A Palestinian Village Tries to Protect a Terraced Ancient Wonder of Agriculture
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 25, 2012 - 12:00am

BATTIR, West Bank — In this scenic Palestinian village in the West Bank hills near Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, a week is said to last eight days, not seven. That is because Battir’s eight extended families take daily turns watering their crops from the natural springs that feed their ancient agricultural terraces, a practice they say has wor

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Palestinians not to turn their issue into Lebanese dispute
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Visiting Palestinian Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Ahmad said Thursday that the Palestinians refuse to turn their issue into an internal Lebanese dispute, the National News Agency reported. Ahmad, in charge of the issue of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, had met with Lebanese Army Commander General Jean Qahaji and House Speaker Nabih Berri since arrival on Thursday.

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Foreign powers inciting clashes in Lebanon camps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Wassim Mroueh - June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Regional powers are exploiting the hardship of Palestinian refugees in the country in order to spark violence in refugee camps and push their agendas in Lebanon, a top Palestinian official said Thursday. “[Some regional powers] exploited the sufferings of the people of Nahr al-Bared and the fact that they are outraged by the unfinished construction of the camp and strict security measures imposed by the Army,” Azzam al-Ahmad told The Daily Star.

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Lally Weymouth interviews Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Lally Weymouth - (Interview) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

“If only we could clone him,” a senior U.S. official said to me recently, speaking about Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Held in great respect by foreigners, Fayyad may soon find himself out of a job if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (also called Abu Mazen) forges a national unity government with Hamas. This past week, Fayyad sat down in the West Bank city of Ramallah with The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth. Excerpts:

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PA fines date traders for selling settlement produce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 21, 2012 - 12:00am

JERICHO (Ma'an) -- PA consumer protection officials fined two traders in the West Bank for selling dates from Israeli settlements in violation of the government's boycott, a press statement said Wednesday. The dealers, from Jericho and Tulkarem, were ordered to pay $11,900 shekels ($3,000) and sign a commitment not to sell settlement goods, the consumer protection unit of the national economy ministry said.

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Palestinian anti-corruption court secures conviction but raises questions of bias
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Karin Brulliard - June 20, 2012 - 12:00am

A two-year-old Palestinian court charged with combating corruption handed down its first major conviction this month, ruling that a man widely considered a pretty big fish — the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s former economic adviser — had embezzled millions of dollars.

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Hamas-Controlled Gaza Celebrates Morsi Victory with Little Hope
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Omar Ghraieb - June 20, 2012 - 12:00am

Loud speakers attached to mosques across the Gaza Strip rang out with happiness news of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammad Morsi’s victory in Egypt’s presidential run-off election. Gazans appeared to be elated as word of the victory by the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party standard-bearer spread throughout Gaza. 

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UN expert slams censorship by Israel, Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CBS News
June 20, 2012 - 12:00am

GENEVA — The government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza are all unduly limiting free speech through restrictive laws, intimidation and censorship, a U.N. human rights expert said Tuesday. The global body's independent investigator on freedom of expression, Frank La Rue, said the measures have had a chilling effect on the work of journalists and peaceful activists, and urged Israel and the Palestinians to uphold international standards on free speech.

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Encountering Peace: Unity, disunity and peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

From what I hear around the area, once again the reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas have re-entered the freezer. Just last week the parties announced that on June 20, Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal would be announcing a new transitional government supported by both movements without any direct or representatives of either. The task of the transitional government was to prepare new elections for president of the Palestinian Authority, the PA Legislative Council and the Palestinian National Council of the PLO.

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Anti-corruption chief: PLO, PA officials under investigation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Several top-ranking Palestinian officials are under investigation by the Palestinian Authority anti-corruption commission, the head of the anti-graft body said this week. Rafiq al-Natsheh confirmed PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki faces an inquiry by the commission. He declined to comment on the accusations against al-Malki, in comments on Ma'an TV program More Than a Question, to be broadcast Saturday night.

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