July 6th

Israel seeks Arab response for settlement building freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - July 5, 2009 - 12:00am

The Barack Obama administration is continuing its efforts to draft a comprehensive agreement for freezing West Bank settlement construction and normalizing relations between Israel and the Arab states. Meanwhile, Israeli officials told U.S. envoy George Mitchell in recent weeks that Jerusalem is willing to temporarily freeze settlement construction, but that the move would be conditioned on substantive steps from the Arab side, as well as guarantees from the United States.

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Israeli doctors to train Bil'in protesters in first aid at site of disputed security fence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ilana Strauss - July 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Physicians for Human Rights will be offering a first aid course on July 11 near the security barrier at the West Bank village of Bil'in for protesters to help them deal with injuries they incur in almost weekly confrontations with what the group's doctors call an aggressive Israeli occupation. "In a way, they are going to risk themselves," said Ron Yaron, director of the international group's occupied territories department, who explained the need for medical assistance in the West Bank.

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Lieberman has become irrelevant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) July 6, 2009 - 12:00am

It's been 100 days since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was sworn-in, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's impact on foreign policy has been negligible. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been handling ties with the U.S.; President Shimon Peres has been in charge of dealing with the Arab world and Lieberman and his office have faded into irrelevance.

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Israel's settlements in West Bank present a major hurdle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - (Opinion) July 6, 2009 - 12:00am

This sprawling, well-manicured Israeli settlement -- with its rows of red-tile roofs, palm trees and air-conditioned shopping mall -- could almost pass for Orange County. Except the guards in this gated community sometimes pack automatic weapons. Settlements such as the city-sized Maale Adumim, about four miles east of Jerusalem in the West Bank, are viewed by much of the world as illegal because they are built on land seized by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War. Many Israelis see Maale Adumim as part of their country.

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Music event puts global spotlight on Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - July 5, 2009 - 12:00am

It is not often Palestinians get a chance to see best- selling international artists up close and personal. Once a year, however, the Palestine International Festival offers exactly such an opportunity, and, judging by the packed outdoor venue at the Ramallah Cultural Palace on Friday, it is an opportunity people are keen not to miss.

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Hamas arrests Palestinian woman for not wearing headscarf
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - July 6, 2009 - 12:00am

Hamas security forces detained a Gazan journalist at a beach over the weekend because she was not wearing a headscarf. Asma al-Ghul, who writes for the Palestinian daily Al-Ayam, said she was at the beach near the Shati refugee camp with a mixed group of friends when men in civilian clothing asked her why she was not wearing a headscarf. When she asked them who they were, they showed her Hamas security forces identity cards. She said that when questioning her, the men accused her of "laughing out loud" and walking around the beach without a male escort.

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The difference a "comedian, actress, activist and dancing gimp” can make
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Deema Dabis - July 6, 2009 - 12:00am

"I think that the biggest difference I make is that I actually show people that a disabled person can be members of society. "They look at me and they go woah, she walks funny but she seems to have all this power and she has no fear and her eyes are always looking straight ahead, she doesn't look down,” said founder of Maysoon’s Kids, Maysoon Zaayid. “I want people to think that hey, if I can do that, there is hope for my kid.”

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Fayyad: Jews can be equal citizens in Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday said that Jews would enjoy freedom and full civil rights in a future Palestinian state, according to a report in the Aspen Daily News. "Jews, to the extent they choose to stay and live in the state of Palestine, will enjoy those rights and certainly will not enjoy any less rights than Israeli Arabs enjoy now in the state of Israel," Fayyad said in response to a question from former CIA director James Woolsey at the Aspen Institute's Ideas Festival.

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July 2nd

ATFP Translation: The Palestinian Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Quds
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - (Opinion) July 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Over the last few weeks, we witnessed three speeches by three leaders at three universities: United States President Barack Obama and his speech at Cairo University, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his speech at Bar Ilan University, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and his speech at al-Quds University.

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ATFP provides two original translations, first Mohammad Daraghmeh’s piece on Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Palestinian diplomacy (1), and second, Hassan Khader's article on the Palestinian Left (2). An agreement on a proposed Israeli settlement freeze remains elusive (8) (15) (16). A report issued yesterday by Amnesty International finds that Israel inflicted 'wanton destruction' on Gaza during the war in January (5) (7). Veteran peace negotiator Dennis Ross is appointed to the U.S. National Security Council (4). German Chancellor Angela Merkel demands Israel cease settlement construction in the West Bank (11). Tensions increase between Fatah and Hamas in the West Bank after President Abbas' allegation of an assassination plot by Hamas militants (12).

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