July 17th

Jerusalem adviser: Demolish illegal buildings near Old City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Jerusalem's legal adviser has ordered city prosecutors to take legal action to remove new structures built illegally in the City of David by Elad, the nonprofit organization that operates the site, Haaretz has learned. The order was issued after Elad put up several structures in the Peace Forest, just south of the Old City.

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Don't worry Netanyahu, Obama peace plan is still far off
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

The following joke is making the rounds in the Prime Minister's Bureau these days: What do Americans do when something breaks down in their home - when the sink is blocked up, the toilet overflows, a fuse burns out? Simple: They ask Barack Obama to give a speech and the problem is solved.

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Living apart together
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jerry Kindred - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Ariel Atias is Israel's minister of construction and housing. Speaking at the Israel Bar Association in Tel Aviv recently, he said that Jews and Arabs shouldn't live in the same towns. He pointed to last year's Jewish-Arab riots in Akko as proof that we just don't get along. Atias said he intends to formulate and implement housing policies that create and perpetuate separate townships for Jews and Arabs.

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In Jerusalem, battle of Palestinian day camps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

As she hands out paper and magic markers, Basima Alian quizzes her young campers in a sing-songy voice. "How many times a day do we pray?" asks Ms. Alian, the head counselor. "Five!" They respond in unison. "Can a woman be muezzin?" she asks, referring to the individual who calls a Muslim community to prayer. "No, only a man," one boy answers. "How do we pray together in the mosque?" "Men in the front, women behind them," a girl says.

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Arabs Need to Talk to the Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

We need fresh thinking if the Arab Peace Initiative is to have the impact it deserves on the crisis that needlessly impoverishes Palestinians and endangers Israel's security. This crisis is not a zero-sum game. For one side to win, the other does not have to lose. The peace dividend for the entire Middle East is potentially immense. So why have we not gotten anywhere?

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How to Achieve a Lasting Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Ehud Olmert - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel's partnership with the United States is one of its greatest strategic assets. The United States provides Israel with crucial security and economic aid and invaluable political backing in the international arena. Amid the legitimate rapprochement President Obama has initiated with the Arab and Muslim world, it is important not to underestimate the multifaceted nature of U.S. relations with Israel, the only real Middle Eastern democracy whose founding principles are based on the Western values of liberty and freedom for all.

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Signs of Hope Emerge in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The first movie theater to operate in this Palestinian city in two decades opened its doors in late June. Palestinian policemen standing beneath new traffic lights are checking cars for seat belt violations. One-month-old parking meters are filling with the coins of shoppers. Music stores are blasting love songs into the street, and no nationalist or Islamist scold is forcing them to stop.

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July 16th

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discusses Palestine in her address to the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday (1). Former U.S. diplomat Thomas Pickering meets with Hamas officials in Switzerland (2). The group of U.S. Jewish leaders that met with President Obama on Monday report that the meeting has allayed their concerns about his approach to Israel and Mideast peace (3). The Palestinian Authority shuts down the Al Jazeera television network in the West Bank (5) (12). Prime Minister Netanyahu is reportedly considering attending and speaking at the UN General Assembly meeting in September (15). Quartet envoy Tony Blair lauds improvements made by the Palestinian Security Forces in the West Bank (18).

Palestinian Political Party Gears Up for Rare Meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Rachelle Kliger - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Fatah members will be gathering in Bethlehem in August for what will be the party’s first conference in 20 years. The general congress of the most prominent Palestinian political party has drawn a great deal of interest, as more than 1,500 delegates will be discussing the future of the movement that shaped Palestinian history, and electing a new leadership.

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Britain backs call for Israeli settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 16, 2009 - 12:00am

A freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank could help restart the peace process in the region, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday. "The deadlock has to be broken in some way," Brown told a committee of MPs. "I feel that if the Israelis were prepared to freeze settlement construction, there would be a response in the Arab world. And I think that is a way that you can see that movement forward could happen."

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