Interview with Bassem Khoury
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
(Interview) July 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Q: Mr Khoury, as Minister of National Economy, you obviously have your work cut out for you. Where will you start? A: My first priority has been to draft a 100 day plan for the Ministry. I presented this plan to the Prime Minister on 2 June. The plan has been approved and work has already begun. Q: What are the main priorities set out in the plan?

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One Piece of a Larger Puzzle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
by Ian Bomberg - July 14, 2009 - 12:00am

As the new U.S. administration lays the groundwork for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is worth considering how such a process might unfold. On a recent visit to the West Bank and Israel, I witnessed the importance of an integrated approach that combines progress on political negotiations, implementation of Road Map obligations and day-to-day realities. Economic progress is a key component in this strategy and must be fostered, but development will only be sustainable and help bring an end to the conflict if it is carried out in concert with advancement on other fronts.

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World Bank to give Palestinians $33.5m. in aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - July 14, 2009 - 12:00am

The World Bank on Tuesday announced plans to spend an additional $33.5 million on Palestinian infrastructure initiatives, including $21.5 million for six Gaza projects. The new aid was announced in the morning at a signing ceremony in Ramallah attended by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad and Dina Abu Ghaida, the World Bank acting country director for the West Bank and Gaza (WBG).

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Signs Of Economic Life Return To West Bank City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
by Peter Kenyon - July 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Nablus is stirring to life after Israel recently eased restrictions on movement in and out of the embattled West Bank city, site of some of the heaviest fighting during the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, from 2000 to 2005. The main Israeli checkpoint is now open to Palestinian traffic, and signs of economic life are emerging. But the people of Nablus have learned more than once that economic revitalization and greater freedom can be fleeting

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In Palestinian town, business booms after Israel relaxes checkpoints
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 6, 2009 - 12:00am

Nablus, West Bank - The downtown streets in this Palestinian city bustle with pedestrians and echo with the bleating of taxis vying for road space. During the recent Palestinian uprising, activity in the second-largest city and commercial capital of the West Bank was choked off by Israeli security roadblocks and frequent gunfire from roaming militant gangs. But for the first time since 2000, the Israeli military has loosened movement restrictions around Nablus, opening up the city to Palestinians around the West Bank and to Arab citizens of Israel who come to shop.

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Gaza industries struggle to rebuild
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Heather Sharp - June 26, 2009 - 12:00am

One of the building's corners stands on a precariously buckled concrete pillar. But the small assembly line swishes on in the middle of the vast room, spitting out blue-wrapped ice lollies. Al-Wadiya group, Gaza's largest food manufacturer, suffered extensive damage during Israel's 22-day military operation in January. But six months later, recycled scrap metal covers a gaping hole, and the factory is making ice-cream again. Just. Before the conflict, Chairman Yaser al-Wadiya employed 276 people to make 127 food products. Now 45 employees produce only four items.

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What have we gained?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Hadas Ziv - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am

The blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip has been in place for two years, and who can even remember its aims by now? How did Palestinian civilians become the target of Israel's defense establishment?

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Israel: Markets without borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

“Buying local” can help reduce a shopper’s carbon footprint. It can also unify warring neighbors – such as Israelis and Palestinians now working under the radar of big business and government officials to form organic-food co-ops. The goal: Avoid pesticides and circumvent the military closures, which keep most Palestinian produce from getting to Israeli markets. To do so, groups of Israelis buy produce directly from Palestinian organic farmers in West Bank villages and then sell it to a network of people in Israel who are interested in buying “green market.”

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Israeli actions curb Palestinian growth - World Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Major projects and investments spearheaded by Middle East envoy Tony Blair and Western powers to promote economic growth in the Palestinian territories have had little effect, the World Bank said on Thursday. The international lending agency said in a report Israeli restrictions on the Palestinians was holding up many of the projects. It said efforts led by the U.S. government under former President George W. Bush to promote private sector investment had made little tangible difference.

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AIPAC delegates lobby for two-state solution
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In Arab News - May 5, 2009 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON: To thunderous applause, former Republican House leader Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama’s policies in the Middle East, promoted military action against Iran, and assailed diplomatic engagement as weakness at the American Israel Political Action Committee’s (AIPAC) annual conference in Washington. Just before he went on stage late yesterday, Gingrich told The Jerusalem Post that the president’s policy with Israel and Iran was a “fantasy” and that Obama was “endangering Israel” by trying to work toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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