Israel advances PA NIS 180m. to ease finance crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel, in a “goodwill gesture” to the Palestinian Authority, gave Ramallah over the last few days a NIS 180 million advance on tax money it transfers on a monthly basis, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The money was transferred before Ramadan, which began Friday, to help the PA – currently in the midst of a severe financial crisis – pay the monthly salaries of public sector employees.

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NEWS: Efforts by PM Netanyahu to fracture the opposition Kadima party appear to have failed. Egypt is now reportedly allowing Palestinians to enter the country without advance permits, but Egyptian airport officials say they've received no such instructions. The Arab League endorses Palestinian plans to renew recognition efforts at the UN but does not set a date. Palestinian filmmakers try to depict life under occupation. Israel is concerned that Syrian nerve gas or rockets may end up in the hands of Hezbollah. A second group of Gaza families is allowed to visit relatives in Israeli jails. Israeli settlers reportedly seize large tracts of land, and Israel orders the demolition of eight Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank. Hamas leaders vow not to try to separate Gaza from the West Bank. Sacha Baron Cohen settles a slander suit with a Palestinian grocer he had depicted as a terrorist in “Bruno.” The PA fiscal crisis appears to be boosting support for Hamas. The EU is planning to upgrade its relations with Israel. In a “goodwill gesture” Israel transfers an advance to the PA on its tax revenues.COMMENTARY:Jodi Rudoren writes about attending a film festival in Jerusalem. Amira Hass recounts details of a raid on a Palestinian home by Israeli soldiers. Khaled Diab recalls Egyptian-Israeli relations immediately following the 1952 coup. Jeff Barak says Netanyahu has damaged his reelection prospects. Leonard Fein says the Levy Committee report threatens Israel's legitimacy. Michael Felsen says a recent short story about the dynamics at the checkpoint examines the common humanity of Israelis and Palestinians. Nathan Brown says Egypt isn't going to change its policies towards Israel and Palestine now, but eventually probably will. Jillian Kestler-D'Amours says Israel is literally walling itself in on all sides. Shaul Arieli says in expanding its occupation, Israel is ignoring the simple mathematics of demographics.

EU move to upgrade relations with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Phoebe Greenwood - July 22, 2012 - 12:00am

The EU will offer Israel upgraded trade and diplomatic relations in more than 60 areas at a high-level meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, just weeks after European foreign ministers warned that Israeli policies in the West Bank "threaten to make a two-state solution impossible". In advance of the annual EU-Israel Association Council on Tuesday meeting, a diplomatic source shared with the Guardian details of the package of benefits that will be offered to Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister.

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Palestinian Financial Crisis Boosts Support for Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Mohammed Najib - July 22, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is suffering an intensifying financial crisis that is threatening its stability and strengthening the rival Islamist Hamas. Palestinian security officials warn that if the international community fails to pay its pledges to the PA, it will not be able to pay salaries in the coming months.

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Sacha Baron Cohen settles slander suit with Palestinian grocer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 22, 2012 - 12:00am

A Palestinian grocer portrayed as a terrorist in the comedy "Bruno" has settled his slander suit against Jewish actor Sacha Baron Cohen and talk show host David Letterman, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

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Contrary to the laws of math
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shaul Arieli - July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

For years, Israelis have ranked low in the sciences and mathematics - 41 out of 64 countries, according to the Program for International Student Assessment tests. That is not surprising when one examines the conduct of the state with respect to teaching these subjects, especially in the past decade. Following are a few simple mathematical problems whose answers could have gotten more than half the country out in the streets demonstrating if we had only studied the way we should have in elementary school.

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Zahhar: Hamas will not separate Gaza from the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahhar on Sunday denied media reports that the Islamist group is considering declaring the Gaza Strip a separate entity from the Palestinian Authority controlled West Bank. "Such news is being disseminated by the enemies of Hamas seeking to maintain the siege on Gaza," Zahhar told Ma'an. "This issue hasn’t been addressed officially within Hamas, but some people posed it privately on their own," he added.

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Israel Walls Itself In
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours - (Opinion) July 20, 2012 - 12:00am

As Israel continues to build walls and fences along virtually each of its borders, analysts say the country’s isolationist policies and unwillingness to deal with the Palestinians and other Arab neighbours through anything other than forceful means spells disaster.

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Israel orders demolition of 8 Palestinian villages, claims need for IDF training land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the demolition of eight Palestinian villages in the South Hebron Hills because the territory is needed for Israel Defense Forces training exercises, the state told the High Court of Justice on Sunday. The residents of the targeted villages will be moved to the town of Yatta and its environs; the state claims, based on information it obtained from local informers, that most of these people have permanent homes in that area.

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Palestine Can Wait…For Now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Nathan J. Brown - (Opinion) July 20, 2012 - 12:00am

If an Israeli Rip Van Winkle had gone to sleep in 1992 and woken up in 2012 to find a news report that Palestinian leader Khalid Mishal had just concluded a meeting at the Egyptian presidential palace with President Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, he might wonder if a previously unknown but particularly jarring piece of apocalyptic literature had somehow found its way into the daily paper.  He might go so far as to frantically turn to the weather page to see if a temperature was still listed for Tel Aviv or i

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