July 16th

Official: Palestinian figures responsible for Arafat's death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 16, 2012 - 12:00am


A Palestinian intelligence officer and member of an official investigation committee on Sunday accused Palestinian figures of killing late president Yasser Arafat. Fahmi Shabana made the comments during an interview with Israeli journalist Yoni Bin Manahim, which was published Sunday on Israel's Reshet Bet new-site. Shabana said that two Palestinian figures were involved in Arafat's death, a security figure from the Gaza Strip and a political figure who helped cover up the crime.


Abbas to ask Arabs to set date for new UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 15, 2012 - 12:00am


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will announce to the Arab League (AL) his decision to seek Palestinian membership in the United Nations, a Palestinian official said Sunday. Abbas will ask the AL's Arab-Israeli relations committee to set a date for submitting the Palestinian request to the UN General Assembly, said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator. The committee will meet next week in Doha, Qatar. The decision comes as Israeli officials failed to meet their Palestinian counterparts to revive the peace talks that have been stalled for two years.


Palestinian PM to meet Clinton in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 16, 2012 - 12:00am


Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday during her visit to Israel, a Palestinian official said. Ghassan al-Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian government, said that Fayyad will head to Jerusalem to meet with Clinton, who arrived in Israel Sunday. Clinton will not visit the Palestinian territories as she did in her last tour in the Middle East two years ago. Al-Khatib said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is visiting Italy and that he coordinates with Fayyad over the meeting with Clinton.


Gazans visit relatives jailed in Israel after 5 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal al-Mughrabi - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am


Israel allowed 40 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to visit relatives held in Israeli jails on Monday, the first such visits in five years, implementing a deal reached in May that ended a prisoners' hunger strike, families and officials said. "Forty people - families of 24 prisoners - arrived a short while ago at the Ramon prison," a Prisons Service spokeswoman said, adding that visits from prisoners' relatives in Gaza would now be held on a weekly basis.


Israel to grant settlement subsidy, despite pledge
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am


The Israeli government has quietly agreed to grant subsidies to build more than 500 new homes in the West Bank, backtracking from a promise earlier this year to deny these incentives to the settlements, The Associated Press has learned. The planned construction, at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to shore up support among settlers, has enraged the Palestinians and could cloud a visit starting Sunday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as she tries to re-energize moribund Mideast peace efforts.


Special investigator dies in Palestinian custody
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am


A senior Palestinian official suspected of embezzling public funds fell to his death from the third-floor kitchen window of a West Bank security compound where he was being interrogated, officials said Monday. The official investigating the incident said Osama Mansour jumped and that there is security camera footage to prove it. Mansour's family and a leading human rights activist called for an autopsy in the presence of an independent doctor.


Hamas seeks new Gaza policy from Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am


Egypt's new president holds the key to blockaded Gaza, but he is signaling that he won't rush to help the territory's Hamas rulers by striking a border deal with them, even though they are fellow members of the region's Muslim Brotherhood. A bilateral border agreement between Egypt and Hamas could hurt chances of setting up a single Palestinian state, made up of the West Bank and Gaza, alongside Israel. "I don't think they (the Egyptians) are ready for that," said Palestinian economist and business leader Samir Hulileh.


July 13th

NEWS: Palestinian citizens of Israel face new quandaries over the prospect of mandatory national service. Israel's richest rabbis are demonstrating business acumen. New medical reports about the health of the late Pres. Arafat portray him as having been relatively healthy until a sudden decline immediately before his death. Arafat's sister calls on the PA not to perform any tests on his body. A Palestinian medical committee claims Arafat was poisoned, but says it can't confirm the use of polonium. Israel condemns UNESCO's decision to establish a chair at the Islamic University of Gaza. Israeli forces kill a man trying to illegally enter the country through the Egyptian border. 30 Palestinians are injured in a fireworks explosion near Ramallah. The head of British intelligence claims Iran is two years away from developing a nuclear weapon. Israeli immigration police are granted the power to deport foreign activists in the occupied Palestinian territories. A German neo-Nazi claims he was involved in the 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. A Jerusalem city counselor says Israeli authorities are disguising the true scope of Palestinian home demolitions. A young Palestinian singer is becoming an unlikely star in Israel. COMMENTARY: Nir Eisikovits says former PM Olmert is well-positioned for a return to public life and to lead a push for peace with the Palestinians. Sima Kadmon says PM Netanyahu would be the big loser if Olmert were to return to Israeli politics. Amira Hass says that while right-wing attacks on Palestinians continue, Israeli authorities are only arresting left-wing activists. Hirsh Goodman asks what the settler movement will do if the rest of Israeli society agrees that there is no occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Giles Fraser critiques a Church of England volunteer program in the occupied Palestinian territories. J.J. Goldberg points out the dangers to Israel of the Levy Committee's recommendations. Matt Duss looks at rhetoric about Israel and the Palestinians among American evangelical Christian groups. Aaron David Miller asks if the US really matters anymore in Egypt and Israel.

Does the U.S. matter any more in Egypt and Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) July 13, 2012 - 12:00am


Poor Hillary Clinton. Later this week and next, she'll have the unenviable task of visiting Egypt and Israel at a time when America's capacity to influence the policies of both countries has fallen to new lows. And not even the secretary of state -- a veritable superstar of persuasion -- can charm America back into a position of influence.


Arab singer in Israeli spotlight after talent show win
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
by Farhana Dawood - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am


A young Israeli Arab woman who won a popular Israeli TV music talent show has become an unlikely star in a country where suspicion and hostility often mark relations between Israel's minority Arab population and the Jewish majority. Nissren Kader won first place on a programme that seeks to find the best singer of Mizrahi songs - the musical tradition of Middle Eastern Jews. The past few months have been an incredible journey for Ms Kader, who used to work as a wedding singer in the coastal city of Haifa.



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