Is Israel a democracy? Five actions in 2010 that fueled the debate.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ariel Zirulnick - January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Rabbis' wives: Don't date Arab men A group of rabbis' wives penned a letter Dec. 29 urging Jewish women "not to date Arab men, not to work in places where Arabs are employed and not to volunteer for national service with them," the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

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Israel must allow Palestinians to protest in peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) January 4, 2011 - 1:00am

Jawaher Abu Rahmah, a 36-year-old kindergarten teacher, was killed over the weekend after she choked on tear gas while watching the weekly demonstration at her village. Residents and human rights activists from at home and abroad demonstrate against the separation fence that was built on village land. Abu Rahmah died less than two years after her brother Bassem was killed by a tear-gas canister fired directly at his chest at a similar protest. A third brother, Ashraf, was caught on camera as he was shot by Israeli soldiers while he was handcuffed.

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Israeli Military Officials Challenge Account of Palestinian Woman’s Death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - January 4, 2011 - 1:00am

BILIN, West Bank — Clashing narratives over the case of a 36-year-old Palestinian woman who died on Saturday is fast making her a new symbol of the enduring conflict here, with the Israeli military anonymously casting doubt on Palestinian accounts — backed by medical documents — that she died from inhaling tear gas.

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Today an orchestra, tomorrow a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Noam Ben Ze'ev - January 4, 2011 - 1:00am

On the night of May 7, 2004, silence reigned in the small, old auditorium of the Friends School in El Bireh. Daniel Barenboim, one of the greatest conductors of his generation, was about to raise his baton before the newly minted Palestine Youth Orchestra. Before the first chord was struck there was a sense of historic import - and the memory of a similar defining moment came to mind.

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Movement for equality
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Elad Smorzik - January 2, 2011 - 1:00am

On the pale parquet floor of the Rabeah Murkus Dance Studio in Kfar Yassif a few students are warming up to a backdrop of purple walls and a decorated Christmas tree. After Murkus hustles the last of the lingerers in the dressing room, samba music starts coming through the loudspeakers and the lesson in modern dance begins. Couple by couple, the youngsters bound along the length and breadth of the space, energetically carving the air.

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PA Minister: Palestinians Who Work on Settlements to Be Punished
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Ben Caspit - (Interview) January 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Dr. Hasan Abu-Libdeh, the Palestinian Minister of National Economy urges world boycott of settlement goods TML: Dr. Abu-Libdeh, a short time ago, legislation was passed that makes it a criminal act for a Palestinian to work in an Israeli community located on land Israel acquired control over in the 1967 war -- settlements. At that time, Palestinian workers protested that the law took away their livelihood, but failed to provide an alternative. What’s the status of the law?

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WEST BANK: Palestine National Orchestra has its debut
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) December 31, 2010 - 1:00am

Today an orchestra, tomorrow a state. With these words, Suhail Khoury, director of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, introduced the Palestine National Orchestra in its debut Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

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Hamas stages Israeli attack to recall Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
December 30, 2010 - 1:00am

Hamas rulers have staged a mock attack by Israel to commemorate Israel's 2008 Gaza offensive. The re-enactment included loud booms, clouds of smoke, fake blood and rubble. Only the rubble was real. About 40 actors put on the show Thursday at an apartment tower heavily damaged in the war. Booms inside the building were followed by plumes of smoke and children's screams. Medics rushed to evacuate children covered in red paint. A car burned nearby. About 200 people watched.

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Palestinians gain ground in PR, diplomatic war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Uriel Heilman - December 22, 2010 - 1:00am

In the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict, score some recent victories for the Palestinians. It’s not that Israel has given an inch in the territorial dispute over the West Bank, or that the Palestinians in Gaza have achieved new military victories against the Israelis, despite increased rocket and mortar fire from the coastal strip in recent weeks. Rather, the Palestinians have scored a series of diplomatic and public-relations successes against a Jewish state weakened by fraying relationships and a declining reputation internationally.

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Poll finds Palestinians afraid to criticize authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - December 21, 2010 - 1:00am

A Palestinian public opinion poll published Monday in the West Bank city of Ramallah found out that only a quarter of the Palestinians in the West Bank believe they can criticize the Palestinian Authority. In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, the record was even worse as less than a fifth of the Palestinians there believed it is possible to criticize Hamas rule of the coastal enclave.

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