Arab Jerusalemite's plight is proof of two-faced policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - July 24, 2009 - 12:00am


Thirty-one years ago, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by Mohammed Said Burkan to lease an apartment in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter on the ruins of his family's home which, he asserted, had been bought under Ottoman rule. The ruling put a legal gloss on the practice of blocking access by non-Jews to state land. After years of steady encroachment, Burkan now lives in the heart of a Jewish neighborhood. The court not only rejected his petition but ordered him to pay court expenses to the state.


Reform leader: Most U.S. Jews back settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - July 24, 2009 - 12:00am


The vast majority of American Jews back a settlement freeze, according to Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union of Reform Judaism. "American Jews don't like when their government is at odds with the government of Israel," said Yoffie, whose organization's 1.5 million members make it the largest Jewish denomination in the U.S.


U.S. warns Israel: Don't build up West Bank corridor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - July 24, 2009 - 12:00am


The U.S. administration has issued a stiff warning to Israel not to build in the area known as E-1, which lies between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim. Any change in the status quo in E-1 would be "extremely damaging," even "corrosive," the message said.


Catastrophe? Israel bans 'nakba' from Arab textbook.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am


In the lexicon of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, few terms elicit as much energy as the word nakba – Arabic for "the catastrophe," the term Palestinians use to describe the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. This week, the term became even more of a lightning rod. Amid a rising nationalistic tide in Israel's government, Education Minister Gideon Saar moved to expunge the word from school textbooks, reversing a 2007 decision.


Hamas Shifts From Rockets to Public Relations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am


Seven months after Israel started a fierce three-week military campaign here to stop rockets from being fired on its southern communities, Hamas has suspended its use of rockets and shifted focus to winning support at home and abroad through cultural initiatives and public relations.



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