September 14th

After Negotiations, Israel Emerges on Twitter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner<br />, Raphael Minder - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel has acquired the user name @israel on Twitter, the microblogging Internet service, from the Spanish owner of a pornographic Web site, in an unusual transaction intended to help Israel exercise more influence over its image. The owner of the user name, Israel Meléndez, got it in 2007, when Twitter was in its infancy. He struggled to use his account, however, because every posting prompted a flood of anti-Semitic or anti-Israel comments from Twitter users, in a case of mistaken identity.

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Israel and Palestinian Leaders Extend Egypt Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler<br /> - September 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority held nearly two hours of face-to-face talks in this Red Sea resort on Tuesday in a second round of negotiations that delved into the core issues dividing them but did not yet break an impasse over Jewish settlements. President Obama’s special representative to the Middle East, George J. Mitchell, said he was encouraged by the overall direction of the talks but declined to say whether the two sides made any progress on a dispute over Israel’s moratorium on settlement construction, due to expire on Sept. 26.

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Hillary Clinton headed to Mideast for talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen<br /> - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launches an intense week of Middle East diplomacy in Egypt Tuesday, joining Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for their next round of face-to-face peace talks. She begins in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, then plans to move on to Jerusalem on Wednesday and the West Bank and Jordan on Thursday.

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Bringing the Palestinian economy out of recession
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 14, 2010 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The potential for the Palestinian economy to rise out of the recession caused by the outbreak of the Second Intifada and a dramatic increase in per capita GDP are deeply entrenched in the success of talks. "Economy is related to politics. There is no way one can sustain complete economic growth without complete stability in politics," says Jawad Sayyed Al-Herbawi, the adviser to the mayor of Hebron and a business development expert.

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Settlers receive 22% more budget grants than other Israelis, probe shows
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson<br /> - (Analysis) September 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Every Israeli settlement in the West Bank, including those that are relatively well-off, is entitled to receive a "balancing grant" from the Interior Ministry to help it balance its budget, even though such grants mainly exist to help less well-off communities.

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September 13th

ATFP Board Member Daoud Kuttab Named as One of 60 World Press Heroes
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - September 13, 2010 - 12:00am

On Monday the International Press Institute will honor ATFP Board Member and journalist Daoud Kuttab as one of 60 world press heroes as part of its 60th annual celebrations held in the Austrian capital, Vienna. Kuttab will be joined by other regional journalists Mai Chediack from Lebanon and Nizar Nayouf from Syria as well as Israeli journalist Amira Hass.


PM Netanyahu signals flexibility on settlement building, and says Palestinians must recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.” Pres. Obama says negotiations may first focus on borders. Jackson Diehl asks which leader is bluffing. Ron Grossman urges giving peace a chance. Three Palestinians are killed by Israeli shelling in northern Gaza. Israel is allowing car parts into Gaza. Palestinian negotiators deny infighting. Peace Now says over 2,000 new settlement units will be built when the partial moratorium expires on Sept. 26. Ha'aretz looks at the plight of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. Settlers vow to keep building no matter what and threaten to topple the Netanyahu government. A Bedouin village in southern Israel is raised for the fifth time in a few weeks. The end of Ramadan shows unmistakable signs of prosperity in the West Bank. The Palestinian labor group launches international campaign to boycott settlement products. The Arab News says Palestinians cannot continue negotiating with settlement construction ongoing.

Editorial: Unsettled issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) September 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Abbas will not be able to continue talking while Israel continues building With the expiration of Israel’s partial freeze on settlements only two weeks away, President Barack Obama is concerned. The “major bone of contention” he referred to over the weekend is the potential lifting of the settlement moratorium which could wreck the talks before they get out of first gear. The president’s credibility and the future of talks depends on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Palestinian federation launches campaign against settlement products
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Mohammed Mar’i - (Analysis) September 11, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian federation of Laborers on Saturday launched an international campaign to boycott the products of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories. Shaher Sa'ad, Secretary-General of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), told Arab News that his federation lunched the international campaign to boycott the products of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories.

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Rush of openings on West Bank is sign that prosperity is returning
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Analysis) September 10, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH // On the eve of Eid al Fitr, Rukab Street was gripped in the traditional holiday fervour. Hijab-clad women and their Christian counterparts, in knee-length skirts and floral shirts, bumped shoulders as they thronged shoe stores and sweet shops for last-minute bargains. Employees at coffee shops busily scrubbed their storefronts in anticipation of customers after iftar. Unlike previous years, the end of the holy month came amid unmistakable signs of prosperity.

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