Arab Artists Boycott Jordan Festival Over Jewish Producer's Reported Involvement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Smadar Peri - July 3, 2008 - 4:27pm Most of the artists who were invited to perform in Jordan at one of the major festivals in the Arab world decided to pull out of the event, following a report saying the head of the company producing it is Jewish, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday. » Read more

Soothing The Savage Breast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sanford F. Kuvin - July 3, 2008 - 4:25pm Can music be an instrument for peace? That's what the Sounding Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival hopes for, as it offers some of the season's best free live classical music in the city. The festival brings together 75 top European, Israeli and Arab musicians for over 20 concerts to mixed audiences in a wide variety of venues – churches in the Old City, historic sites in West Jerusalem and Palestinian villages. » Read more

All Eyes On Ofra ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Week by Joshua Mitnick - July 3, 2008 - 4:23pm The piles of rubble stand like a bitter monument on a distant hilltop that looks down on the entrance of this Jewish settlement. It is the remains of the Amona outpost’s nine permanent houses, whose demolition by the government two years ago sparked clashes with Israeli security forces that left 300 injured and seared into Israeli memory the trauma of uprooting West Bank settlers. » Read more

Solana Calls On Israel To Halt Settlement Activities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna) July 3, 2008 - 4:21pm European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned Wednesday that it will be extremely difficult to have negotiations on the final-status of Palestine if Israel does not stop its settlements in occupied Palestinian lands. "Realities on the ground have to change. I want to say it very clearly that settlements have to stop. We cannot enter in a process which is part of the way to determine by the end of the year 2008 if there is no clear commitment on the settlements," Solana told a conference on Palestine in the European Parliament. » Read more

Israeli Troops Detain 24 Palestinians In Nablus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna) July 3, 2008 - 4:19pm Israeli Army Forces Thursday carried out a wide-scale detention operation in Duma village, in the south of Nablus City. Palestinian security sources said about 30 Israeli military vehicles stormed the city and the forces conducted the widest house-to-house search operation of its kind. The Israelis arrested more than 24 Palestinians, and most of the arrestee were said to be affiliated with Fatah movement. The Israeli troops also detained three more Palestinians in the city of Bethlehem during an incursion operation that targeted several areas of the city. » Read more

A Bereaved Family Transcends Boundaries ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service July 3, 2008 - 4:19pm The family of an 18-year-old Palestinian civilian, who died after being shot by Israeli security guards a few weeks ago, have donated his organs to save the lives of six Israelis. Patient "A" was clinically dead when he was transferred to the intensive care unit in Sheba medical centre in Tel Hashomer, and doctors were unable to resuscitate him. The Hebrew daily newspaper Ma'ariv reported that his family decided to donate his organs to those who needed them, regardless of their race, religion or identity. » Read more

Israel In Jerusalem Dilemma After Bulldozer Attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller - July 3, 2008 - 4:17pm A deadly rampage in a bulldozer by a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem left Israel grappling on Thursday with the dilemma of how to maintain security in the city along with the premise it is undivided. Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it along with nearby villages in a move that is not recognized internationally, granting Palestinian residents Israeli identity cards that gave them wide freedom of movement. » Read more

Bush 'encouraged' After Olmert, Abbas Calls ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) July 3, 2008 - 4:16pm US President George W. Bush came away from talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday "encouraged" about prospects for Middle East peace, said White House spokseman Gordon Johndroe. Bush discussed efforts to reach a deal defining the outlines of a future Palestinian state by year's end in separate telephone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, said Johndroe. » Read more

Sarkozy Says France Hasn't Forgotten Shalit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) July 3, 2008 - 4:14pm French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday night that "France will never forget Gilad Shalit." Speaking in a press conference following the release of politician Ingrid Betancourt by Columbian rebels, the French president chose to turn to the kidnapped Israeli soldier's parents. "I would like to direct my last words to Gilad Shalit and his parents. We have not forgotten. France is always ready to be recruited for a person held unjustly," Sarkozy said. » Read more

A Short Walk In Palestine - Or Is It Eretz Yisrael? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New Statesman by Rajah Shehadeh - July 3, 2008 - 4:11pm We stopped to eat our picnic breakfast of Nabulsi goat's cheese and tomatoes - which we had to eat whole because I could not risk being stopped on the road carrying a Swiss army knife » Read more