The Christian Science Monitor profiles the Israeli city of Tel Aviv (1). President Obama seeks reciprocity from Arab nations as well as Israel in pursuit of Mideast peace (2), while Bahrain reacts to calls from its crown prince for a new approach to Arab relations with Israel (7). BBC News tells the story of a four year old girl paralyzed in the Gaza war (5). A report released yesterday shows that the Israeli government is substantially subsidizing Jewish settlements in the West Bank (8). UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon calls on Israel to halt settlement construction (14).

Few takers for engaging Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Mazen Mahdi - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am

An article last week by Bahrain’s crown prince calling on Arab countries to adopt a new approach to relations with Israel has unleashed a torrent of debate from Manama to Washington, and is testing the ability of Gulf states to leverage their growing economic clout into regional political influence. Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa, in his article for The Washington Post, argued that for the Arab-Israeli peace process to move forward “a great deal of campaigning – patiently and repeatedly targeting all relevant parties” was needed.

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Waiting for Obama to deliver as promised
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) July 22, 2009 - 12:00am

Six months have passed since Barack Obama settled in the White House, a precedent-setting achievement for an African-American, and yet he now seems inexplicably hesitant to follow up his initial and commendable step in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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Tales of a Palestinian Sleuth and Real Life
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Robert Rees - (Opinion) July 22, 2009 - 12:00am

The soft-spoken Welsh writer and news correspondent Matt Beynon Rees acknowledges that he never intended to make the Middle East his home. But Rees (no relation to this writer), Time Magazine’s former bureau chief in Jerusalem and now the author of three Palestinian detective novels, might be the first to admit that his own career has taken more unexpected turns and butted up against greater sudden dangers than he ever anticipated.

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Status of Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am

The standoff between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government remind many of a similar standoff between the US and Israel in the 90s when Bill Clinton was president. At the time Netanyahu insisted on Israel’s right to build Har Homa settlement on the Palestinian Jabal Abu Ghneim on the edge of Bethlehem. Today, Har Homa is a thriving settlement with thousands of Jewish Israelis residing in the complex built on expropriated Palestinian land.

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Obama’s New Emphasis On Reciprocity Also Pressures Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Freezing the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank was once seen as a unilateral Israeli obligation. But the Obama administration is now treating this as part of a package that will require concessions from Arab states, as well. An intensified and more public focus on this principle appears to be one of the byproducts of President Obama’s June 13 pledge to American Jewish communal representatives to address perceptions that he is pressuring only Israel. So far, the Arabs are resistant.

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Report says Israel is subsidising settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - July 22, 2009 - 12:00am

In another sign of Israel’s continuous support for Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, a new report yesterday showed that the settlements obtain a significantly higher share of government funds than municipalities in Israel overall.

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Paralysed girl's story reflects Gaza's plight
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
July 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Four-year-old Samar Abed Rabbu lost her two sisters during Israel's offensive in Gaza last December and January. The BBC's Christian Fraser has been following the plight of Samar and her family - now divided across two continents, as Samar receives treatment in Belgium with her mother. Throughout these months of gruelling therapy Belgian doctors say Samar Abed Rabbu has demonstrated remarkable courage. She is desperate to walk again - she even simulates it on the bed with her fingers - but there is nothing the Belgian doctors can do to repair Samar's broken back.

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Hundreds planning Temple Mount ascent
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jonny Hadi - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Hundreds of right-wing activists are intending to attempt to march up to the Temple Mount next Thursday morning, Tisha Be'Av, in protest of the US demand to cease construction in east Jerusalem.

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Washington Watch: Barack Obama, gird thy loins
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Douglas Bloomfield - July 22, 2009 - 12:00am

Just when it looked like a serious Washington-Jerusalem rift might be avoided - thanks in large part to the Saudis and their mishpucha - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened it wider with a burst of provocative demagoguery. A meeting last week between the new Israeli ambassador and a State Department official was inexplicably blown up into a crisis. Initial news leaks out of the Prime Minister's Office said Michael Oren had been "summoned" to Foggy Bottom and presented a "demand" that an east Jerusalem apartment project be halted.

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