Palestinians' low salaries also linked to Israeli social struggle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Interview) August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

"A financial crisis in the Palestinian Authority" - that is a convenient description of the situation where, on the eve of Ramadan, the Ramallah government is (again ) unable to pay the full salaries of its 150,000 public sector employees. This is a short, but very inaccurate description, however. The crisis, says economist Raja Khalidi, is in the status quo that Israel has enjoyed since the Oslo Accords: Israel is in control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip - and Palestinian society and the donor countries finance the cost of this domination.

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Abbas ‘feels he’s above the law,’ charges Dahlan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - July 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Ousted Fatah official Muhammad Dahlan over the weekend launched a scathing attack on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, accusing him of dictatorship and financial corruption. He said that more than $1 billion have gone missing from a fund that was handed over to Abbas after he was elected president in 2005. Dahlan’s attack on Abbas came after PA security forces raided the former Fatah commander’s home in Ramallah on Thursday, arresting his bodyguards and confiscating weapons and armored vehicles.

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Dahlan must get what he deserves
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Opinion) July 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Mohammad Dahlan, a former member of Fatah Central Committee, returned to Palestine from Jordan in the hopes of challenging his sacking from the Fatah party. Instead, his appeal has been rejected and his home has been searched and bodyguards arrested. Palestinian police removed weapons, files and computers from his house. He is now being investigated for corruption and murder charges in a case which is to be referred to the attorney-general.

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Palestinian security forces seize weapons in Dahlan house raid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 28, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian security forces raided the Ramallah house of ousted Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan early Thursday morning, after his appeal against expulsion from the party was rejected on Wednesday. At around 7 a.m. police, preventive security and national security forces encircled the home of the former Gaza security chief. Forces raided the house on motorbikes and gunshots were heard as Dahlan's security guards tried to escape, a Ma'an correspondent said.

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Palestinian October elections 'only in the West Bank'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 28, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (AFP) -- Palestinian local elections in October will only be held in the West Bank as Hamas is hampering preparations in Gaza, a senior electoral official said on Wednesday. Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, the official said the government had informed the Central Elections Commission (CEC) of a decision taken earlier on Wednesday. "The elections committee was informed today by the government that it had decided to hold municipal elections only in the West Bank on October 22," he said.

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Before a Diplomatic Showdown, a Budget Crisis Saps Palestinians’ Confidence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - July 27, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — As the Palestinian Authority faces some of the hardest choices in its history regarding relations with Israel, membership in the United Nations and unity with Hamas, it is mired in a severe economic crisis, leading many here to a sense of foreboding and despair.

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Palestinian leader wants rallies to back UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 27, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Invoking the Arab Spring, the Palestinian president on Wednesday urged his people to take to the streets for massive rallies in support of his government's bid to get the U.N. to recognize an independent Palestinian state. The call by President Mahmoud Abbas for peaceful, "popular resistance" throughout the West Bank was likely to fuel Israeli concerns that the U.N. vote in September and any large demonstrations could spark a new round of violence.

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PA minister: No plans to ease settlement boycott
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 26, 2011 - 12:00am

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority's economy minister Hassan Abu Libda said Monday that during 2010 settlement products were substantially reduced throughout the Palestinian marketplace. “It is shameful for us as Palestinians to support settlement activities and to contribute to their well-being while they’re occupying and confiscating our land,” Libda said. The law banning sale of such goods put a big dent in the settlement economy, which was estimated at some 200 million shekels per year when it was last legal to buy and sell them in 2010, he said.

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2 convicted collaborators executed in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 26, 2011 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The government in the Gaza Strip announced Tuesday that two residents accused of collaborating with the Israeli occupation have been executed. Gaza's Interior Ministry told Ma'an that execution orders were issued in 2004 and were postponed several times until the crimes of the accused could be thoroughly proven. The two prisoners were executed on Tuesday morning. They were not identified.

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PNA warns of new measures to oppose Israeli policy on Palestinian prisoners
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 22, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority on Thursday threatened to take a series of measures to press Israel to stop recent policies against Palestinian prisoners. Minister of Prisoners Affairs, Eissa Qaraqe, said that the PNA would boycott the Israeli judiciary system and prisoners would stop appearing before Israeli courts. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have boycotted the Israeli courts as a symbolic protest that could end with issuing default judgment.

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