Fayyad: West Bank raids, settlement construction must end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 9, 2010 - 1:00am

Greeting the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Political Affairs Oscar Fernandes on Monday, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stressed the importance of the UN’s role in compelling Israel to abide by its roadmap obligations.

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International donors, Palestinian officials discuss municipal projects
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Board of directors of the Palestinian Municipal Development Program held a meeting on Monday with international donors in Ramallah in the central West Bank, to discuss developments in municipal services. The conveners included Minister of Local Governance Khaled Al-Qawasmi, member of the board of directors Abdul Ghani Nofal and directors of PMDP as well as representatives of the World Bank, the German Development Bank, the French Agency for Development, the Danish Commission and the German Agency for Technical support.

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A real plan to build Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Two weeks ago the Palestinian Authority issued a detailed budget for the state and institution-building programme it adopted last August. The programme calls for Palestinians to unilaterally build the administrative, economic and institutional framework of an independent state in spite of the Israeli occupation and as a peaceful, constructive means of countering it.

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A real plan to build Palestine
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Guardian (Opinion) - February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

Two weeks ago the Palestinian Authority issued a detailed budget for the state and institution-building programme it adopted last August. The programme calls for Palestinians to unilaterally build the administrative, economic and institutional framework of an independent state in spite of the Israeli occupation and as a peaceful, constructive means of countering it.

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In the West Bank's stony hills, Palestine is slowly dying
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Robert Fisk - January 30, 2010 - 1:00am

Area C doesn't sound very ominous. A land of stone-sprinkled grey hills and soft green valleys, it's part of the wreckage of the equally wrecked Oslo Agreement, accounting for 60 per cent of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that was eventually supposed to be handed over to its Palestinian inhabitants.

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How Israel put the brakes on another Palestinian dream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
January 16, 2010 - 1:00am

The West Bank scene is all too familiar: yellow cranes lifting boulders, bulldozers scooping up soil, drills transforming a hillside set in a biblical landscape of rolling olive groves. But this is not another Jewish settlement under construction. Small Palestinian flags wave from the bulldozers, a hint that this is a nationally significant project, the start of the first planned city in modern Palestinian history.

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Focus on West Bank, Not Negotiating
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations
(Interview) January 13, 2010 - 1:00am

Elliott Abrams, a CFR expert who served as a senior Middle East adviser in the George W. Bush administration, says he questions the chances for a breakthrough in efforts to negotiate a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

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Work begins on first planned Palestinian city
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ben Hubbard - (Analysis) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am

ATARA, West Bank -- Work crews have broken ground on what they hope will be the first modern, planned Palestinian city - a step officials say will help build an independent state in spite of the current deadlock in the peace process with Israel. But without Israeli approval of a short stretch of road, the $500-million project may never get off the ground. "We could build the whole city, but the question is, would people live in a city that doesn't have an access road?" said Bashar Masri, managing director of the company behind the project. "Obviously, the answer is no."

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Fayyad: PA will clear West Bank of settlement products
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Editorial) January 6, 2010 - 1:00am

Salfit – Ma'an – Before tossing goods made in Israeli settlements into a fire on Tuesday, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad affirmed the dedication of the Palestinian Authority to ridding local markets of the goods, and ridding the West Bank of the settlements entirely. The products being tossed were all found in the Salfit municipality, southeast of Nablus. They were found on trucks and in shops in the district, and would have been for sale to Palestinians. Much of the time goods from settlements are discounted or spoiled.

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US market brief expects several growth sectors in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 1, 2010 - 1:00am

Bethlehem - Ma’an - Growth in several Palestinian sectors including energy and telecommunications is expected over the next few years, a report by the US Commercial Service published Tuesday. The Service, a division of the US Department of Commerce, highlights opportunities for American investors in emerging market.

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