Arafat’s death haunts foes, followers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Ask any Palestinian about the death of former leader and symbol of national resistance, Yasser Arafat, and he or she will immediately say that he was killed by Israel for refusing to give in to pressure to accept an unjust final peace settlement. Arafat’s death, in mysterious circumstances at a French military hospital, in November 2004, remains one of the most contentious issues for millions of Palestinians. » Read more

What Putin's Trip To Jerusalem Really Means ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Dimi Reider - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Much of the coverage of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories focused on two questions: Putin's perceived foot-dragging over Iran, and the visit's significance for the Russian-speaking Israelis who make up about one-fifth of the population, as large as Israel's Palestinian population. » Read more

Israel and Russia Make Odd Couple ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Robert O. Freedman - (Opinion) July 6, 2012 - 12:00am Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Israel in late June with the ostensible purpose of helping to unveil a monument to the Soviet soldiers who helped defeat Nazi Germany. But Putin’s motivations for this trip to the Middle East were not so innocuous. In fact, they underlined the degree to which his ambitions for the region have not changed at all since his last reign as Russia’s president, from 2000 to 2008. » Read more

Palestinians call local elections for October 20 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Nasser Abu Bakr - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian government in the West Bank on Tuesday said it would hold local elections in October across the Palestinian territories, sparking anger from Gaza's Hamas rulers. "The Palestinian cabinet approved during its meeting today, chaired by prime minister Salam Fayyad, conducting local elections on October 20, 2012 in all local councils in the homeland," a statement said after the meeting. » Read more

Boosting Arab employment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Kenneth Bandler - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am How to improve the economic conditions of minority populations is a challenge for any democracy, all the more so for one as young as Israel. The country’s non-governmental organizations devoted to advancing Jewish-Arab relations have long advocated concrete steps to integrate citizens into the nation’s workforce. In recent years some government officials have for measures to increase the numbers of qualified Arab workers. » Read more

Walls Of Palestinian Homes Come Tumbling Down ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR) by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am Israel has dramatically increased its demolitions of unauthorized Palestinian homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a recent United Nations report. Last year, 1,100 Palestinians — more than half of them children — were displaced, an 80 percent increase from the previous year. And demolitions this year continue at a high rate. For Sami Idriss, the Israeli bulldozers came while the 26-year-old Palestinian was at work. » Read more

Thank you, Mr. Sherman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am I would like to thank Martin Sherman for his scathing attack against me in his article "The honorable thing to do" (Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2012). Although I agree with Sherman’s criticism of President Shimon Peres’s last speech, that it is wrong not to learn from the failures of the Oslo process, it is a great honor to be attacked together with our president and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. » Read more

Young Jews More Interested in Israel: Poll ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Simi Lampert - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am Young Jews are now more attached to Israel than the previous generation, almost reaching the level of interest of their elders, a new poll reveals. While Jews 45 and older were rated as having a 40-44 level of attachment to Israel, those between 35 and 45 only scored a 24. Those under 35 got a 39 out of 100, according to the poll carried out by the Workmen’s Circle. » Read more

Settling truths ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) July 9, 2012 - 12:00am After nearly six months of investigations, three legal experts known colloquially as “the outpost committee” – a government-appointed advisory body – submitted some clear-cut conclusions. » Read more

Does Israel walk a thin line with West Bank oil drill? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Alex Rowell - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am While the search for oil beneath Israel has been going on for years, the most recently drilled well in the Meged oil field, on the edge of the West Bank, is raising concern that it might draw from untapped Palestinian reserves. After a 10-minute uphill hike through the rocky fields of the West Bank village of Rantis, we reach a summit where we rest, panting in the 40-degree heat. A hundred metres (330ft) in front of us lie the wired fence and gravel track of the Green Line - the perimeter of the West Bank and Israel. » Read more