August 10th

Abbas re-elected chairman by deeply divided Fatah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Irish Times by Michael Jansen - August 10, 2009 - 12:00am Fatah's first general congress in 20 years yesterday delayed until this evening the vote for representatives on two key decision-making bodies. By postponing elections for a third time, Fatah revealed that it remains deeply divided between the “old guard” who have controlled the movement since its founding half a century ago and the “young guard” who seek to initiate wide-ranging reforms. » Read more

Young Israeli settlers go hippie? Far out, man! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - August 9, 2009 - 12:00am Situated just outside this contoversial Jewish settlement in the West Bank, the hilltop stage was dominated Thursday by a Star of David, an olive tree, and musicians who mix blues licks, reggae rhythms, and messianic refrains from Jewish liturgy. The annual "End of Days" festival – which bills itself as a "place of light and unity, inspiration and calm" – has become something of a mini-Woodstock in the settlements, with meditation groups, religious study sessions, and a crowd dressed in colorful flowing clothes. » Read more

Palestinians Elect Leader, Unopposed, as Party Chief ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - August 8, 2009 - 12:00am Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, will retain control of his Fatah party after an election on Saturday in which he ran unopposed. More than 2,000 delegates, a nearly unanimous majority, voted for him in a show of hands at a party conference in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Fatah’s first such gathering in 20 years. Mr. Abbas succeeded Yasir Arafat as the leader of Fatah, a mainstream nationalist movement, after Mr. Arafat, the Palestinian leader who founded it, died in 2004. » Read more

Israeli Raid Strikes Tunnel Into Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 10, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli warplanes bombed a tunnel along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt on Monday, the Israeli military, Hamas officials and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the pre-dawn raid in the Palestinian coastal territory, which is governed by the Islamist Hamas movement. The raid was launched in response to recent mortar and rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. » Read more

August 7th

Damaging divide ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Editorial) August 7, 2009 - 12:00am King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia summed up the sentiments of the entire Arab and Muslim worlds well when he said that Palestinian divisions constitute a greater danger to the Palestinians and their cause than all the threats and acts of aggression committed by Israel. In a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas marking Fateh’s first congress in 20 years, the Saudi king stressed that all Palestinian factions need to come together to make an independent Palestinian state possible. » Read more

Israel’s broken pledges are not redemption ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) August 7, 2009 - 12:00am The Israeli right-wing has a curious word to describe what happened this week in the Sheikh Jarra neighbourhood of east Jerusalem, where 52 Palestinians were forcibly evicted from their homes: redemption. If this is what redemption looks like than it is difficult to imagine what peace would mean. Regardless of one’s religious beliefs or politics it is difficult to find a redeeming value to theft. The Hanun and Gawi families now live on the street; Israeli settlers now live in their homes. And this is not the story of just these two Palestinan families but of thousands of others. » Read more

Mubarak’s Visit to the US… and the Cards of the Palestinian Cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Mohammad Salah - (Opinion) August 7, 2009 - 12:00am For about six years, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has not visited the United States for well-known reasons, most prominently of course the deteriorating relations between the two countries during former President George Bush’s second term. And here is the Egyptian President now preparing for his first visit to the US capital next month, in the first year of President Barack Obama’s first term in office. » Read more

Feed Them Against Hunger…And May God Protect Them! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) August 6, 2009 - 12:00am In Gaza, men cannot walk along the beach bare-chested, shop owners are requested to hide mannequins, summer camps for children are being discouraged based on the pretext of free mixing between the sexes, and cafes and Christian symbols are being targeted. In fact it has reached such a level that an explosion went off at a wedding party based on the claim that music is haram [prohibited in Islam]. » Read more

'No talks unless Israel frees prisoners' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 7, 2009 - 12:00am Fatah delegates meeting here Thursday resolved not to renew peace negotiations with Israel until all Palestinian prisoners are released from Israeli jails, all settlement-building is frozen and the Gaza blockade is lifted. Nabil Sha'ath, a Fatah Central Committee said these were some of 14 preconditions for a resumption of peace talks. Analysts noted that the conditions are not binding on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but also that they broadly accorded with the positions had Abbas had himself set out in an address to the gathering on Tuesday. » Read more

Fatah vote contractors making promises to everyone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - August 7, 2009 - 12:00am The Fatah movement entered the last straight Thursday night ahead of the conclusion of its historic congress. Thousands of phone calls were made, with the most common phrase uttered by the conference's delegates being "what you want is what will be." During a break in Thursday's discussions, a group of vote contractors sat in the al-Khayma ("the tent") restaurant in the West Bank town of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, and made phone calls to candidates wishing to be included in Fatah's future leadership. » Read more