Bethlehem traders still waiting for Christmas cheer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Erika Soloman - December 1, 2009 - 1:00am

The lights are going up and carols are ringing from Manger Square, but Christmas cheer hasn't spread to all of Bethlehem's residents. While calm has returned to the Biblical birthplace of Jesus, scene of heavy fighting during the Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, in the early years of this decade, big-spending foreign tourists have mostly not, say the shopkeepers and restaurant owners who depend on them for their livelihood.

»

Islamic Movement gathers steam in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Dina Kraft - November 30, 2009 - 1:00am

It's time for noon prayers in this Israeli Arab city, and a jumble of sneakers piles up outside the doors of a mosque on the top floor of a private high school for the sciences. Inside, the boys, led in prayer by a math teacher, stand in two rows on a soft green-and-beige carpet and then kneel in unison. The $5.8 million tab to construct the high school, considered one of the top Arab schools in Israel with its state-of-the art physics and chemistry labs, was picked up by the Islamic Movement.

»

Abbas: Palestinians won't launch new intifada, despite frustration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinians will not launch a new uprising against Israel despite their frustration at the deadlock in U.S.-sponsored peace efforts, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday. Israel has rejected U.S. calls to freeze settlements in the West Bank where Palestinians seek statehood, and Abbas - eyeing the internal challenge from his Islamist Hamas rivals - has refused to yield on this core demand and revive negotiations.

»

Palestinian 'community center' contests shutting down order
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Aviad Glickman - November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Employees of the Nadiel Center in Jerusalem's Old City filed a petition with the High Court of Justice Monday against the police, who closed down the center in July on the grounds that it was serving as meeting point for terrorists belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The petition says the establishment serves as a community center which gives health tips to civilians and support to teens, and that it is funded by European donations.

»

Apathy, as Mahmoud Abbas abandons an irrelevant presidency
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

A political leader’s decision not to seek re-election usually triggers fervent discussion about potential heirs. Yet, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ withdrawal from the presidential election scheduled for January 24, 2010, has produced nothing of the kind in Palestine – not because of a dearth of leadership or a reluctance to mention possible successors, but because the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has become irrelevant.

»

Israel & Palestine: Can They Start Over?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books
by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley - (Analysis) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

1. The idea of Israeli–Palestinian partition, of a two-state solution, has a singular pedigree. It has been proposed for at least eight decades. Jews first accepted it as Palestinians recoiled; by the time Palestinians warmed to the notion in the late 1980s, Israelis had turned their backs. Still, its proponents manage to portray it as fresh, new, and capable of leading to peace. International consensus on a two-state agreement is, today, stronger than ever. Meanwhile, interest among the two parties most directly concerned wanes and prospects for achieving it diminish.

»

Palestinians looking to U.S.-style suburban housing, financing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

The hills around this city have seen plenty of construction, often the distinctive red-roofed homes favored by Israeli settlers. But the bulldozers and laborers active here recently are laying foundations and building roads for a different type of development -- planned communities targeted to middle-income Palestinians, including one billed as the first "new city" for Palestinians in modern memory.

»

Palestinian panel to sidestep vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

To keep the Palestinian Authority government working after its term expires in January, Palestinians are turning to an unelected group of political insiders instead of holding new elections, according to Palestinian officials and outside analysts.

»

Israeli expert: World would recognize Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

More than 130 United Nations member states would recognize a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, Israeli international law expert Moshe Hersh told Israeli TV on Saturday evening. According to Hersh, “Mahmoud Abbas can declare a Palestinian state nowadays because 100 countries will certainly support his decision, in addition to 30 others who are likely to vote for the decision. “Furthermore, there will be European support, even though it will not be overwhelming. The US intends to oppose the Palestinian decision, yet the limited European support will be embarrassing to the US.”

»

Fayyad: We won't accept fragmented state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

“We will not accept a fragmented state, and we refuse all interim and transitional solutions. The eastern border of the state of Palestine is Jordan," said caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday. Fayyad's comments follow former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's initiative to announce a Palestinian state on temporary borders, a proposal staunchly rejected by Palestinians officials.

»


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