Women's Day: 'We need extra workshops for men'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Marking International Women's Day, Palestinian women seek freedom and a better life in a liberated state, while calling for equality in their society. Aisha Abu Shanab, the recent recipient of an award honoring Arab mothers, dedicated the title to all Palestinian women "who are mothers for the prisoners, the martyrs, and injured." Abu Shanab is the wife of late Hamas leader Ismael Abu Shanab, who was assassinated by Israel in 2003. Her son died in the Cast Lead assault on Gaza in 2008.

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Israel's Dreaded Tipping Point Has Finally Arrived
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by S. Daniel Abraham - (Editorial) March 8, 2013 - 1:00am

As President Obama prepares to visit Israel later this month, reports from administration officials indicate that he does not intend to focus on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but rather to discuss regional threats such as Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the continuing violence in Syria. But Obama should realize that Israel's continued presence in the West Bank is an existential threat to its continuity as a democratic, Jewish state -- and time is not on Israel's side.

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Large rally in Rafah in solidarity with prisoners
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Protesters in Gaza organized a massive rally Thursday in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails. Participants raised Palestinian flags, and held pictures of hunger strikers. They condemned aggressive Israeli practices. Palestinian national and Islamic factions participated in the rally. Rasmi Abu al-Ainin, a member of the the Palestinian Arabic Front political office, called for implementing national unity to support the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails.

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The Pro-Palestinian Left's Hamas Blindspot
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Peter Beinart - (Analysis) March 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Earlier this week, news that Hamas had barred women from participating in a marathon in the Gaza Strip scrolled across my twitter feed. Instantly, I knew two things. First, that “Pro-Israel” hawks would lambast the Islamist group without ever considering the way in which Israel and America’s policy of isolating Gaza makes it easier for Hamas to practice the very misogyny the hawks rightly condemn. Second, that the anti-Zionist left would say nothing at all.

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Abbas Offers Condolences to Venezuela over Chavez's Death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestine News Network
March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

On Wednesday 7th March, President Mahmoud Abbas mourned the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and offered his condolences to the Venezuelan people and government on behalf of the Palestinians, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported. Abbas said, in a statement, that the Palestinians had lost a friend who passionately defended their right to freedom.

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The Rise Of Palestinian Non-Violent Resistance: A Conversation With Mustafa Barghouti
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Raja Shehadeh - (Opinion) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Last Friday, I spoke to Dr. Mustafa Barghouti after he returned from commemorating the eighth anniversary of the weekly protests in the Palestinian village of Bil’in against the Separation Wall, which has denied the village large tracts of its agricultural land. Dr. Barghouti is the General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative, the Mubadara, which he, along with others, was instrumental in establishing in 2002 to introduce new political thinking.

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Is Oslo Dead?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Interview) March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

Oslo -- shorthand for a series of Israeli-Palestinian interim agreements done and undone between 1993 and 1999 -- was a heroic but ultimately failed effort to deal with an interminable problem that still eludes a solution: how to reconcile the conflicting national and religious claims of Israelis and Palestinians to a relatively small piece of real estate situated between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

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Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No 46
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestine News Network
March 7, 2013 - 1:00am

In view of the financial crisis that the Palestinian Authority (PA) suffers from due to the delay in transferring tax returns from Israel and the delay of funds from the Arab countries, strikes organized by trade unions influence everyday life in the West Bank.

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Hamas's ban on women running Gaza marathon is a missed opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Nabila Ramdani - March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

Anyone who takes part in a long-distance run knows there will be plenty of problems to overcome, but the Gaza marathon was always going to be in an endurance class of its own. When I registered for this year's race, my concerns were certainly less about my personal training schedule than about global conflict. The length of the blighted Palestinian territory is slightly shorter than the 26 miles and 385 yards required for an official marathon course, making its densely packed population particularly vulnerable to military action by its neighbour Israel.

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Palestinian leadership not to revive peace talks before Obama's visit: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

The Palestinian leadership has no intentions to revive peace talks with Israel ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East trip this month, a Palestinian official said Wednesday. "The Palestinian-U.S. contacts to prepare for Obama's visit were limited to explaining the Palestinian position and the requirements of resuming peace process," said Mohammed Ishteya, a member of the Palestinian negotiating team.

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