July 17th

Living apart together ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jerry Kindred - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am Ariel Atias is Israel's minister of construction and housing. Speaking at the Israel Bar Association in Tel Aviv recently, he said that Jews and Arabs shouldn't live in the same towns. He pointed to last year's Jewish-Arab riots in Akko as proof that we just don't get along. Atias said he intends to formulate and implement housing policies that create and perpetuate separate townships for Jews and Arabs. » Read more

In Jerusalem, battle of Palestinian day camps ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - July 17, 2009 - 12:00am As she hands out paper and magic markers, Basima Alian quizzes her young campers in a sing-songy voice. "How many times a day do we pray?" asks Ms. Alian, the head counselor. "Five!" They respond in unison. "Can a woman be muezzin?" she asks, referring to the individual who calls a Muslim community to prayer. "No, only a man," one boy answers. "How do we pray together in the mosque?" "Men in the front, women behind them," a girl says. » Read more

Arabs Need to Talk to the Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am We need fresh thinking if the Arab Peace Initiative is to have the impact it deserves on the crisis that needlessly impoverishes Palestinians and endangers Israel's security. This crisis is not a zero-sum game. For one side to win, the other does not have to lose. The peace dividend for the entire Middle East is potentially immense. So why have we not gotten anywhere? » Read more

How to Achieve a Lasting Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Ehud Olmert - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am Israel's partnership with the United States is one of its greatest strategic assets. The United States provides Israel with crucial security and economic aid and invaluable political backing in the international arena. Amid the legitimate rapprochement President Obama has initiated with the Arab and Muslim world, it is important not to underestimate the multifaceted nature of U.S. relations with Israel, the only real Middle Eastern democracy whose founding principles are based on the Western values of liberty and freedom for all. » Read more

Signs of Hope Emerge in the West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am The first movie theater to operate in this Palestinian city in two decades opened its doors in late June. Palestinian policemen standing beneath new traffic lights are checking cars for seat belt violations. One-month-old parking meters are filling with the coins of shoppers. Music stores are blasting love songs into the street, and no nationalist or Islamist scold is forcing them to stop. » Read more

July 16th

Palestinian Political Party Gears Up for Rare Meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Rachelle Kliger - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am Fatah members will be gathering in Bethlehem in August for what will be the party’s first conference in 20 years. The general congress of the most prominent Palestinian political party has drawn a great deal of interest, as more than 1,500 delegates will be discussing the future of the movement that shaped Palestinian history, and electing a new leadership. » Read more

Britain backs call for Israeli settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters July 16, 2009 - 12:00am A freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank could help restart the peace process in the region, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday. "The deadlock has to be broken in some way," Brown told a committee of MPs. "I feel that if the Israelis were prepared to freeze settlement construction, there would be a response in the Arab world. And I think that is a way that you can see that movement forward could happen." » Read more

Foreign Policy Address at the Council on Foreign Relations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm Thank you very much, Richard, and I am delighted to be here in these new headquarters. I have been often to, I guess, the mother ship in New York City, but it’s good to have an outpost of the Council right here down the street from the State Department. We get a lot of advice from the Council, so this will mean I won’t have as far to go to be told what we should be doing and how we should think about the future. » Read more

Palestinians suspend Al Jazeera in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm The Palestinian government shut down the West Bank operations of the Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera yesterday, a day after a guest on the station accused the Palestinian president of involvement in Yasser Arafat’s death. For the feisty news station – the Arab world’s most popular – the closure represents the latest clash with a Middle Eastern government. Israel often criticises it, Iraq has expelled it and Saudi Arabia only let it resume work recently after a long ban. » Read more

Shock of the new media ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Brian Whitaker - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am Whether true or not, the idea that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader who died rather mysteriously in 2004, had been deliberately poisoned continues to fascinate people. It's one of those stories that just won't go away – like the "murder" of Princess Diana and the various Kennedy assassination plots. » Read more