Leader waits in shifting sands of Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Sydney Morning Herald
by Kate Geraghty - (Opinion) March 2, 2013 - 1:00am

First comes one projectile, then another. Both are in full flight, moving quickly. Launched by Khalid Mishal in the early hours of the morning, they could be rockets over Gaza. But he is in Doha, deftly quartering apples and guavas, then hurling pieces the length of the room, to a colleague at the other end of a long, leather-inlaid conference table.

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PA: Independent doctor to investigate detainee's death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 1, 2013 - 1:00am

Israel will grant a request from the Palestinian Authority to bring an independent doctor to investigate the death of a detainee who died in Israeli custody, an official said Friday. Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh told Ma’an that the foreign doctor would investigate the death of Arafat Jaradat, who died last week in an Israeli prison. “This is the first time Israel agrees that a non-Israeli doctor will participate in an issue related to Palestinians in Israeli jails,” al-Sheikh told Ma'an.

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Clashes in West Bank; Salam Fayad joins Bil'in protests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Itamar Fleishman, Elior Levy - March 1, 2013 - 1:00am

Palestinians are clashing with security forces who are attempting to disperse them in Hebron, after settler's windows were broken as a result of stone throwing.

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Has Obama Lost Interest in the Israel-Palestinian Conflict?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Peter Beinart - March 1, 2013 - 1:00am

As John Kerry begins his first overseas trip as secretary of State, foreign observers are beginning to suggest that, maybe, just maybe, the Obama administration will make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a priority after all.

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What killed Arafat Jaradat?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) March 1, 2013 - 1:00am

It has been many years since last I saw a mourners' pavilion in the territories as large and as busy as the one for Arafat Jaradat, a previously obscure gas-station attendant from the town of Sa'ir. He was 30 years old, with two children; his wife is four months' pregnant. Jaradat was suspected of having thrown stones and a Molotov cocktail at Israeli forces and was arrested. He died last weekend after six days of detention and interrogation in an Israeli prison, and his death has become a national symbol.

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Israeli-Palestinian tensions could ultimately spark a major confrontation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - (Opinion) March 1, 2013 - 1:00am

As though 25 years hadn’t gone by, the Israel Defense Forces this week went back to using some of the terminology of the first intifada. Beginning this morning, a special alert was to be declared in the territories, with security forces deployed there ahead of an expected wave of demonstrations, revolving around the prayer services in the mosques. The police, too, will beef up their presence, with an eye on the weekly prayers on the Temple Mount.

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Abbas needs an heir apparent
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Jonathan Schanzer - (Opinion) February 28, 2013 - 1:00am

President Obama's visit to the Middle East next month is widely billed as an earnest attempt to double down on diplomacy and revive the moribund peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against the president.

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Hamas to address Arafat foundation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 28, 2013 - 1:00am

Hamas is attending the board meeting of the Yasser Arafat Foundation for the first time at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Thursday. Hamas deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouq will address the foundation's board of trustees for its sixth meeting, attended by league secretary-general Nabil al-Arabi, the head of the foundation Nasser al-Qidra told Ma'an. Abu Marzouq will brief the foundation about reconciliation, al-Qidra said.

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Israel: Autopsy of Detainee Shows Signs of ‘Resuscitation Attempts’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - February 28, 2013 - 1:00am

The Health Ministry said Thursday that tests showed that the hemorrhages and fractured ribs found during the autopsy of a Palestinian prisoner who died in Israeli detention last weekend were “characteristic of the resuscitation attempts that were performed on the deceased,” efforts that lasted for 50 minutes.

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Exclusive: Hamas Official Predicts Third Intifada
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Abeer Ayyoub - February 28, 2013 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority is “dragging its feet” on reconciliation due to US President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit in March, senior Hamas leader and Gaza parliamentarian Salah Bardawil told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview. Bardawil touched on this along with the latest disputes between Hamas and Fatah and said that little progress is expected until after the Obama trip. 

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