Gaza Christians protest 'forcible conversions'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Dozens of Gaza Christians staged a rare public protest Monday, claiming two congregants were forcibly converted to Islam and were being held against their will. The small but noisy demonstration showed the increasingly desperate situation facing the tiny minority. Protesters banged on a church bell and chanted, "With our spirit, with our blood we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Jesus."

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Palestinians to request Arab support in Arafat's probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 15, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian delegation to the Arab League (AL) will demand support for an international investigation into the death of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Palestinian officials said on Sunday. PLO senior official Saeb Erekat said he will use the emergency meeting next Tuesday to discuss new facts suggesting that Arafat was poisoned. The meeting was requested by Tunisia following an investigative program on the Arabic news channel al-Jazeera, aired on July 3. The AL is meeting in Doha, Qatar next Sunday.

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Palestinian president to meet Morsi next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will hold their first meeting next week, a Palestinian official said on Thursday. Senior PLO member Saeb Erekat said that Abbas will visit Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the Palestinian issues, among them the reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party. In his inauguration speech following the Egyptian election in June 2012, Morsi reaffirmed his commitment to end the Palestinian political divide and to support the Palestinian people.

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Palestinian officials hesitant on Arafat autopsy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am

In an apparent flip-flop, Palestinian investigators looking into Yasser Arafat's death said Thursday they want to review reports from a Swiss lab before deciding whether to exhume the leader's remains.

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Israel poisoned Arafat with polonium: nephew
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Nasser Abu Bakr - July 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel poisoned the late Yasser Arafat with the lethal radioactive substance polonium, a nephew of the veteran Palestinian leader alleged on Thursday. But Israel denied the accusation, saying it was "not involved" in Arafat's death at a French hospital in November 2004. "We accuse Israel of killing Yasser Arafat by poisoning him with that lethal substance," Nasser al-Qidwa told AFP, referring to polonium, traces of which were recently found on clothing worn by the ailing leader.

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U.S. lawmakers slam Mahmoud Abbas for alleged corruption
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

On Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Ehud Olmert to congratulate him on the Jerusalem District Court decision that acquitted him of two major corruption charges that led to his resignation as Prime Minister. In an apparent coincidence, the same day in Washington, the House Subcommittee on the Middle East dedicated a large part of its hearing to a discussion on Abbas' alleged corruption in a hearing titled “Chronic Kleptocracy: Corruption within the Palestinian Political Establishment.”

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Palestinian Authority Escalates Crackdown on Journalists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Lena Odgaard - July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Earlier this month, Palestinian police beat several journalists as they covered a non-violent protest in Ramallah, according to news reports. This incident is just the latest in a series of cases over the past six months where Palestinian journalists have experienced a significant crackdown on attempts to criticize Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority. The judiciary is reinterpreting laws dating back to the 1960s that criminalized defamation of officials as the basis for arrests, intimidation of journalists and blocking web sites.

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Abbas to visit Saudi Arab seeking financial aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will travel to Saudi Arabia on Friday to request urgent help to overcome the financial crisis faced by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), a local official said on Wednesday. Nimer Hammad, Abbas's political adviser, said that the visit is to deal with the financial crisis in order to alleviate it.

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Abbas' Iran visit to explore options, not appease Ahmadinejad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will make his first-ever visit to Iran next month, when he attends the Non-Aligned Movement Summit to be held in Tehran. "Historically speaking, this forum and its meetings have been extremely important for the Palestinians during the last 30-40 years," Prof. Bassem Zbeidi of Birzeit University told Xinhua on Monday. "We have plenty of supporters in this organization and Palestinians have a very good record in attending its meeting," he added.

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Palestinians call local elections for October 20
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Nasser Abu Bakr - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian government in the West Bank on Tuesday said it would hold local elections in October across the Palestinian territories, sparking anger from Gaza's Hamas rulers. "The Palestinian cabinet approved during its meeting today, chaired by prime minister Salam Fayyad, conducting local elections on October 20, 2012 in all local councils in the homeland," a statement said after the meeting.

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