July 9th

Special Focus On West Bank Barrier
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jon Dennis - July 9, 2008 - 4:33pm


The barrier in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that separates Israelis from Palestinians continues to divide them – and not just in a physical sense. Israelis believe it is vital to their security, while Palestinians say it is a land-grab that cuts them off from their livelihoods. The Guardian's Rory McCarthy reports from Jayyus, a Palestinian village, and from Alfe Menashe, an Israeli settlement.


Israel’s Impasse: How A Fractured Knesset Hinders Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - July 9, 2008 - 4:31pm


As the former head of Mossad, Israel’s secret service, Danny Yatom is not a man easily ruffled.


Palestine: Hizb Al-tahrir Flourishes Where Hope Withers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Carnegie Endowment: The Arab News Bulletin
by Omran Risheq - July 9, 2008 - 4:29pm


The failure of the Palestinian national movement and its shaken credibility in the public eye are giving strength to religious movements, which are expanding to fill a widening gap. But the movements that are gaining are not Hamas or Islamic Jihad, which gained their legitimacy more or less as other Palestinian movements did: by taking part in the liberation struggle while upholding the aspiration to establish an independent national state. Rather, there are now other Islamist parties and groups that deny the national project and are hostile toward democratic and social freedoms.


Planning The Transition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
by Ghaith Al- Omari - July 9, 2008 - 4:27pm


As the Bush administration nears the end of its term, two things are becoming obvious. First, the original objective of the Annapolis process–a peace deal by the end of 2008–is unlikely to materialize. Redefining the process both in terms of approach and public expectations has become necessary. Second, with the inability to achieve a breakthrough, there is a real risk that, the Annapolis process may not be able to withstand the loss of U.S. leadership while the United States is looking inwards during the transition period.


July 8th

Rumors Of Peace Amid Rumors Of War
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Claude Salhani - (Opinion) July 8, 2008 - 3:55pm


There has been much talk lately behind the long hallways of power in the U.S. capital of an impending move toward peace and reconciliation in the Middle East. To become a reality the many pieces that make up the Middle East's complicated geopolitical jigsaw puzzle have to come together at the right time to fit in correctly.


*the Challenge Of Development Under Occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-ayyam
by Hassan Al-battal - July 8, 2008 - 3:54pm


I gently pressured my colleague, Abd Al-Naser Al-Najjar, to continue the third part of his field investigation into the realities and problems of the Jordan Valley, and the ways to solve them. His excuse is that he's busy as an editor in chief, a weekly columnist with additional editing duties during the summer time, and, soon, the director of the Media Center at Birzeit University.  


Paralyzed Palestinian Girl Fights To Stay In Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 8, 2008 - 3:51pm


Paralyzed from the neck down in an Israeli strike on the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, six-year-old Palestinian Maria Amin is fighting an order to move her from a rehabilitation centre in Israel to the West Bank.


Fayyad Suggests Foreign Troops For Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 8, 2008 - 3:48pm


Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Monday he was proposing ideas that include the temporary deployment of Arab security forces in Gaza to help reunite Hamas-run Gaza with the West Bank. Fayyad said his ideas, proposed in meetings with foreign Arab and Western officials, complemented an initiative by President Mahmoud Abbas last month to offer a national dialogue to end the rift between the secular factions of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and their Islamist rival Hamas.


Israeli Troops Raid Girls' School And Medical Centre In West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
July 8, 2008 - 3:45pm


Israeli troops in jeeps swooped down on the West Bank city of Nablus early on Monday, shutting down a girls' school, a medical centre and two other facilities of a Hamas-affiliated charity, witnesses said. Computers, documents, cash and furniture were seized, the witnesses said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the Palestinian reports. But the raid appears to have been part of an intensified crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank by Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.


Israel-hamas Truce Boils Down To Simple Tradeoff
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
July 8, 2008 - 3:37pm


An Israel-Hamas truce has boiled down to a simple tradeoff: For a day of calm, Israel adds five truckloads of cows and 200 tons of cement to its shipment of the barest basics to Gaza, but also punishes sporadic rocket fire by resealing the territory for a day.



American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017