July 13th, 2011

From left to right, American Jews are criticizing Israeli anti-boycott law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am Backers of a new Israeli law penalizing anyone who targets Israel or West Bank settlements for boycotts tout it as a tool to fight back against anti-Israel campaigns, but American Jewish organizations seem remarkably united in deeming the measure an affront to freedom of expression. “We're disappointed that they passed the law,” said Rabbi Steve Gutow, the director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella body for the Jewish public policy groups. » Read more

Bethlehem's taps run dry as West Bank Israelis continue to fill their swimming pool ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - July 13, 2011 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM // Water taps have run dry in this venerable West Bank city, fuelling public frustration and alarming Palestinian leaders. An acute shortage has panicked Bethlehem hoteliers into building massively expensive storage tanks, lest their customers flee to water-abundant Israeli resorts. Freelance profiteers have carved out a thriving black-market trade in water affordable only to a wealthy few. Meanwhile, Bethlehem's residents, who no longer have enough water to bathe regularly, are sporting scruffy hair and soiled clothing. » Read more

Obama Administration defends aid to Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya by Angela Simaan - July 13, 2011 - 12:00am Obama Administration officials defended US aid to the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday, telling Congress the funds are critical for progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace process. “Our assistance gives us leverage,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jacob Walles while testifying before a House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. “There are practical benefits… improvement in security and helping develop institutions needed for a two-state solution,” he said » Read more

Palestinians hold US responsible for Israel policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ali Sawafta - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank, July 12 (Reuters) - The Palestinian leadership, in unusually harsh criticism of Washington, on Tuesday held the United States responsible for "racist" Israeli policies it said had sabotaged the peace process. The leadership said recent developments had confirmed the need for the Palestinians to go to the U.N. General Assembly in September to seek international recognition for a state of Palestine on lands occupied by Israel since 1967. » Read more

PCBS: Graduate unemployment improving, but slowly ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 7, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Close to half of Palestinian graduates were unemployed in 2010, the official Palestinian statistics agency said Wednesday, noting a slight decrease in unemployment from 2009. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said 44.8 percent of Palestinians who completed university degrees were not in employment, an improvement on the 2009 figure of 47 percent. » Read more

FM: Palestinians could withdraw UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 13, 2011 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian leadership plans to seek recognition of statehood from the United Nations in September but would be willing to postpone the bid if peace talks restart with a clear timetable, the foreign minister in Ramallah said Monday. Riyad Al-Maliki says the Palestinians are moving forward on the plan, but that step "can be avoided if negotiations start before September based on clear foundations and a timetable." » Read more

Palestinian killed in West Bank raid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 13, 2011 - 12:00am NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers shot and killed a young Palestinian man early Wednesday near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli security officials said. University student Ibrahim Sarhan was shot while emerging from a mosque during a search operation in Al-Farah refugee camp near Nablus, Palestinian security sources told AFP. Soldiers were looking for an activist of the Islamic Jihad movement but Sarhan did not belong to any Palestinian political group, they said. » Read more

July 12th

Palestinian Open University project back on track ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Annie Slemrod - July 12, 2011 - 12:00am By 1980, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees were living in Lebanon. And despite the difficult conditions in the country’s camps, some 15,000 Palestinians were studying at Lebanese universities. At the time, Palestinian university students were considered to be foreigners and had to pay correspondingly higher tuition than Lebanese nationals. There was no Palestinian university that offered courses to students outside of Israel or Palestine. » Read more

No quick reconciliation for Turkey-Israel ties, but Turkey rethinking rift ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - July 11, 2011 - 12:00am The Turkey-Israel relationship is not out of the woods just yet. After some positive signs in recent weeks that the once close allies were moving to repair the rift that ripped wide open last year after nine Turks were killed by Israeli forces in a confrontation on a Gaza-bound flotilla of ships, Turkey’s prime minister renewed his hard line on Israel. » Read more

Sean Cleary: ‘Seize the Moment!’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya by Sean Cleary - (Opinion) July 12, 2011 - 12:00am All of us need to change gears, and direction, in our approach to the challenges of the world between the eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia. The turmoil in the Arab world must focus our minds, causing us to look beyond past habits and present uncertainty, to define and create a future that offers hope for generations to come. Efforts by the United States over the past ten years to counter what two different administrations have seen as threats to US interests in the Gulf and Afghanistan, have not brought benefits to many who dwell there. » Read more