July 29th

Netanyahu: Israel's government will fall if settlement freeze continues ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - July 29, 2010 - 12:00am Continuing the construction freeze in West Bank settlements after it expires on September 26 would be impossible politically and would bring down the coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Moratinos told Netanyahu that the European Union's position was that Israel should continue the freeze. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has conditioned direct talks with Israel on a continued construction freeze. » Read more

Hamas bans lingerie displays in Gaza Strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News July 29, 2010 - 12:00am Scantily-clad mannequins and pictures of underwear models are to disappear from clothes shops in the Gaza Strip after officials announced new rules. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, said that the new rules were to protect "public morality". The ruling comes two weeks after the organisation banned women from smoking water pipes. Hamas has repeatedly denied it intends to impose Islamic Sharia law in Gaza. It has so far taken only limited steps to enforce modesty and prevent the sexes from mixing in public. » Read more

Going to direct talks with Israel is Palestinian decision: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 29, 2010 - 12:00am A Palestinian official said on Wednesday it is the Palestinians who decide to go to direct talks with Israel or not. "This is a sheer Palestinian decision," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio. "It's the Palestinian leadership who decides on peace-related issues." Erekat's comments came a day before the 13-member Arab Peace Initiative follow-up committee meets in Cairo to discuss the United States' calls to start direct negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. » Read more

After four years, Gaza remains home ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Mahmoud Habboush - (Opinion) July 29, 2010 - 12:00am f my first visit home to Gaza after more than four years was a drama, seeing my mother would have been its climax. It would have been the inevitable conclusion that every thread in the story leads to. And it was. For days I had been thinking about when I would see her. There is something about mothers, something heavenly that makes them the centre of the universe. There is something about home that makes me feel the same way. » Read more

Arab League to reject direct Palestinian-Israeli talks: analyst ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by David Harris - July 29, 2010 - 12:00am When foreign ministers of Arab League (AL) member states meet on Thursday, they will consider whether to approve a Palestinian move towards direct talks with Israel. Ahead of that session, Israel, the United States and France have been trying to persuade regional players that face-to-face negotiations are the only sensible way to make progress. However, regional experts told Xinhua on Wednesday they think the representative body of the Arab world will reject direct negotiations at this stage. » Read more

Will someone please pay attention to the suffering? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) July 29, 2010 - 12:00am Once again the summer heat is upon us. And once again, people's anguish, and appeals at the overcrowded King Hussein Bridge are melting as quickly as an ice cream cone in the Jordan Valley's high temperatures. » Read more

Gaza, W. Bank must be reunified before any deal with Israel: Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 29, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said here on Wednesday that reunification of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip must be carried on simultaneously with the Palestinian- Israeli peace process, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. In a meeting with editors-in-chief of Egyptian newspapers in Cairo, Abbas reviewed the latest developments in the Palestinian arena, especially those concerning the peace process and efforts aiming to resume direct negotiations and achieve Palestinian reconciliation. » Read more

Easing of siege - 'largely cosmetic and self-serving' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) July 29, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's easing of the siege and blockade of Gaza is largely cosmetic and self-serving. Israel has opened the gates to all food and clothing items but only 150 lorry loads enter Gaza when the crossings are open. Consequently, the volume of goods entering Gaza has only increased from 17 per cent of the amount before Israel began to impose its blockade in 2006 to 25 per cent at the present. » Read more

Arab League backs Palestinians on restarting talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by SALAH NASRAWI - July 29, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian president is refusing to move to direct peace negotiations with Israel, as the Arab League meets Thursday to decide whether to add its weight to U.S. and Israeli pressure for face-to-face talks. Mahmoud Abbas is under strong U.S. and European pressure to restart direct talks that were frozen in 2008. But the Palestinian leader said he would only do so if Israel agrees to a complete halt in settlement construction and accepts a Palestinian state in territories seized in the 1967 Middle East war — the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. » Read more

Editorial: ‘A prison camp’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) July 29, 2010 - 12:00am The new British Premier David Cameron appears unafraid to speak his mind. Visiting his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday, he described Gaza as “a prison camp” and urged the illegal Israeli blockade be lifted. » Read more