said Monday. The man, Ehab Abu Nada, 18, left home on Thursday after an argument with his father, who had urged him to find work to help feed his family. Frustrated in his job hunt, he set himself on fire inside a Gaza hospital. He was pronounced dead on Sunday. » Read more