Egypt closes Rafah crossing for holiday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 25, 2011 - 12:00am


Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing on Monday as the country marked Sinai Liberation Day and Sham Al-Nessim, officials announced. Crossing director Ayyoub Abu Sha’ar told Ma'an that the terminal would be closed for one day as citizens marked the national holiday denoting the beginning of spring. The holiday always falls the day after the Eastern Orthodox Christian Easter. On Tuesday, the crossing will resume its five-day-a-week schedule, Abu Sha'ar said.


Tech diplomacy: Israeli CEO hires Palestinian programmers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - April 22, 2011 - 12:00am


The last time chief executive officer Eyal Waldman had been to the Israeli-occupied West Bank was as a soldier. But when he needed to outsource some work for his fast-growing Israeli technology company, he chose an unconventional solution: hiring Palestinian programmers from Ramallah.


Israel's wall cements psychological divide between Arab, Jew
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - April 22, 2011 - 12:00am


shad Zeid, a Palestinian farmer who lives not far from the bustle of Tel Aviv, once sold his crops to Israeli acquaintances – chatting with them in Hebrew as they paid for cabbage or cauliflower. But now Mr. Zeid's world ends abruptly at a high wall of gray concrete erected by Israel to protect its citizens against Palestinian suicide bombers. Just beyond the wall bordering his fields lies Kfar Saba, a Tel Aviv suburb of 85,000 that was once part of his customer base.


Palestinian Police Kill Israeli Visiting West Bank Holy Site
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - April 24, 2011 - 12:00am


The Palestinian police shot and killed one Israeli and wounded four others early Sunday after the Israelis surreptitiously visited a Jewish holy site inside a Palestinian-controlled area, officials on both sides said. The shooting occurred outside Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus after three carloads of religious Israeli Jews visited the site to pray, without coordinating their plans through the Israeli Army. Twice-monthly trips to the tomb have been organized with army escorts for the past four years without incident.



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