July 10th

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).

The Dayton force dilemma
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Nicholas Blincoe - (Opinion) July 8, 2009 - 12:00am

A small battalion of soldiers had taken control of the main junction in Bethlehem and my wife wanted to know how they got there. We had driven this way five minutes earlier and the road had been clear. Now soldiers were squatting in the crossroads while others aimed rifles at an empty parking lot. We soon learned it was a rehearsal by the new Palestinian security force, training in the event of a Hamas-backed coup. The security force had made discoveries of arms and explosives across the West Bank while president Mahmoud Abbas reported that he was the target of a Hamas assassination plot.

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Still Illegal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) July 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Today marks five years since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its advisory ruling on the legality of Israel’s separation barrier. While only an advisory ruling, the opinion of the court was clear and straightforward: in all places (a majority of its route), the wall dips into occupied territory and is in clear violation of both international law and international humanitarian law.

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US denies reported deal on Israeli settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
July 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States on Wednesday dismissed as "inaccurate" a report that it had agreed to let Israel build about 2,500 housing units already under construction in West Bank settlements. "That report in that Israeli media outlet is inaccurate," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said after the Maariv newspaper reported that Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and US envoy George Mitchell had struck such a deal.

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U.N. envoy sees Lebanon border village row over soon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 9, 2009 - 12:00am

The U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon said on Wednesday he hoped for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Lebanese part of the divided border village of Ghajar within the next few months. The move could bolster the Lebanese government and improve the atmosphere for Arab-Israeli peace talks. Ghajar, which has a population of about 2,000, straddles Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, but Israel currently occupies both parts.

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Spy-for-spy charges fuel enduring Palestinian feud
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said Wednesday it had broken up an espionage network of the rival Fatah movement which was plotting to sabotage security in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Hamas's spying-and-sabotage allegation follows similar charges by Fatah in the West Bank against Hamas, as the two rivals once again failed to bridge deep differences over how to deal with Israel and advance Palestinian aspirations.

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Risking Israel's ire, US takes 1,350 Palestinian refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Patrik Jonsson - July 7, 2009 - 12:00am

The State Department confirmed today that as many as 1,350 Iraqi Palestinians – once the well-treated guests of Saddam Hussein and now at outs with much of Iraqi society – will be resettled in the US, mostly in southern California, starting this fall.

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