Demonstrators, Security Forces Face Off in Gaza, Leaving One Dead
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Omar Ghraieb - March 16, 2011 - 12:00am

In a move reminiscent of early days of revolution in Cairo and Tunis, Hamas unleashed its security forces over the last two days to disperse thousands of protesters gathered to urge unity between Hamas and Fatah and ensure they don’t launch new demonstrations. At least one person, Baha Al-Ejleh, was reported beaten to death on Wednesday and another 30 were injured in clashes at Gaza Strip’s Al-Azhar University.

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Rattling the Cage: The Palestinian victim mentality
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) March 16, 2011 - 12:00am

The topic of the day-long conference was torture, and Palestinians were describing the horrific methods the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) used in prison to get information out of them. Photos and illustrations of these practices were shown on a screen. Human rights activists, Palestinian and Israeli, spoke at length and in detail about the routine use of torture against Palestinian prisoners.

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The IDF's masquerade in Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Alon Idan - (Editorial) March 10, 2011 - 1:00am

A walk through Hebron sends you into deep despair. Near the Cave of the Patriarchs, at the end of the plaza surrounded by a low fence, you see destruction and ruin, and especially the inconceivable segregation of the populations. Four children, maybe eight or nine years old, curse you in Arabic as if by conditioned reflex. You smile at them, try to remove the wall between you, and all of a sudden they change their stance. Now they come closer to the fence and ask you for money. A shekel, sir, a shekel.

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Israel to get first museum of Arab art and culture
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - (Blog) March 10, 2011 - 1:00am

In a spring storm of driving rain this week, I visited an art gallery in Umm al-Fahm, an Israeli-Arab city just north of the West Bank. Sitting on a mountain ridge, the town is home to around 50,000 Arab citizens of Israel and its gallery is the only venue in Israel dedicated to Palestinian and Arab art and culture.

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Football finally comes home for Palestinian national team
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Joel Greenberg - March 9, 2011 - 1:00am

Mokhtar Tlili, the Tunisian coach of the Palestinian national football team, gave his players a pep talk yesterday as they prepared for the first official match played on their home turf. "Be courageous out there," he said. "Don't be afraid." The Palestinian team will face Thailand today as part of the Asian group in a qualifying match for the London Olympics in 2012. Thailand won 1-0 at their first meeting last month.

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Specialized radio station promotes rights of Palestinian women
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Hamada al-Hattab, Ahmed Fayoomi - March 9, 2011 - 1:00am

On March 8 the International Women's day, Women FM, a new radio station based in Ramallah in the West Bank, is broadcasting special programs on Palestinian women's situation to celebrate the day. Women FM, which had its first broadcast last July and broadcasts programs on Palestinian women's position and the difficulties they are facing in the society, is the first Arab language radio station in the Middle East of its kind to defend women's rights.

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In West Bank, a loss in soccer is still seen as a victory
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - March 9, 2011 - 1:00am

When the game was finally over, after extra time and penalty kicks, the Palestinian squad had lost to Thailand. But the Palestinian national team's first official soccer match on home turf Wednesday gave thousands of raucous fans who braved a cold and rain-lashed night a taste of international recognition. A qualifying game for the 2012 London Olympics, the match was more than a sporting event. It was also freighted with symbolism for both organizers and ordinary people who packed the stadium in Al-Ram, a West Bank suburb of Jerusalem that is cut in two by Israel's separation barrier.

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Arab uprisings hit Israeli-Palestinian peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Bethany Bell - March 9, 2011 - 1:00am

Israelis and Palestinians are so often the focus of events in this region, but now many people are wondering about their place in a changing Middle East. In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Lina, a student, looked around at the crowds shopping in Manara Square and shrugged her shoulders. "Other nations are seeking their own freedoms," she said. "But they are forgetting the Palestinian issue. "We suffer from many things here but until now nobody has made any kind of a revolution in Palestine. Although we are the people that most need a revolution."

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PCBS: Palestinian women still 'marginal' in PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 8, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian women are increasingly involved in political life, but their presentation as decision makers in the Palestinian Authority is still marginal, a study found. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics conducted the study to mark International Women's Day. The positions of president of the Stock Exchange Authority and governor for Ramallah and Al-Bireh are both held by women. The president of PCBS, Ola Awad, was the first female to head a non-ministerial governmental institution.

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Israel can't use force against the next Palestinian uprising
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Menachem Klein - (Editorial) March 8, 2011 - 1:00am

If the South Sudanese and East Timorese gained independence before the Palestinians, something went seriously wrong. How can one compare these places to the religious and international standing of Palestine? This must be the thinking of any Palestinians who have calculated their private profit and loss columns since the Oslo Accords.

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