August 24th

West Bank: slowly, determinedly, settlers bid to build new town
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory McCarthy - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Early in the morning, Nadia Matar drove to the hills south of Jerusalem, near the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour, and turned into a dusty, unmarked road. There she planted a sign which read "Welcome to Shdema". She drove on, stopping every few metres along the route to jam into the rocky ground a series of fluttering blue and white Israeli flags. Israeli soldiers let her pass unhindered as she drove up to the concrete ruins of what was until a few years ago the Israeli military base of Shdema.

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Israel PM expects no breakthroughs in London talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects no breakthroughs at a meeting this week with a U.S. peace envoy, but hopes talks with the Palestinians can resume within two months, a spokesman said on Monday. A right-winger in power since March, Netanyahu has resisted Western pressure to freeze Jewish settlements on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood. The dispute has opened a rare rift between Israel and its top ally, the United States.

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Gaza schoolgirls say Hamas cracking down on dress code
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Responding to multiple reports on Sunday that the de facto government was cracking down on dress in Gaza's schools, Hamas on Monday denied making any recent policy changes on uniforms or expulsions. A spokesman for the Hamas-run Education Ministry in Gaza, Khaled Radi, reiterated that his office had not received instructions from the de facto government imposing conservative dress codes on schoolgirls.

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Accusation of Organ Theft Stokes Ire in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel urged the Swedish government on Sunday to condemn an article in a Swedish newspaper last week accusing the Israeli Army of harvesting organs from Palestinians wounded or killed by soldiers.

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What is Required of Europe and Russia in Support of Justice?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) August 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Russia, France, Britain and the remaining European countries can do much more than they are doing now to compel the Palestinians and Israelis to implement their commitments according to the Road Map to the two-state solution, which these countries supported in Security Council resolutions and within the framework of the Quartet for peace in the Middle East. Indeed, it is not enough to express support for the efforts of US President Barack Obama and to wait for an initiative from him when he addresses the UN General Assembly next month.

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August 21st

The US State Department formally objects to new, discriminatory visas being issued by Israel, mainly to Palestinian Americans. The JTA reports that in the next few weeks the Obama administration will "finalize the steps" for new peace in the next few weeks, as the President discusses the issue with the Jordanian monarch and Israel and the Palestinians exchange blame for the deadlock. A new poll suggests that only 12 percent of Israelis believe Obama supports Israel. Leonard Fein in the Forward and Rami Khouri in the Daily Star both reassert the urgency of a two-state agreement. The National profiles Uri Davis, the Jewish Israeli elected to Fatah’s Revolutionary Council. Ma’an reports that Muhammad Dahlan will have no responsibilities related to Gaza in his new role in Fatah and that a woman, a Christian and a Gazan are to be appointed to the Central Committee.

Work on the core issues in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) August 21, 2009 - 12:00am

A flurry of activity this week surrounding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s trip to Washington suggests to many people that we can expect breakthroughs in Arab-Israeli peace-making. Mubarak and US President Barack Obama have both said that things are moving in the right direction. The Israeli government has instituted an unofficial and unannounced “freeze” on new settlements construction, as demanded by the United States.

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Woman, Gazan, Christian to be appointed to Fatah's Central Committee
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Bethlehem – Ma’an – The three appointed members of the Fatah Central Committee will be a woman, a Christian and a Gazan, a member of the party’s governing body, Muhammad Shtayeh, revealed Wednesday.

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Dahlan says not responsible for Gaza in new Fatah leadership role
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Ramallah – Ma’an – Fatah’s controversial former Gaza security chief, Muhammad Dahlan, will have no responsibilities related to Gaza in his new role in the party’s Central Committee, he told Ma’an in an exclusive interview. Dahlan is reviled by Hamas and other opponents of Fatah rule for what they considered an iron-fisted administration of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service in Gaza. Dahlan left Gaza days before Hamas forces shut down the Preventive Security and other Fatah-backed institutions in fighting that left hundreds dead in 2007.

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Human Rights Watch gets it
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) August 21, 2009 - 12:00am

In the past week, the respected watchdog organisation Human Rights Watch issued two reports criticising Hamas and Israel for violating the rules of war. While such accusations are not new, they remind us of a critical missing element in the decades-old attempts to negotiate a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict: By what rules are both sides judged and held accountable?

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