July 17th

My Word: Obama team should pressure Israel on settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Oakland Tribune by Cecilie Surasky - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am FEW AMERICANS HAVE had the opportunity to see firsthand, as I did in early July, the devastating impact of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and why it's critical that we support President Barack Obama's call for a settlement freeze. » Read more

Breathing life back into Nablus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Heather Sharp - July 17, 2009 - 12:00am Business has more than doubled in recent months, said sweet shop owner Magdi Abu Salha, taking a break from slicing up knefi, the sticky cheese-based dessert for which his home town of Nablus is famed. Two years ago the northern West Bank town was a stronghold of armed Palestinian militant groups. And just three months ago, the six Israeli roadblocks and checkpoints that had ringed it for nine years had all but killed its economic life. Magdi Abu Salha, Nablus sweet shop owner Magdi Abu Salha says the Israeli-Arab visitors have boosted business » Read more

European hardball ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am The call by the European Union’s foreign policy chief for the UN Security Council to recognise a Palestinian state by a certain deadline, even without any Israeli-Palestinian agreement, is intriguing and unimpressive. Javier Solana said on July 11, at a lecture in London, that “after a fixed deadline, a UN Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution.” This, he said, should address border parameters, refugees, control over the city of Jerusalem, and security arrangements. » Read more

Pro-Israel lobby still influential in America ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Marwan Al Kabalan - (Opinion) July 16, 2009 - 12:00am President Barack Obama's recent meeting with the leaders of the pro-Israel lobbies in the US did nothing but feed speculation about how much power and influence these groups wield on US Middle East policy. The purpose of the meeting was to ask these groups to help convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze colony activity in the occupied Palestinian territories and facilitate the resumption of Middle East peace talks. » Read more

Israel should answer for Gaza war crimes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Editorial) July 16, 2009 - 12:00am The Israeli assault on Gaza in January was an outrage against humanity. Israeli frustration and fury with Hamas led to the government allowing the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to break its own rules and commit a wide variety of war crimes in an effort to punish the entire population and reduce Gaza to rubble. » Read more

J Street conference demonstrates increased coordination on left ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Eric Fingerhut - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am Left-wing advocates of a two-state solution and a greater U.S. role in the peace process are joining forces in support of what they hope will be a groundbreaking conference this October in Washington. The conference, set for Oct. 25-28, is being dubbed as J Street's first national convention, but 11 other groups have signed on as “participating organizations,” including Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, the Israel Policy Forum, the New Israel Fund and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom. » Read more

West Bank boom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - July 17, 2009 - 12:00am Many of those who have visited this city in the past decade were journalists searching for interviews with gunmen belonging to Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, or stories related to violence and bloodshed. In recent months, however, most of those who come to Nablus, once known as the Palestinian's economic capital, are shoppers searching for cheap clothes and fine sweets or a massage at one of the newly renovated 200-year-old Turkish baths. » Read more

Arab camp kids humiliated in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Tal Rabinovsky - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am A group of Arab summer camp children were banned from entering Temple Mount in Jerusalem while wearing their camp t-shirts. When the children arrived at Temple Mount wearing their orange summer camp shirt, which read ''Al-Quds – Arab Culture Capital,' police officers told them that if they wish to enter, the shirts must come off. The incident took place Tuesday when children from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Tzur Baher toured Jerusalem's Old City as part of their summer camp activities. However, what should have been an enjoyable day out quickly became a humiliating experience. » Read more

Abbas rejects accusations over his role in Arafat's death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - July 17, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected on Thursday accusations that he was involved in an alleged Israeli plot to poison deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The accusations were made by Farouk Kaddoumi, a senior leader both in Abbas and Arafat's Fatah faction and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Speaking to the Al Jazeera television network from Jordan, Kaddoumi also said that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mohammed Dahlan, the former Palestinian security chief in Gaza, were also involved in the plot. » Read more

Arad's summer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am Summer. It's hot and humid and full of irritants. It's hard to concentrate. And the current scandals are the scandals of summer, too. Intense, juicy and insignificant. Between Dudu Topaz's letter and mourning over the death of Michael Jackson, there's no chance to really think. There's no way to distinguish between policy and gossip, between what's central and what's marginal, between what is of primary and secondary importance. It's time for the petty and the low. » Read more