July 23rd

U.S. upgrades diplomatic ties with Palestinians in bid to woo Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff, Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid - July 23, 2010 - 12:00am The U.S. announced this week that it would upgrade its diplomatic relations with the PA by granting its mission in Washington - which is actually a PLO mission - the same status it enjoys in most European countries: that of a PLO "general delegation." This is still a lower status than an embassy - a status the PA mission does have in many African and Asian countries, as well as some European and South American states. But it is a major step above what the PA has had until now. » Read more

Fighters turn to theatre to advocate Middle East peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Phoebe Greenwood - (Blog) July 23, 2010 - 12:00am In a list of unlikely places to look for peace in the Middle East, the Israeli Defence Force has to come top. But the field of amateur dramatics definitely comes a close second. Enter Combatants for Peace, a group of Israelis and Palestinians who have been trained to fight either in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) or as Palestine's Fatah paramilitaries, but have now put down their guns and together taken to the stage. The group, formed in 2005, perform sketches based on their own experiences of war to promote a "non-violent" resolution to the conflict. » Read more

Egypt's Mubarak says to continue efforts for Middle East peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 23, 2010 - 12:00am Egypt seeks to bring about peace and achieve stability in the Middle East region without any hidden agendas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Thursday. Egypt will continue its efforts for fair peace, an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, said the president in his speech on the eve of the 58th anniversary of the country's July revolution. The president said Egypt has sacrificed a lot for the Palestinian cause. » Read more

Gaza tunnel smugglers cutting through Egypt's wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Karoun Demirjian - July 23, 2010 - 12:00am A Palestinian tunnel smuggler with a blowtorch sliced through an underground steel wall early Thursday, the latest of what officials say are hundreds of holes cut into the Egyptian barrier meant to stop smuggling of goods, cash and weapons to the blockaded, Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Smugglers say the wall was never a serious obstacle, and they are far more worried about competition from consumer goods being brought to Gaza legally, now that Israel has eased its closure of the Palestinian territory. Rare Associated Press Television News footage showed the smuggler breaching the wall. » Read more

In Order Not to be Fooled by Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Osman Mirghani - (Opinion) July 23, 2010 - 12:00am The Israeli writer Gideon Levy described Benjamin Netanyahu as a huckster and con-artist in his article [Tricky Bibi] that was published in the Haaretz newspaper on 15 July 2010. Why? » Read more

Islamic Jihad man killed in south Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 23, 2010 - 12:00am A fighter with the Al-Quds Brigades was killed in southern Gaza on Thursday night, the Islamic Jihad movement announced, saying the death came as the young man performed a "Jihadist mission." In a statement mourning the loss of Hatem Mohammad Al-Bardawil, 22, the brigades explained that he was "killed in a missile shelling that targeted him while he was on a mission” east of Al-Qararra, near Khan Younis. » Read more

Aid ships from Lebanon won't reach Gaza - Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Louis Charbonneau - July 23, 2010 - 12:00am Israel warned the United Nations on Thursday that two ships preparing to sail from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip to bring aid to the blockaded territory would not be allowed to reach their destination. "The stated intention of these vessels is to violate the existing naval blockade of Gaza," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Nigerian Ambassador Joy Ogwu, the current president of the Security Council. » Read more

‘Lonely country’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) July 23, 2010 - 12:00am The outgoing Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev, has lamented to American journalists that Israel is “the most isolated, lonely country in the world”. Would that were so. It certainly deserves to be. But like so many Israeli assertions this is a wild exaggeration, in this case a crude attempt to tug the heartstrings of American public opinion knowing that it is the motor that drives White House foreign policy. » Read more

Gaza: Women take on new kinds of work ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 23, 2010 - 12:00am While unemployment in Gaza remains as high as 70 percent, women have become breadwinners for families as traditional jobs in factories and construction disappear in the thick of Israel's siege. With women increasingly involved in the informal economy, some say they have pushed out men in cases, now competing for the same low-level jobs wherever they can be found. » Read more

Abbas warns Fatah to get organized or die ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz July 23, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned the Fatah party he leads that its days are numbered unless it puts its house in order. His remarks underscore the troubles facing a party in decline since the death of Yasser Arafat, its co-founder, in 2004. The movement's weaknesses have contributed to the rise of the Islamist group Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip for three years. » Read more