Few takers for engaging Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Mazen Mahdi - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am An article last week by Bahrain’s crown prince calling on Arab countries to adopt a new approach to relations with Israel has unleashed a torrent of debate from Manama to Washington, and is testing the ability of Gulf states to leverage their growing economic clout into regional political influence. Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa, in his article for The Washington Post, argued that for the Arab-Israeli peace process to move forward “a great deal of campaigning – patiently and repeatedly targeting all relevant parties” was needed. » Read more

Waiting for Obama to deliver as promised ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) July 22, 2009 - 12:00am Six months have passed since Barack Obama settled in the White House, a precedent-setting achievement for an African-American, and yet he now seems inexplicably hesitant to follow up his initial and commendable step in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. » Read more

Tales of a Palestinian Sleuth and Real Life ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Robert Rees - (Opinion) July 22, 2009 - 12:00am The soft-spoken Welsh writer and news correspondent Matt Beynon Rees acknowledges that he never intended to make the Middle East his home. But Rees (no relation to this writer), Time Magazine’s former bureau chief in Jerusalem and now the author of three Palestinian detective novels, might be the first to admit that his own career has taken more unexpected turns and butted up against greater sudden dangers than he ever anticipated. » Read more

Status of Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am The standoff between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government remind many of a similar standoff between the US and Israel in the 90s when Bill Clinton was president. At the time Netanyahu insisted on Israel’s right to build Har Homa settlement on the Palestinian Jabal Abu Ghneim on the edge of Bethlehem. Today, Har Homa is a thriving settlement with thousands of Jewish Israelis residing in the complex built on expropriated Palestinian land. » Read more

Obama’s New Emphasis On Reciprocity Also Pressures Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am Freezing the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank was once seen as a unilateral Israeli obligation. But the Obama administration is now treating this as part of a package that will require concessions from Arab states, as well. An intensified and more public focus on this principle appears to be one of the byproducts of President Obama’s June 13 pledge to American Jewish communal representatives to address perceptions that he is pressuring only Israel. So far, the Arabs are resistant. » Read more

Report says Israel is subsidising settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - July 22, 2009 - 12:00am In another sign of Israel’s continuous support for Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, a new report yesterday showed that the settlements obtain a significantly higher share of government funds than municipalities in Israel overall. » Read more

Paralysed girl's story reflects Gaza's plight ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News July 23, 2009 - 12:00am Four-year-old Samar Abed Rabbu lost her two sisters during Israel's offensive in Gaza last December and January. The BBC's Christian Fraser has been following the plight of Samar and her family - now divided across two continents, as Samar receives treatment in Belgium with her mother. Throughout these months of gruelling therapy Belgian doctors say Samar Abed Rabbu has demonstrated remarkable courage. She is desperate to walk again - she even simulates it on the bed with her fingers - but there is nothing the Belgian doctors can do to repair Samar's broken back. » Read more

Hundreds planning Temple Mount ascent ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Jonny Hadi - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am Hundreds of right-wing activists are intending to attempt to march up to the Temple Mount next Thursday morning, Tisha Be'Av, in protest of the US demand to cease construction in east Jerusalem. » Read more

Washington Watch: Barack Obama, gird thy loins ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - July 22, 2009 - 12:00am Just when it looked like a serious Washington-Jerusalem rift might be avoided - thanks in large part to the Saudis and their mishpucha - Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened it wider with a burst of provocative demagoguery. A meeting last week between the new Israeli ambassador and a State Department official was inexplicably blown up into a crisis. Initial news leaks out of the Prime Minister's Office said Michael Oren had been "summoned" to Foggy Bottom and presented a "demand" that an east Jerusalem apartment project be halted. » Read more

Blind to reality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) July 22, 2009 - 12:00am Recently, we have been seeing more and more reports in respect to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration that he supports the “two states for two peoples” vision. Almost all of these reports carry the same message: PM Netanyahu merely uttered the words, yet the prime minister does not intend to implement what he said; in fact, we are being told that Netanyahu presented the kind of conditions that have no chance of being accepted by the Palestinians. » Read more