July 20th

Gaza’s First Development Project in Years ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Benjamin Joffe-Walt - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am A group of Palestinian IT entrepreneurs have launched the first internationally funded economic development project in the Gaza Strip since Hamas took over the coastal strip. The project, “EnTeG_: Enable Technology sector Growth in Gaza”, aims to help Gazan software developers use the Internet to get around Israeli export restrictions. The French Development Agency will grant 500,000 euros to the Palestinian Information Technology Association of Companies (PITA) to create the Gaza Strip’s first private sector development project in years. PITA announced receipt of the grant on Monday. » Read more

When is a border not a border? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by David Newman - (Opinion) July 20, 2010 - 12:00am When is a border not a border? When it is a security barrier. Or so, our politicians will tell us as they continue to live in a state of denial that the heavily fortified and electrified security fence/wall which has been constructed during the past six years around much of the West Bank is no more than an antiterror prevention device and that it has little, or no, significance for the eventual demarcation of borders between sovereign and independent Israeli and Palestinian states. » Read more

Settlements and anti-Zionists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am November 6, 2012 – that’s the date when Barack Obama will stand for election for a second term. By November 2011 he will already be deeply involved in campaigning and most of his attention will be focused on Middle America and not the Middle East. On November 2, midterm elections will be held in the US in which members of Congress (including all 435 in the House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 in the Senate) stand before the electorate.The US political calendar is a map of the window of opportunity which might exist for advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace. » Read more

Silwan children live in fear ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ronen Medzini - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am Jewish and Arab residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood described life in the shadow of clashes in the area during a hearing in the Knesset Committee for the Rights of the Child on Monday. The Arab parents told of arrests of children in the middle of the night, that their kids live in fear. Should they want to play in a nearby playground, the parents said, the children have to take a taxi to get there. On the other hand, Jewish parents complained that their children must travel in armored vehicles out of fear that rocks will be thrown at them. » Read more

Israel denies presenting Egypt with map of Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury, Barak Ravid - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bureau on Tuesday firmly denied reports that the Israeli leader had presented Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with a map delineating the borders of a future Palestinian state during their meeting in Cairo earlier this week. The London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat quoted an Israeli source as saying that the Egyptian president rejected the proposal as out of hand, and it did not meet the Arab League's demands for a state based on 1967 borders with negligible amendments. » Read more

Next two weeks decisive as Palestinians mull over direct talks with Israel: analysts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Omer Othmani, Osama Radi - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming two weeks would be decisive as the Palestinian leadership would hold a series of meetings to study the U.S. call for moving from the four-month proximity talks to direct talks with Israel, analysts said. Palestinian observers also expect that the U.S. would increase its pressure on the Palestinians and the Arab states to promote the peace process. » Read more

Israel nabs Hamas cell accused of deadly shooting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Matti Friedman - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Israel has arrested five Palestinians accused of being members of a Hamas cell responsible for killing an Israeli policeman in the West Bank, the Shin Bet security service said Monday. It said the men, all in their 20s, confessed to killing the policeman near the West Bank town of Hebron on June 14 and handed over three Kalashnikov rifles they used. The arrests were carried out a week after the attack, which wounded two other policemen, but were only made public Monday in a statement released to the media. » Read more

Israel: Rocket defense system ready to go ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mark Lavie - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A system that can shoot down incoming rockets has passed its last tests and will be ready for deployment in a few months, Israel's Defense Ministry said Monday. If effective, it could have far-reaching strategic implications for Israel's battle against militant groups on its borders. The "Iron Dome" system uses sophisticated radar to track incoming rockets, intercepting and destroying them far from their targets. It is the only anti-rocket system of its kind in the world, according to experts. » Read more

Early release for soldier who killed British activist ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 20, 2010 - 12:00am Bethlehem - Ma'an - An Israeli soldier convicted of shooting dead a British peace activist has been granted an early release from prison, the Israeli press reported Monday. A military committee accepted Taysir Hayb’s appeal, and he will be free in one month, the Israeli news site Ynet reported Monday. Hayb shot Tom Hurndall, who died aged 22, during an incident on Gaza’s southern border. » Read more

Ashton asked to send observers to Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 20, 2010 - 12:00am Ramallah - Ma’an - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held a second meeting Monday with officials in Jerusalem, where dignitaries stressed the centrality of the holy city in Palestinian life and culture. Ashton was in Palestine as part of her second Middle East trip. » Read more