A new Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - July 31, 2009 - 12:00am

Remember the name: Rawabi. The city of hills to be built nine kilometers northwest of Ramallah. The first planned city in Palestinian history. The first planned city in the West Bank to be inhabited by Palestinians rather than settlers. A city designed to be a Palestinian city of abundance - secular, open and vibrant. A city of pedestrian malls, cafes, kindergartens and schools. A city of thriving Palestinian start-ups and Palestinian yuppies. A city that will pave the Palestinians' way to the 21st century.

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'Bustling' Nabulus 'Returning to Normal' After Checkpoint Changes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Amit Cohen - July 31, 2009 - 12:00am

Learned Lesson From Gaza

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Netanyahu calls for Jewish investment in Palestinian economy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
July 22, 2009 - 12:00am

Diaspora Jews should join Arabs in investing in the Palestinian economy, Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. Jewish leaders. The Israeli prime minister listed prosperity for the Palestinians among six conditions for lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace in a call Tuesday with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Netanyahu outlined steps he was taking to facilitate commerce in the West Bank and spur the Palestinian economy, which he said could flourish with the cooperation of the Palestinian Authority and with the help of Jews and Arabs overseas.

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West Bank boom
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Many of those who have visited this city in the past decade were journalists searching for interviews with gunmen belonging to Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, or stories related to violence and bloodshed. In recent months, however, most of those who come to Nablus, once known as the Palestinian's economic capital, are shoppers searching for cheap clothes and fine sweets or a massage at one of the newly renovated 200-year-old Turkish baths.

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Breathing life back into Nablus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Heather Sharp - July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Business has more than doubled in recent months, said sweet shop owner Magdi Abu Salha, taking a break from slicing up knefi, the sticky cheese-based dessert for which his home town of Nablus is famed. Two years ago the northern West Bank town was a stronghold of armed Palestinian militant groups. And just three months ago, the six Israeli roadblocks and checkpoints that had ringed it for nine years had all but killed its economic life. Magdi Abu Salha, Nablus sweet shop owner Magdi Abu Salha says the Israeli-Arab visitors have boosted business

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Signs of Hope Emerge in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The first movie theater to operate in this Palestinian city in two decades opened its doors in late June. Palestinian policemen standing beneath new traffic lights are checking cars for seat belt violations. One-month-old parking meters are filling with the coins of shoppers. Music stores are blasting love songs into the street, and no nationalist or Islamist scold is forcing them to stop.

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World Bank to give Palestinians $33.5m. in aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - July 14, 2009 - 12:00am

The World Bank on Tuesday announced plans to spend an additional $33.5 million on Palestinian infrastructure initiatives, including $21.5 million for six Gaza projects. The new aid was announced in the morning at a signing ceremony in Ramallah attended by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad and Dina Abu Ghaida, the World Bank acting country director for the West Bank and Gaza (WBG).

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Interview with Bassem Khoury
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
(Interview) July 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Q: Mr Khoury, as Minister of National Economy, you obviously have your work cut out for you. Where will you start? A: My first priority has been to draft a 100 day plan for the Ministry. I presented this plan to the Prime Minister on 2 June. The plan has been approved and work has already begun. Q: What are the main priorities set out in the plan?

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In Palestinian town, business booms after Israel relaxes checkpoints
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 6, 2009 - 12:00am

Nablus, West Bank - The downtown streets in this Palestinian city bustle with pedestrians and echo with the bleating of taxis vying for road space. During the recent Palestinian uprising, activity in the second-largest city and commercial capital of the West Bank was choked off by Israeli security roadblocks and frequent gunfire from roaming militant gangs. But for the first time since 2000, the Israeli military has loosened movement restrictions around Nablus, opening up the city to Palestinians around the West Bank and to Arab citizens of Israel who come to shop.

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Luxury Palestinian mall signals transformation of 'terror capital'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - June 22, 2009 - 12:00am

The skies lit up over Jenin last month, and it wasn't tracer bullets or flash bombs but celebratory fireworks, set off to mark the occasion of the opening of Hirbawi Home Center, a new luxury establishment on the city's outskirts. The five-story building near the Jalame checkpoint cost $5 million to build, says its owner, and it is filled with deluxe, foreign-made products seen mostly in the pages of newspaper supplements.

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