January 28th

Israeli security forces nab suspected Palestinian militants in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 27, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli security forces arrested on Sunday morning two Palestinians suspected of plotting to carry out an armed attack, Army Radio reported. The two were detained at the Hawara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus. A search of their belongings yielded improvised grenades, petrol bombs and knives. Bomb squad officers disarmed the grenades and security forces were scouring the area, according to the report. The suspects, whom police estimated were members of a local militant cell, carried a letter which indicated their intention to commit suicide, the report said. » Read more

Mahmoud Abbas attends AU summit, reiterates position on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 27, 2013 - 1:00am Leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday attended the African Union Summit as a special guest and restated Palestine's policy, calling Israel's withdrawal from occupied territory. Abbas was speaking in Addis Ababa during the opening of the 20th African Union Summit at which some 40 African heads of state and government and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon were present. » Read more

Mahmoud Abbas attends AU summit, reiterates position on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 27, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli cabinet approves plan regulating Bedouin lands ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 28, 2013 - 1:00am The Israeli cabinet approved on Sunday a controversial plan regulating Bedouin lands in the southern Negev Desert, local media reported. The plan, which was approved in principle by cabinet in September 2011, aimed at resolving the issue of unrecognized Bedouin communities and their ownership of lands before the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. The plan recommends allocation of NIS 1.2 billion (about 300 million U.S. dollars) to expand current Bedouin communities and build new ones. » Read more

Israeli soccer club's fans object to adding Muslim players ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ori Lewis - January 27, 2013 - 1:00am JERUSALEM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - An Israeli soccer club notorious for the anti-Arab chants of its fans plans to recruit two Muslim players, fuelling protests in the stands that a senior cabinet minister condemned as shocking and racist. At a Premier League game on Saturday, Beitar Jerusalem supporters held a banner reading "Beitar will always remain pure". Other signs hoisted by fans also protested against its owner's intention to have two Muslim Chechen players join. » Read more

Group says Israel abused crowd-control methods ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press January 28, 2013 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — An Israeli human rights group on Monday accused the military of "extensively and systematically" violating its own rules of engagement in suppressing Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank, contributing to dozens of deaths in recent years. According to a report by the B'Tselem group, a total of 56 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with the Israeli military since 2005. The vast majority — 46 of them — were killed when live ammunition was fired at stone throwers. » Read more

Abbas asks Israel to let in Palestinians fleeing Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Noah Browning - January 25, 2013 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tried to get Israel to let 150,000 Palestinians fleeing war in Syria resettle in the West Bank, but dropped the request after the Jewish state demanded they first give up their right of return, he said. Syria is home to around 500,000 Palestinian refugees, some of whom have been fleeing the country because of civil war between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and fighters seeking to topple his government. » Read more

Refugees again, Palestinians flee Syria's war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Barbara Surk - January 28, 2013 - 1:00am EIN EL-HILWEH, Lebanon — When Syrian warplanes bombed a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus last December, Umm Sami rounded up her three sons, shut the windows and locked the doors so they could neither hear nor heed the call to arms by rebels and pro-government gunmen fighting in the streets. » Read more

Israel Girds for Attacks as Syria Falls Apart ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Anne Barnard, Jodi Rudoren - January 28, 2013 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — At least one Iron Dome missile defense battery was deployed Sunday in northern Israel amid reports of intense security consultations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Syria and the possibility of chemical weapons falling into the hands of Islamist rebels or being transferred to the militant group Hezbollah. » Read more

January 25th

A correction for Israeli politics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya (Opinion) January 25, 2013 - 1:00am   » Read more