July 6th

Peres to meet Mubarak in Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press July 5, 2009 - 12:00am The office of Israeli President Shimon Peres says he is to head to Egypt for a working meeting with President Hosni Mubarak. Peres' office says the one-on-one meeting will take place in Cairo on Tuesday. The two leaders will discuss the latest diplomatic developments in the region and ways to promote a regional peace agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab nations to have signed a peace agreement with Israel. » Read more

Netanyahu changes tack on Palestinian peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters July 5, 2009 - 12:00am For the first time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday referred to a "two-state solution" in reference to efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. "We have achieved a national agreement on the formula of two states for two peoples," said the prime minister during the weekly cabinet meeting of the Israeli government. » Read more

Israel to compensate U.N. for Gaza property damage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Gabriela Baczynska - July 3, 2009 - 12:00am Israel has pledged to pay compensation for material damage it caused by shelling U.N. property during its Gaza offensive more than six months ago, a U.N. official said Friday. A U.N. inquiry said in May that Israel's armed forces damaged U.N. property on seven occasions during the December-January offensive, including an incident involving a U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school in Jabalia. UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd said in Warsaw that Israel had indicated it would pay compensation for where U.N. buildings had been destroyed. » Read more

Hamas accuses Fatah of spying for Israel in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) July 5, 2009 - 12:00am The de-facto prime minister of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, alleged Monday that his security forces had unveiled a spy network in the Gaza Strip that served Israel through the Ramallah- based administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "In recent arrests, the security services were able to dismantle several security cells that chanelled dangerous but false information to Ramallah and then to the Israeli occupation," Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza. » Read more

Israel seeks Arab response for settlement building freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - July 5, 2009 - 12:00am The Barack Obama administration is continuing its efforts to draft a comprehensive agreement for freezing West Bank settlement construction and normalizing relations between Israel and the Arab states. Meanwhile, Israeli officials told U.S. envoy George Mitchell in recent weeks that Jerusalem is willing to temporarily freeze settlement construction, but that the move would be conditioned on substantive steps from the Arab side, as well as guarantees from the United States. » Read more

Israeli doctors to train Bil'in protesters in first aid at site of disputed security fence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ilana Strauss - July 5, 2009 - 12:00am Physicians for Human Rights will be offering a first aid course on July 11 near the security barrier at the West Bank village of Bil'in for protesters to help them deal with injuries they incur in almost weekly confrontations with what the group's doctors call an aggressive Israeli occupation. "In a way, they are going to risk themselves," said Ron Yaron, director of the international group's occupied territories department, who explained the need for medical assistance in the West Bank. » Read more

Lieberman has become irrelevant ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) July 6, 2009 - 12:00am It's been 100 days since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was sworn-in, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's impact on foreign policy has been negligible. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been handling ties with the U.S.; President Shimon Peres has been in charge of dealing with the Arab world and Lieberman and his office have faded into irrelevance. » Read more

Israel's settlements in West Bank present a major hurdle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - (Opinion) July 6, 2009 - 12:00am This sprawling, well-manicured Israeli settlement -- with its rows of red-tile roofs, palm trees and air-conditioned shopping mall -- could almost pass for Orange County. Except the guards in this gated community sometimes pack automatic weapons. Settlements such as the city-sized Maale Adumim, about four miles east of Jerusalem in the West Bank, are viewed by much of the world as illegal because they are built on land seized by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War. Many Israelis see Maale Adumim as part of their country. » Read more

Music event puts global spotlight on Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - July 5, 2009 - 12:00am It is not often Palestinians get a chance to see best- selling international artists up close and personal. Once a year, however, the Palestine International Festival offers exactly such an opportunity, and, judging by the packed outdoor venue at the Ramallah Cultural Palace on Friday, it is an opportunity people are keen not to miss. » Read more

Hamas arrests Palestinian woman for not wearing headscarf ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - July 6, 2009 - 12:00am Hamas security forces detained a Gazan journalist at a beach over the weekend because she was not wearing a headscarf. Asma al-Ghul, who writes for the Palestinian daily Al-Ayam, said she was at the beach near the Shati refugee camp with a mixed group of friends when men in civilian clothing asked her why she was not wearing a headscarf. When she asked them who they were, they showed her Hamas security forces identity cards. She said that when questioning her, the men accused her of "laughing out loud" and walking around the beach without a male escort. » Read more