UN says Gaza unemployment rate at 45% ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 11, 2011 - 1:00am The unemployment rate in Gaza has continued to climb in 2011, reaching 45.4%, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told reporters in Gaza City on Wednesday. At a news conference for the UN Relief and Works Agency, Gunness warned that the increasing unemployment was a sign of a hugely fragile Gaza economy, which he described as on the "brink of collapse." Israel's continued siege on the coastal enclave, Gunness warned, would push the economy over the edge. » Read more

Reading Hebron – review ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Michael Billington - February 14, 2011 - 1:00am No one could accuse this theatre of ducking the Arab-Israeli conflict. A year ago it staged an absorbing play, Ben Brown's The Promise, about the Balfour Declaration of 1917 supporting the principle of a Jewish homeland. Now it brings us a 15-year-old play by Toronto-based Jason Sherman about a massacre that took place in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in 1994. While it would be comforting to say Sherman's play feels like old news, what is shocking is just how urgently relevant it seems. » Read more

Israel to build more East Jerusalem homes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 15, 2011 - 1:00am Jerusalem's municipal council on Monday approved the construction of 120 new homes in the Jewish settlement neighborhood of Ramot in annexed East Jerusalem, a councilor told AFP. "It's not good news," Pepe Alalu of the opposition Meretz party said. "They approved 120 housing units in Ramot... there were two permits authorized, one for 56 housing units and another for 64." » Read more

Hamas: PA cabinet shuffle 'superficial' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 15, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority cabinet shuffle is a "superficial change with no hint of reform," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Monday. PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad handed his cabinet's resignation letter to President Mahmoud Abbas following an early morning cabinet meeting Monday. Barhoum said the move was a weak attempt to legitimize upcoming elections in the West Bank. » Read more

A JNF Drive To Make the Desert Bloom Means Destruction for a Bedouin Village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - February 9, 2011 - 1:00am In American Jewish memory, the Jewish National Fund’s historic blue pushkes, or charity boxes, evoke warm images of hard-earned pennies given to the group’s mission of redeeming the Land of Israel through planting trees. But to the Bedouin of Al-Arakib, a village in the Negev, the group’s current forestation plans mean the destruction of their homes and what they say is the theft of land they have owned since the beginning of the 20th century. » Read more

A JNF Drive To Make the Desert Bloom Means Destruction for a Bedouin Village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - February 9, 2011 - 1:00am In American Jewish memory, the Jewish National Fund’s historic blue pushkes, or charity boxes, evoke warm images of hard-earned pennies given to the group’s mission of redeeming the Land of Israel through planting trees. But to the Bedouin of Al-Arakib, a village in the Negev, the group’s current forestation plans mean the destruction of their homes and what they say is the theft of land they have owned since the beginning of the 20th century. » Read more

Revolution in Egypt should prompt peace talks between Syria and Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Bilal Y. Saab - (Opinion) February 14, 2011 - 1:00am The resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the ensuing political transition in Cairo has created a wave of uncertainty over the strategic politics of the Middle East, carrying both risks and opportunities for US interests and allies in the region. One potential and less-than-obvious opportunity is to relaunch peace talks between Syria and Israel. » Read more

Dennis Ross To Speak at J Street Conference ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) February 14, 2011 - 1:00am Dennis Ross, the senior adviser to President Obama on Middle East issues, will address this year’s J Street conference, the group said. Ross, seen as an administration hard-liner on Iran and as arguing for greater consideration of Israel’s needs in peace negotiations, would be a coup for the group, which consistently has come under fire from the right and from some Democrats for not being sufficiently pro-Israel. The White House did not immediately comment on J Street’s announcement. » Read more

Palestinian cabinet quits as Fayyed is reappointed PM ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) February 15, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian cabinet has resigned, months before elections due in the summer, as the leadership sought to reaffirm its legitimacy after the collapse of talks with Israel, and uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. The move, which has been on the cards since last year, was announced at a cabinet meeting in Ramallah and comes after mass public protests in Tunisia and Egypt calling for democratic reforms. » Read more

The Successes of Palestinian Authority Institution Building In Print by Ziad Asali - The Huffington Post - February 15, 2011 - 1:00am For decades, the political process simply meant negotiations about the often-repeated final status issues. Hopes were raised and then dashed in extended clusters of negotiations, numerous international conferences, TV appearances and commentaries by politicians and pundits that yielded no meaningful progress toward resolution of the conflict. » Read more