Israel must keep much of Golan: Netanyahu aide ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters July 9, 2009 - 12:00am Israel is ready to withdraw from areas of the Golan Heights, but it will not give up large parts of the occupied territory in any peace deal with Syria, a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. National Security Adviser Uzi Arad also said in an interview with Haaretz newspaper published on Friday that as part of a statehood deal that settles the conflict with the Palestinians, Israel should be granted NATO membership. » Read more

Gaza war rubble will take a year to clear - UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters July 9, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian workers will need one year to clear a half million tonnes of concrete rubble from Gaza Strip districts bombed and bulldozed by Israeli forces during their winter offensive, the United Nations said on Thursday. The United Nations Development Programme was beginning its rubble removal project six months after the 3-week war ended on Jan. 18, with still no idea of when organised reconstruction could begin, said the UNDP's Jens-Anders Toyberg-Frandzen. » Read more

Judenrein! Israel adopts Nazi term to back settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - July 9, 2009 - 12:00am Hosting the German foreign minister this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used an especially tainted term to condemn the Palestinian demand that Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank be removed. "Judea and Samaria cannot be Judenrein," a Netanyahu confidant quoted him as telling Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Asked how Germany's top diplomat responded to hearing the Nazi Holocaust term for areas "cleansed of Jews," the confidant said, "What could he do? He basically just nodded." » Read more

Signs Of Economic Life Return To West Bank City ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR) by Peter Kenyon - July 10, 2009 - 12:00am Nablus is stirring to life after Israel recently eased restrictions on movement in and out of the embattled West Bank city, site of some of the heaviest fighting during the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, from 2000 to 2005. The main Israeli checkpoint is now open to Palestinian traffic, and signs of economic life are emerging. But the people of Nablus have learned more than once that economic revitalization and greater freedom can be fleeting » Read more