The Doha Declaration and the Palestinian Mindset
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yisrael Harel - (Opinion) February 15, 2012 - 1:00am

I don't know what developments the Doha declaration will generate at the internal Palestinian level. It certainly won't produce peace between Israel and the Palestinians. When Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared that Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) "chose Hamas over peace" this was a correct yet trivial statement.

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REFILE-Palestinian Authority, Battling Debt Crisis, Raises Taxes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Sawafta - February 15, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority approved income tax rises on Tuesday, pushing the top rate to 20 percent, as it seeks to tackle a debt crisis aggravated by lower-than-expected foreign aid revenues including the freezing of U.S. aid last year. The top tax rate will rise from 15 percent to 20 percent, a cabinet statement said, effective from this year. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was last month forced to back down on doubling the rate to 30 percent after a public outcry.

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Egypt to monitor work of reconciliation committee
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Egypt is to start monitoring the performance of the public freedoms committee, a member told Ma'an on Monday. Khalil Assaf, a committee member from the West Bank, said that a meeting was held Sunday in Cairo with Egyptian officials, who recommended that Egypt monitors the committee's work in order to overcome obstacles it has been facing in the West Bank and Gaza. Another meeting is scheduled to be held on Feb. 21 to follow up with what has been achieved on the ground.

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The Slow Turn Toward Palestinian Non-Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Arieh O'Sullivan - February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

Sami Awad is wrapping up a day of training with Palestinian women leaders in Bethlehem, another step in the effort not only to empower women, but to extend the concept and practice of non-violent popular resistance. “At the theoretical level,” Awad says. “I would say that the idea of non-violence is becoming more accepted. The criticism we had is going down.”

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Israel OKs Tourist Center in Tense Arab Area
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has given a hardline Jewish group permission to build a new archaeological center in a tense Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem, officials said Tuesday. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach said Tuesday that a Jerusalem planning committee approved the project this week. The public has 60 days to appeal. Any Israeli-backed project in east Jerusalem runs the risk of sparking protests that can escalate into violence, as conflicting claims to the area are at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Palestinian prisoner on 55th day of hunger strike to protest detention without trial
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh, Daniel Estrin - February 9, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — In a high-stakes gamble, an imprisoned member of a Palestinian militant group has waged a hunger strike for almost two months, trying to draw attention to Israel’s military justice system and its treatment of detainees who can be held without charge for lengthy periods.

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Abbas’ Deal with Hamas Gets Support from Fatah, PLO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 9, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday got support from his Fatah party and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the agreement he had reached with rival Hamas movement. The Central Committee of Fatah and the PLO's Executive Committee met in the West Bank city of Ramallah and welcomed the deal, which was struck in Qatar Sunday. According to the agreement, Abbas will form an interim government to prepare for elections in the Palestinian territories, including in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

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Israeli Court Grants Reprieve to Abandoned Palestinian Village
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - February 8, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — A Jerusalem court has ruled against plans to build a luxury housing development on the remains of a Palestinian village abandoned in the 1948 war that followed the establishment of Israel. The court battle was seen as a test case for preservation of Palestinian heritage in Israel, where remains of Arab villages whose residents either fled or were expelled in the fighting have largely vanished under modern buildings, parks and planted forests.

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2 Brothers Shot Dead in Central Nablus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 8, 2012 - 1:00am

NABLUS (Ma’an) – Two Palestinian men were shot dead Wednesday after unidentified gunman opened fire in a store on Amman Street in Nablus in the northern West Bank. Locals said a gunman opened fire from point-blank range at the head of Munadil Nasasra, 36. The victim was evacuated to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus where medics announced his death shortly after he arrived. His brother, Muhammad Nasasra, 18, suffered critical injuries to the abdomen and legs. Medics pronounced him dead later Wednesday. Both victims were from the village of Beit Furik east of Nablus.

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Jews, Palestinians plant trees together in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Akiva Novick - February 8, 2012 - 1:00am

School children from the Efrat settlement and residents of the neighboring Palestinian village of Jurat al-Shama planted trees together in an initiative that promoted co-existence in the West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday. The event, held on the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat, aimed to block the hazardous dust that is being disseminated by a nearby tree-processing plant.

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