Hamas opposes Holocaust study at UNRWA schools
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Hamas on Wednesday reiterated its strong opposition to teaching about the Holocaust in Gaza Strip schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency. The Refugee Affairs Department of Hamas said that teaching the Holocaust was a “crime against the issue of the refugees that is aimed at canceling their right of return.” The Hamas statement came in response to unconfirmed reports in a number of Arab media outlets that UNRWA was planning to reintroduce the Holocaust into its school curriculum.

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Qatari emir to visit Gaza as 'Hamas reward for breaking Assad ties'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - (Analysis) October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY // The Qatari emir is to make an official visit to the Gaza Strip this week, in a move analysts say is to strengthen the country's influence with Arab Islamists and reward Hamas rulers for breaking ties with the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani would be the first Arab head of state to officially visit Gaza since the Palestinian Islamist group wrested control in 2007.

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Israeli DM denies reported meeting with Abbas in Jordan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied a Palestinian report alleging that Minister Ehud Barak recently met with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan.

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Hamas PM transfers powers to deputy, as he vies for top political role
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Elhanan Miller - October 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Hamas’s Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh reportedly transferred his authorities to his deputy Ziad Zaza on Tuesday, in a move analysts consider the start of his campaign to replace Khaled Mashaal as head of Hamas’s political bureau.

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Salafis say Hamas security preventing new political party
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The founders of a new Salafi political party said Monday that their official launch is being obstructed by Hamas security forces, not legal regulations as the government in Gaza has claimed. Last week, Salafis announced the Al-Nur party, or 'party of the light', would start officially operating in the coming days. It said it would work on similar lines to an Egyptian party of the same name, which follows an ultra-conservative Islamic ideology.

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Arafat aide: Israel reaching out to Abbas successors
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- A former adviser to President Yasser Arafat on Saturday accused Israel of working to replace the current president behind the scenes. Bassam Abu Sharif said Israeli officials were making calls to Palestinian figures in Israeli jail to scope out a successor to President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as to people close to the president.

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In Gaza's smuggling tunnels, Egypt's interests trump Brotherhood ties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ahmed Aldabba, Kristen Chick - October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

As Egypt's closure of some of the smuggling tunnels from Gaza drives up prices in the tiny coastal enclave, it has also spurred anger toward Egypt’s new Islamist president for throttling one of Gaza's main sources of goods.

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Abbas says Olmert was "two months" from peace deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 14, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 14 (Reuters) - In comments that may stir Israel's election campaign, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that he and Ehud Olmert were "two months" away from a peace deal before Olmert had to resign as Israeli prime minister.

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Abbas says Olmert was "two months" from peace deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 14, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 14 (Reuters) - In comments that may stir Israel's election campaign, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that he and Ehud Olmert were "two months" away from a peace deal before Olmert had to resign as Israeli prime minister.

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Israel targets militant site in north Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 11, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israel launched an airstrike on Thursday morning at a site belonging to resistance factions in the northern Gaza Strip, a Ma'an correspondent said. An Israeli aircraft launched one missile toward the site in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of the Gaza strip, with no injuries reported. The airstrikes caused material damages. The Israeli army said the attack came as a response for a rocket that was fired overnight toward Netivot in the western Negev that caused material damage.

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