PA wraps up store-to-store campaign
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 6, 2010 - 12:00am

After visiting most of the shops in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority Minister of the Economy Hassan Abu Lubda said the "store-to-store" campaign promoting the boycott of settlement goods had come to an end. A statement announced the end of the project, which saw hundreds of volunteers coordinated by government and bodies to go to shops - mostly food and mini-markets - with lists of goods produced in settlements and promoting the government-led boycott.

»

Gaza siege damages Palestinians' health - study
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Kate Kelland - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian health experts studying the impact of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip say it threatens to cause long-term damage to Palestinians' health, with many children at risk of stunted growth or malnutrition. In a series of studies published in the Lancet medical journal on Friday, researchers also said Israel's attack on the region in early 2009 had a devastating effect, causing injury, displacement and social suffering, particularly among children.

»

Gaza young man uses his voice to defy physical disabilities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Ahmed Daloul - June 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Leaning on crutches, the physically disabled Osama Abu Safar, resident of Gaza City, went everyday to work at Fursan al-Iradah (Knights of Will) radio station. He defied the life's intricacies, mainly the lack of living means, care and accommodate for Gaza disabled people. Abu Safar, 27, born in Libya with disability in both legs, never thought about surrendering to the reality of his physical disability. He insisted with determination and challenged to achieve a proper position for himself in the society of the Gaza Strip.

»

Disbanding Palestinian Authority a Possibility- PA Spokesmen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Kifah Zaboun - June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator and official in charge of the negotiations dossier in the PLO, stressed that the option of disbanding the Palestinian Authority [PA] will be put on the table shortly if a two-solution solution is not reached. He however did not set a time frame for dissolving the PA but hinted at the end of this year. In a statement over telephone from New York, where he is currently visiting, he said: "I will not go back on what I said; Israel cannot possibly believe that it will remain the source of power [for the PA] for good."

»

Palestinian says women's rights forgotten in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - (Interview) June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Naila Ayesh's path to becoming a Muslim activist for women's rights began when she miscarried in an Israeli detention center in 1987 after being arrested for belonging to a Palestinian student union. Today Ayesh, 49, founder of the Gaza Strip-based Women's Affairs Center, has become one of the only feminist voices in the seaside territory that was seized three years ago by Hamas, an armed Palestinian group that aspires to impose Islamic law.

»

Racing Palestinian girls speed into record books
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian women are speeding into the record books by competing on an all-female car racing team — the Speed Sisters. Along the way, they're crashing through another gender barrier in this conservative Muslim society. The eight women have entered a popular race called "Speed Test." Souped-up cars race around a track, weaving their way around obstacles and spinning circles around others. The all-female team is a first for the event.

»

The danger of an Islamized Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

The slim owner of Gaza City's Gallery cafe has sharp eyes and a sharp tongue. It's easy to imagine him conversing with artists and actors — he is also a theater director — far into the night. But he crossed a line. He allowed female patrons at his cafe to smoke hookah pipes and to talk with men. He ignored demands by plainclothes police to rein in "immoral" behavior. In early May, police interrogated and accused him of having extramarital affairs.

»

History still hurts as Lebanon agonises over Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Emile Hokayem - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Three years ago, Fatah al Islam, a jihadi group based in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al Bared in northern Lebanon, launched a bloody attack on the Lebanese military. In the next three months, most of the camp was destroyed and dozens of civilians, nearly 200 Lebanese soldiers and several hundred fundamentalist militants – most of them not Palestinians – were killed.

»

ATFP co-hosts discussion of 'Budrus'
Press Release - June 23, 2010 - 12:00am

American Task Force on Palestine, Just Vision, Churches for Middle East Peace, Americans for Peace Now, and the Foundation for Middle East Peace   co-hosted a discussion from the Award-Winning Documentary Film on Weds, Jun 23, 2010 at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Budrus:


Hamas: PA continues to detain top members
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority security forces detained two top Hamas affiliates in the West Bank on Monday night, the Islamist movement said The two detained were identified as chief of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds TV Nawaf Al-Amar and Deputy Nablus Mayor Mahdi Al-Hanbali. A Hamas statement said the two were among 14 Hamas supporters detained by PA forces overnight. In 2007, during the peak of Palestinian political infighting, Al-Hanbali was abducted by Fatah gunmen and held hostage for three days before his release.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017