November 21st

Palestinian security gets a feminine touch
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - November 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian police surround the house of suspected militants and knock, demanding to be let in. Normally, they'd kick in the door if it didn't open immediately, but today they have the thing that every home is said to need: a woman's touch. As part of a new Palestinian Authority (PA) security initiative, this unit, like every Hebron unit that searches houses, has two female officers to bring a gentler side to long-stigmatized house raids.

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UNRWA chief: Gaza on brink of humanitarian catastrophe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

Gaza faces a humanitarian "catastrophe" if Israel continues to prevent aid reaching the territory by blocking crossing points, the head of the main UN aid agency for the Palestinians said on Friday. Karen AbuZayd, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said the human toll of this month's sealing of Gaza's goods crossings was the gravest since the early days of a Palestinian uprising eight years ago.

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Haniyeh says Gaza groups want calm with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian armed groups in Gaza remain committed to a truce with Israel if the Jewish state reciprocates, Hamas' Gaza leader said on Friday, even as militants launched more attacks from the coastal territory. They fired a rocket and two mortars on Israel, continuing an almost daily series of attacks over the past 17 days, none of which has inflicted major casualties.

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Israel's hold on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
(Editorial) November 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

In the 2 1/2 weeks since its cease-fire with Hamas broke down, Israel has all but sealed crossings along its border with the Gaza Strip and rejected U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's appeal to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclosed territory that houses more than 1.5 million Palestinians. This response to violence directed against it amounts to collective punishment of civilians, which is illegal under international law, unfair and counterproductive. Hunger and scarcity nurture extremism.

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Jewish pilgrimage stokes tensions in Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
November 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel beefed up security on Friday as 25,000 Jewish pilgrims were expected in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron amid fears of violence as a group of settlers defied an eviction order. Dozens of police and troops took up positions outside the house where about 100 hardline settlers and their supporters have vowed to resist any attempt to enforce the High Court order.

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The limits of American racism, and the Arab exception
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - November 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

The electoral silly season is over and it is time for a serious discussion removed from partisan passions and manipulation. Racism, the 800-pound gorilla in the American living room, has shrunk and is now no bigger than a jackass. In his eloquent endorsement of Barack Obama, another African-American statesman, Colin Powell, took direct aim at racism and pulled the trigger: "It is permitted to be said such things as, 'Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian.

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ACP to Distribute One Thousand Laptops to Palestinian Students
Press Release - Contact Information: Omar Tuffaha - November 20, 2008 - 1:00am

Washington, DC, Nov. 21 -- On Nov. 20, the American Charities for Palestine (ACP), the Palestinian Ministry of Education, and USAID announced the commencement of distributing 1,000 laptop computers to Palestinian students in the Occupied Territories. The laptops, worth $200,000, were donated by One Laptop per Child in partnership with ACP and delivered with the help of USAID.


November 20th

The BBC examines how the Israeli blockade is affecting Gazans (1). Meanwhile, a protest against it in Amman, Jordan draws thousands (8) and King Abdullah also joins Palestinian President Abbas in condemning the blockade (9). Israeli police remove a tent set up in protest by a Palestinian family recently evicted from their home (2). A group of extremist Jewish settlers desecrate a Palestinian mosque (3). The PLO places advertisements in Israeli papers promoting the Arab peace plan (4). A pair of polls show Netanyahu’s Likud party with a slight edge over Livni’s Kadima party in the run-up to February elections (6). Leaders of the world’s largest media organizations file a formal protest with Prime Minister Olmert over the banning of foreign journalists from Gaza (7).

Abbas to shun Arab League Cairo meet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - November 19, 2008 - 8:00pm

The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is "extremely disappointed" with the Arab countries over their refusal to hold Hamas responsible for the failure of Egyptian efforts to end the Islamic movement's dispute with Fatah, PA officials said Wednesday. The officials said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas had decided to boycott the upcoming meeting of the Arab League Foreign Ministers in Cairo in protest against the Arab countries' position.

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Abdullah, Abbas condemn Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roee Nahmias - November 19, 2008 - 8:00pm

Following a clandestine meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, King Abdullah of Jordan invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a chat in Aqaba, Thursday. The two warned against any unilateral Israeli actions in Gaza or the West Bank and emphasized that an increased blockade of Gaza would only lead to increased Palestinian suffering and escalating tensions.

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