IDF Civil Administration pushing for land takeover in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - July 22, 2011 - 12:00am The IDF Civil Administration is taking steps to increase state-ownership of West Bank lands, an internal military document reveals. The policy enables increased construction not only around settlement blocs like Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion, but also in strategic areas like the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea. Until now it was not known that the administration, which is a military agency, was charged with distinguishing between the blocs Israel is demanding to annex as part of a final-status agreement and the rest of the settlements. » Read more

Abbas: UN approval will allow us to treat Israel as equals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by KHALED ABU TOAMEH - July 22, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday the Palestinians were seeking membership in the United Nations so they could enter negotiations with Israel as equal partners. Abbas said during a visit to Barcelona, Spain, that once the Palestinians gain membership in the UN, they would return to the negotiating table with Israel. “We want to go to the UN and the Security Council to ask for membership of Palestine in the UN,” the official Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Abbas as saying. » Read more

PNA warns of new measures to oppose Israeli policy on Palestinian prisoners ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 22, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority on Thursday threatened to take a series of measures to press Israel to stop recent policies against Palestinian prisoners. Minister of Prisoners Affairs, Eissa Qaraqe, said that the PNA would boycott the Israeli judiciary system and prisoners would stop appearing before Israeli courts. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have boycotted the Israeli courts as a symbolic protest that could end with issuing default judgment. » Read more

REFILE-Israel torn on apologising to Turks over Gaza ship ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - July 21, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, July 21 (Reuters) - Israel is debating whether to say sorry for storming a Gaza-bound Turkish activist ship last year, after its jurists recommended satisfying Ankara's demand for an apology to help fend off war-crimes lawsuits. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far voiced only "regret" for the navy's killing of nine pro-Palestinian Turks aboard the Mavi Marmara, but Israeli officials say support for a stronger show of contrition is spreading in his government. » Read more

Palestinians take their case for statehood to Turkey ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Agence France Press (AFP) - July 22, 2011 - 12:00am ISTANBUL // Palestinian officials said their foreign envoys would meet the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmud Abbas, in Istanbul tomorrow to discuss his efforts to win UN recognition of a Palestinian state. » Read more

Might some stay? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist July 21, 2011 - 12:00am EVERY Friday and often after school on other days, Israeli soldiers fire tear-gas and sonic bombs at the Palestinian children as they approach a spring. It sits in a valley that separates Nabi Saleh, an Arab village of 500 people half an hour’s drive north of Jerusalem, from Halamish, a religious Jewish settlement. On most nights jeeps roll through the village; over the past 18 months the Israeli army has detained 32 of its children, some as young as eleven. » Read more

BDS, the boycott law and Israel's democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Naomi Chazan - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am July 11, 2011 was a watershed in Israel's political history. The adoption by the Knesset of "The Law to Prevent Harm to the State of Israel via Boycott" (generally known as the boycott law), makes it a compensable civil wrong to publicly encourage a boycott against the state of Israel, its institutions or any territory under its rule. » Read more

PA reduces price of bread to counter economy crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 21, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – The Palestinian Authority ministry of national economy decided to lower bread prices from 4 to 3.5 shekels per kilo (10 slices). The decision goes into effect Saturday. Economy minister Hasan Abu Libdah announced the decision Wednesday at a news conference in Ramallah. He said the ministry would introduce a series of procedures during Ramadan to cope with the dire economic conditions. There will be monthly updates on the price, according to the production costs. » Read more

Seeking signs of health ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Samah Jaber - (Opinion) July 21, 2011 - 12:00am For those who lament the Palestinians' use of violence and sigh, saying, "Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?" here is the answer: Israel delegitimizes all tools of resistance. Most recently, the Israeli parliament passed legislation making it possible to punish any public call for economic, cultural or academic boycott of the Israeli occupation and its settlements. » Read more

What Obama needs to do ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) July 22, 2011 - 12:00am These are not the best of times for Americans, especially their leaders in government, President Barack Obama and Congress, in view of the bad state of the economy (i.e., the federal debt) and foreign policy, particularly towards the Arab world. Many here and there are pointing a finger at the president, or as one headline pointed out, “the too-quiet president”. An unidentified Republican, who expects Obama to win a second term in office next year, asked much-respected Washington Post columnist David Ignatius: “Why does he so often seem to react rather than lead?” » Read more