2nd group of Gaza families visit relatives in Israeli jails
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

A group of families from the Gaza Strip visited relatives in Israeli jails early Monday, in the second visit of its kind since 2007, a prisoners group said. A bus carrying 52 people set out from the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City to the Erez crossing, before family members were transferred to Nafha prison facility, Gaza-based prisoners group Waed said. The Palestinian liaison department said only 33 out of a group of 57 family members were allowed to continue their journey by Israeli authorities.

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A story addresses solidarity across Israeli roadblocks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Michael Felsen - (Book Review) July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

“Means of suppressing demonstrations,” a short story by 25-year old Israeli author Shani Boianjiu that recently appeared in the fiction slot of the prestigious The New Yorker magazine, has garnered plenty of attention in the few weeks since it was published. Set at a checkpoint on a closed, deserted road in the West Bank, it explores a range of questions about human dignity and the effects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on both the occupier and the occupied. Commentators are sharply divided on what the author intends with this simple story.

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Sacha Baron Cohen settles slander suit with Palestinian grocer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 22, 2012 - 12:00am

A Palestinian grocer portrayed as a terrorist in the comedy "Bruno" has settled his slander suit against Jewish actor Sacha Baron Cohen and talk show host David Letterman, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

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Israel, When the Lights Go Down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - (Film Review) July 21, 2012 - 12:00am

Sitting in a darkened movie theater one recent morning, I had to suppress the urge to clap along as a dozen young male adherents of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov — well, actors playing Breslovers — danced around their black-hatted rabbi to an improvised ditty, “Ani lo yodea klum,” Hebrew for “I don’t know anything.” The rabbi had started the romp with that simple statement, trying to explain that wisdom was in the text for the taking.

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Hamas speaker of Palestinian parliament released
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel on Thursday released one of the Islamic militant Hamas movement's most senior members, the speaker of the now-defunct Palestinian parliament. Abdel Aziz Dweik, 64, was freed after serving six months without charges, his aide Baha Mahmoud said. Israel confirmed the release. Hamas defeated the Fatah movement of internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2006 parliamentary elections. After the vote, Israel began arresting Hamas legislators in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

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Arab League to form committee to probe Arafat's death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 18, 2012 - 12:00am

The Arab League (AL) decided on Tuesday to set up an independent committee to probe the death of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The committee will work with the Palestinian side and Arab and international bodies to reveal the details behind Arafat's death, according to a statement issued after a meeting of the pan-Arab body's permanent delegates. The AL urged Palestinian investigators to provide all information available and other countries, especially France, to support the committee's work.

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Was Yasser Arafat Poisoned?
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Voice of America - July 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in 2004 of a sudden illness, which led to a fury of conspiracy theories that have never died down.  The rumors surrounding his death were revitalized recently after a the Lucerne-based Swiss Institute of Radiophysics found traces of the deadly radioactive agent polonium  on Arafat’s clothing and personal effects.  So what has prompted this investigation into Arafat’s death - and could an autopsy of his remains finally put a rest to this enduring mystery?

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Palestinian camp shelters 2,000 displaced Syrians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinians in a refugee camp near Damascus on Wednesday welcomed more than 2,000 displaced Syrians fleeing fighting that has spread to the Syrian capital. The Syrians came to al-Yarmouk camp from neighborhoods throughout the area, but many are from Al Tadamon which locals say has been bombed heavily by the Syrian army. Sources in the camp said Palestinians have organized into civil teams to organize shelter for those displaced, housing people in family homes, mosques and schools. They also formed medical teams to treat those who are injured.

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Police launch campaign against child labor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Police took to the streets of Tulkarem on Tuesday to raise awareness about a campaign to stop child labor and begging, a statement said. Accompanied by a committee set up to fight child labor, police toured Tulkarem's markets and main streets. Sixteen children aged between 11-16 were taken to the police station for questioning, and their parents were called to explain that child labor is illegal.

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Was Yasser Arafat Poisoned?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America
by Cecily Hilleary - July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in 2004 of a sudden illness, which led to a fury of conspiracy theories that have never died down.  The rumors surrounding his death were revitalized recently after a the Lucerne-based Swiss Institute of Radiophysics found traces of the deadly radioactive agent polonium  on Arafat’s clothing and personal effects.  So what has prompted this investigation into Arafat’s death - and could an autopsy of his remains finally put a rest to this enduring mystery?

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