Abbas names PNC speaker to form constitution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday nominated Salim Za'noon, speaker of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), as the chairman of a committee to form the Palestinian constitution. Nabil Shaath, a member of Fatah's central committee, was nominated as Za'noon's deputy, the state-run Wafa News Agency reported. The Palestinians will approach the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly in September to gain a recognition of an independent Palestinian state established in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.

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Israel-Palestinian conflict writ large on road signs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Yolande Knell - August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

The increasingly heated dispute over place names in Israel underlies a much greater political struggle, the BBC's Yolande Knell explains from Jerusalem. "Where are you going?" asked the friendly, but slightly over-familiar, Jewish-Israeli boy sitting next to me on the plane from London. "I work in Jerusalem," I replied. His smile instantly turned to a scowl. "It's not Jerusalem," he said. "It's Yerushalayim".

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Abbas makes Arab aid appeal, sees risk to U.N. bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
August 15, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday appealed for Arab financial support to help the Palestinians deal with "pressures and threats" from Israel and its allies which he said were a risk to his plan to seek U.N. approval for statehood in September. The Palestinian Authority faces a financial crisis which forced it to cut wages by half in July. Policymakers have identified a shortfall in Arab aid as the main cause.

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Israel's West Bank dilemma
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The San Francisco Chronicle
by Joel Brinkley - (Opinion) August 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Shaul Goldstein knows that most everyone on Earth dislikes him and his kind. For some, it's visceral hatred. For others, he represents the largest obstacle to solving a problem everyone everywhere wants resolved. "We are the enemy of the world," he volunteered without any prompting. "We have to hide behind a curtain."

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Abbas, Peres held '4 secret meetings'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
August 13, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas revealed he held four secret meetings with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres in a bid to revive stalled peace talks, a Palestinian official said Saturday. He quoted Abbas as saying at a meeting of his Fatah party on Friday that: "I met Shimon Peres four times in Amman and London in an attempt to restart negotiations and the peace process on a correct foundation." The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had thwarted those efforts.

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US, Israel propose new talks to head off Palestinian UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel is willing to begin new peace talks using the 1967 lines as a basis for negotiations, if the Palestinians drop their UN membership bid, an Israeli government official confirmed on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official confirmed that Israel has been working with Washington and members of the international peace-making Quartet to draw up a new framework that could relaunch stalled talks.

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Editorial: A conjurer’s trick
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

It is reported that, as a result of pressure from Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now willing to negotiate the border that will separate Israel and the future Palestinian state. It is being said that this represents both a breakthrough and a climb down by him.

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A PALESTINIAN VIEW Sabotage or arrogance?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

The illegal changes that the Israeli occupier is undertaking in East Jerusalem have far-reaching consequences, not only for the day-to-day life of the Palestinian people, but also for the possibility of peace between the two sides.

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COLUMN-Desmond Tutu, Israel and US pensions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Bernd Debusmann - (Analysis) July 24, 2011 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - What's the connection between a South African Nobel Peace Prize winner, Israel, and one of America's biggest pension funds? An international campaign for economic, cultural and academic boycotts of Israel and Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

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IDF Civil Administration pushing for land takeover in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - July 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The IDF Civil Administration is taking steps to increase state-ownership of West Bank lands, an internal military document reveals. The policy enables increased construction not only around settlement blocs like Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion, but also in strategic areas like the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea. Until now it was not known that the administration, which is a military agency, was charged with distinguishing between the blocs Israel is demanding to annex as part of a final-status agreement and the rest of the settlements.

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