July 14th

Trading a settlement freeze for action on Iran, Arab ties ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - (Analysis) July 13, 2009 - 12:00am The fact that Israel and the United States have yet to reach an agreement on Jewish settlement growth in the West Bank is as much a question of wider Middle East concerns as about the settlement issue itself. » Read more

West Bank fence not done and never will be, it seems ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - July 14, 2009 - 12:00am Seven years after construction work began on the West Bank separation fence, the project seems to have run aground. Work has slowed significantly since September 2007, and today, after the state has spent about NIS 9.5 billion, only about 60 percent of the more limited, revised route has been completed. » Read more

IDF thinks Israelis fabricated stone throwing incident ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - July 14, 2009 - 12:00am Three Israelis were wounded in car accident in the West Bank Monday night. One sustained serious injuries and the other two were lightly wounded. The men told security forces Palestinians in the village of Kifl Hares near the town of Ariel pelted their car with stones, but the police believe they were lying, because no signs of violence were found on their vehicle. » Read more

Phase I of Beit Ur Al Tahta Project Complete ATFP World Press Roundup Article from American Charities for Palestine July 14, 2009 - 12:00am American Charities for Palestine (ACP) is pleased to announce the completion of phase one of a joint infrastructure project in the West Bank village of Beit Ur al Tahta. CHF International is implementing the construction work in the area, which includes sidewalk and road electrification projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with ACP and funding from the Sheikh Mohammed Shami Foundation. USAID provided $250,000 through the Emergency Jobs Program (EJP) to the project. » Read more

July 13th

Brothers divided by Gaza rivalry ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Erin Cunningham - July 13, 2009 - 12:00am Every morning Nidal dons his blue camouflage fatigues, trademark of the Hamas Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip, and sets off to work as a civil policeman in the Jabaliya refugee camp outside Gaza City. In the same camp, another policeman, Ismail, keeps his own uniform tucked neatly in a drawer, forbidden to wear it after Hamas fighters ousted his fellow Fatah forces from Gaza in a violent power struggle in 2007. » Read more

Children risk their lives in Gaza’s blockade-busting tunnels ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Patrick Moser - July 13, 2009 - 12:00am Anwar, 15, can’t read or write, but says he’s good at tunnel work. He needs a new job as Israeli planes bombed his workplace, one of hundreds of smuggling tunnels on Gaza’s border with Egypt. His rough voice and tough looks belie his young age, but his small, wiry body is what makes him a perfect candidate for the job. And, like thousands of other children in the impoverished and war-shattered Gaza Strip, his family badly needs the money. The job is comparatively lucrative, with children getting up to $30 for a 12-hour shift. » Read more

For our own good ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) July 13, 2009 - 12:00am Ever since the Israeli-Palestinian peace process began in earnest with the Oslo accords of 1993, the two sides' negotiations have been accompanied by Israeli settlement construction. Serious Israeli peace-seekers like Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert all continued building or at least expanding settlements even as they sought interim and final status arrangements with the PLO leadership. The latter, first Yasser Arafat and in recent years Mahmoud Abbas, proceeded with negotiations even as they protested settlement expansion. » Read more

Freezing settlement construction a defining test of Israel's intentions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) July 13, 2009 - 12:00am A year or so after the signing of the Oslo accords, I was one of a group of Palestinian journalists who were invited by Shimon Peres to his office at the Israel Foreign Ministry in West Jerusalem. When questions focused on continued settlement activities, the then foreign minister tried to deny them. » Read more

Negotiations and settlement construction cannot coexist ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) July 13, 2009 - 12:00am One subject on which there is complete Palestinian consensus across the political spectrum is that negotiations and Israeli settlement expansion in occupied territory including East Jerusalem are mutually exclusive. Indeed, according to numerous studies and surveys, one of the main reasons for the steady decline in public support for the PLO leadership, whether under President Mahmoud Abbas during the Annapolis process or the late President Yasser Arafat before him, is that they continued negotiating with Israel in spite of the settlement expansion. » Read more

Britain revokes 5 arms export licenses to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - July 13, 2009 - 12:00am Britain has revoked several licenses granted to British companies to sell weapons parts to Israel because of concerns over their use in Israel's recent war in the Gaza Strip, British and Israeli officials said Monday. » Read more