July 10th

Israel Removes West Bank Checkpoints
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Matthew Kalman - July 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli officials say they have removed more than 140 security obstacles in the West Bank over the past year, enabling Palestinians to move more freely between towns and helping to boost the local economy. But the United Nations says that more than 600 checkpoints, roadblocks, gates and earth mounds still remain, blocking off short-cuts and causing long delays. Permanent checkpoints have been removed from Qalqilyah, Jericho, Nablus and Ramallah, reducing travel times throughout the northern West Bank and speeding up the movement of food and other goods.

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Mubarak:Gilad Shalit to be set free soon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
July 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is in good condition and will be set free soon, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said. In an exclusive interview with Yedioth Aharonoth published Friday, Mubarak also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. A deal for Shalit's return was on the brink four or five months ago but Israel changed its position and the deal collapsed, Mubarak told the Tel Aviv, Israel, newspaper. Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mubarak said meetings are under way between Israeli and Egyptian officials.

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Gaza's children struggle with memories of war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Patrick Moser - July 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Fourteen-year-old Ghasan Matar won't talk about the explosion that cost him his legs and killed his brother. In fact, six months after the end of the Israeli war on Gaza, he still barely talks at all. He spends most of his time staring at the walls and a huge poster depicting his older brother against a bloody background of war featuring a Kalashnikov assault rifle and dead Israeli soldiers.

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A cleansing battle over settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Eric Fingerhut - July 9, 2009 - 12:00am

J Street and The Israel Project are firing shots at each other after the disclosure that The Israel Project was advising its activists to say that the removal of Jewish settlements would be a version of "ethnic cleansing."

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Israel backers must support a settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by John Friedman - (Opinion) July 9, 2009 - 12:00am

The Jewish community in America has always supported Israel. We have raised funds, walked in solidarity, visited whenever possible and prayed for the safety of the Jewish state since its very inception. “Wherever we stand, we stand with Israel” is a comment made sincerely by many. But surely, if we stand with Israel, if we want what’s best for the Jewish state, we must be honest -- we must tell the leadership of our spiritual home the truth. And the truth is, President Obama is right when he says that settlement building must stop.

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Israel must keep much of Golan: Netanyahu aide
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel is ready to withdraw from areas of the Golan Heights, but it will not give up large parts of the occupied territory in any peace deal with Syria, a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. National Security Adviser Uzi Arad also said in an interview with Haaretz newspaper published on Friday that as part of a statehood deal that settles the conflict with the Palestinians, Israel should be granted NATO membership.

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Gaza war rubble will take a year to clear - UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian workers will need one year to clear a half million tonnes of concrete rubble from Gaza Strip districts bombed and bulldozed by Israeli forces during their winter offensive, the United Nations said on Thursday. The United Nations Development Programme was beginning its rubble removal project six months after the 3-week war ended on Jan. 18, with still no idea of when organised reconstruction could begin, said the UNDP's Jens-Anders Toyberg-Frandzen.

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Judenrein! Israel adopts Nazi term to back settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - July 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Hosting the German foreign minister this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used an especially tainted term to condemn the Palestinian demand that Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank be removed. "Judea and Samaria cannot be Judenrein," a Netanyahu confidant quoted him as telling Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Asked how Germany's top diplomat responded to hearing the Nazi Holocaust term for areas "cleansed of Jews," the confidant said, "What could he do? He basically just nodded."

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Signs Of Economic Life Return To West Bank City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
by Peter Kenyon - July 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Nablus is stirring to life after Israel recently eased restrictions on movement in and out of the embattled West Bank city, site of some of the heaviest fighting during the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, from 2000 to 2005. The main Israeli checkpoint is now open to Palestinian traffic, and signs of economic life are emerging. But the people of Nablus have learned more than once that economic revitalization and greater freedom can be fleeting

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July 9th

On the 5th anniversary of the International Court of Justice decision declaring the Israeli barrier in the West Bank to be in violation of international law (1)(7), the Israeli Defense Ministry reveals that further construction has been relatively nonexistent in the past 15 months (8). The U.S. plans to welcome 1,350 Iraqi Palestinian immigrants in Southern California (2). Allegations of espionage heighten tensions between Fatah and Hamas (3). The State Department denies reports of an agreement on settlement construction (5). The European Commission backs away from earlier criticism of continued Israeli occupation (9). Debate in Israel continues over Prime Minister Netanyahu’s performance in the first 100 days of his government (10)(11).

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