October 12th

Discrimination against Arab women
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am


The rate of workforce participation among Arab women is only 28 percent, compared to 80 percent for nonreligious Jewish women. The barriers preventing Arab women from looking for work are many, but one of the main ones is their exclusion from the job market. That is what emerges from an analysis published this week by Prof. Eran Yashiv of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, based on new unemployment data generated by changes in how the Central Bureau of Statistics conducts its employment survey.


Occupation Tourism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Shmuel Rosner - (Blog) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am


MOUNT GERIZIM, West Bank — Last week, with family in tow, I took the day off to go on an organized tour of the West Bank. The trip started in Peduel, a Jewish settlement half an hour from central Tel Aviv. It’s a scenic spot. Ariel Sharon used to call it “the balcony of Israel”: located on top of a mountain in the Samaria region, Peduel reveals below the big cities of Israel that lie near the Mediterranean shore.


‘Holy Jihad’ is the only way to deal with Israel, says Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood chief
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Elhanan Miller - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am


Egypt’s foremost Muslim Brotherhood official called on the Arab world Thursday to replace negotiations with Israel with “holy Jihad,” claiming that if Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount they will destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and supplant it with the third temple.


Gaza's precious space and the cost of real estate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Jon Donnison - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am


On a horse and cart winding his way through his olive grove, sun-kissed in the early evening autumn sunshine, I meet Hamed Talba. A policeman by trade, Hamed has recently become a man of the land. He's not really cut out as a farmer, striking something of an urbane figure. But this was an investment and it has proved very lucrative. "I bought this plot for $90,000 (£56,000) in 2010," he tells me as he shows me round his land on the outskirts of Gaza City.


Rare twist as Palestinians, Israeli settlers cooperate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 12, 2012 - 12:00am


Saed's village, Khirbet Zakariya, is in a part of the West Bank under full Israeli administrative and security control. As a Palestinian, he cannot build without Israeli permission, which is often extremely difficult to secure. "Settlers came to visit the village three years ago and were surprised when they saw how little housing there was," he told AFP.


Rights groups: Protect Palestinian olive trees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - October 12, 2012 - 12:00am


Five human rights groups on Thursday penned an urgent letter to the IDF and the police urging security forces to do more to protect Palestinian olive trees in the West Bank. Although the olive harvest only began on Wednesday, there have been a high number of vandalism incidents this week starting on Sunday, said B’Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli. Her organization – along with Rabbis for Human Rights, Yesh Din, Association of Civil Rights in Israel and Hamoked – plan to send their letter to the security forces in the coming days.


Israel Police to set up 'Jewish terror' unit in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am


A new department in the Judea and Samaria District Police will be formed to deal with Jewish terrorists, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided on Wednesday. This unit is set to play a key role in the fight against attacks perpetrated by right-wing ideologues in the West Bank.


West Bank settlers stealing tons of soil from Palestinian land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am


Roughly a month ago, infrastructure work began in one of the house-trailer neighborhoods in the West Bank settlement of Ofra. Brown soil was needed to cover the foundations. In properly functioning places, such soil is bought and paid for, but not in Ofra. Tzvi, a local farmer, nicknamed “Kishu,” found an alternative: He sent a rented tractor and truck to the outskirts of the settlement, next to the Palestinian villages of Silwad and Deir Dibwan, where they simply stole dirt. Tzvi claims that the land belongs to him.


PA, Jordan sign agricultural cooperation agreements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 5, 2012 - 12:00am


BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority agriculture minister on Friday said a number of cooperation agreements signed with Jordan will benefit Palestinian producers. During a brief trip to the West Bank on Thursday, Jordanian Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh signed a number of trade deals with the Palestinian Authority. Agriculture minister Walid Assaf said these included exchange of scientific expertise between the two sides to boost agricultural productivity.


West Bank, Gaza university staff to strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 10, 2012 - 12:00am


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- University staff will go on strike Tuesday over ongoing wage disputes with the Ministry of Education, a union chief said Thursday. Amjad Barham, head of the union for university professors and staff, told Ma'an that staff in the West Bank and Gaza would strike on Tuesday and for two days the following week. He said the ministry continued to ignore the union's demands, despite a meeting on Wednesday with Minister of Education Ali Jarbawi.



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