Egypt to open Rafah crossing 15, 16 September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Egypt will open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip for two consecutive days on 15 and 16 September Egyptian security sources said Tuesday. The source explained that the crossing for patients, foreign visa holders, and students would be able to leave the Gaza Strip to Egypt, while all Gazans stranded at the Egyptian side of the terminal will be able to return to Gaza. Egyptian authorities said they would consider keeping the crossing open for an additional day or two so all those eligible to cross would be able to do so.

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Checkpoints become friction points as Palestinians throng Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel deployed police heavily in Jerusalem as tens of thousands of Palestinians headed to the city for noon prayers on the second Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Armed police and border guards were seen in what seemed like every street and alley of Old City surrounding cities. For Palestinians from the West Bank, Friday was a rare chance to visit their capital and pray at Islam’s third holiest site: the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Thousands of Palestinians from Jerusalem and communities inside Israel were also expected.

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Trade revives as Palestinian cities reconnect
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Businesses in normal countries take getting around for granted. They can distribute, export and attract workers and customers from wide areas. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, access to more than half of the land is restricted. Israel has ultimate control of roads, energy, water, telecommunications and air space. The violent Palestinian intifada (uprising) of 2000 triggered an Israeli security crackdown, creating checkpoints on key routes, closing roads and putting 600 obstacles around Israel's West Bank settlements.

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ATFP Welcomes State Department Intervention on New Restrictive Israeli Visas
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - August 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, August 21 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today welcomed the intervention by the US State Department describing new restrictive Israeli visas as "unacceptable." Reports suggest that the new visas, which are marked "Palestinian Authority only" and restrict access to areas Israel considers under Palestinian jurisdiction, are being issued at the Allenby Bridge crossing mainl


U.S. blasts Israeli restrictions on American travelers in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass, Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid - August 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States has harshly criticized new Israeli restrictions placed on foreign nationals entering the West Bank via the Allenby Bridge, calling the new regulations 'unacceptable'. A report on the restrictions appeared in Haaretz last week. Earlier this week, a senior official at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv met with the head of the Foreign Ministry's consular division, Yigal Tzarfati, for clarifications on the new procedure, by which passports are stamped at the bridge with a directive limiting the bearer to areas of the Palestinian Authority only.

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Why is Israel limiting movement of Palestinian-Canadian businessman?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - August 19, 2009 - 12:00am

Mohammed Sabawi, 65, could have played a leading role in all the stories about the economic revival in the West Bank's cities. His goal of "strengthening the economy of Palestine by utilizing its own capabilities" sounds like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vision of "economic peace." In recent months, however, the Palestinian-Canadian businessman has been considering reducing his business activity here, after Israel started limiting his freedom of movement and that of his son and business partner, Khaled. The Sabawis are considering Cyprus as an alternate location.

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Israel toughens entry for foreigners with West Bank ties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - August 13, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel has recently been putting up more obstacles for foreign nationals who enter the country if they have family, work, business or academic ties in the West Bank. It now restricts their movements to "the Palestinian Authority only." The people concerned are citizens of countries that have diplomatic ties with Israel, mainly Western countries. In imposing such restrictions, Israel is in breach of the Oslo Accords.

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Palestinian Report: progress made in Shalit talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roee Nahmias - August 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel and Hamas are holding intensive Egyptian-mediated talks behind the scenes in an attempt to finalize a prisoner exchange deal, a Palestinian website affiliated with the Islamic Jihad reported Sunday. The report quotes the website's "commentator on Israeli affairs" as saying that an agreement securing the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit is about to be finalized and may even be executed before Eid al-Fitr – the holiday marking the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan – in about a month and a half.

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Checkpoints eased: Nablus journeys
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel said they were necessary security measures to prevent attacks on its civilians, but many Palestinians viewed them as collective punishment. The northern city of Nablus, previously a stronghold of Palestinian militant groups, has been surrounded by six checkpoints since the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, which began in 2000. For the first time in about nine years, its residents can now drive their cars out of the city. Journey times around the West Bank have been cut significantly.

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Israel removes dozens of West Bank roadblocks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Recent weeks have seen a dramatic change in Israel's roadblock policy in the West Bank. Right under the nose of the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israel Defense Forces has lifted some of the main, permanent roadblocks in the West Bank, which have played a central role in restricting the movement of Palestinians, mostly between the main Palestinian cities.

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