Anti-corruption campaigner is headache for Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub, Dalia Nammari - March 22, 2010 - 12:00am

After getting a top Palestinian official suspended over an embarrassing sex tape, self-styled anti-corruption campaigner Fahmi Shabaneh feels unstoppable. The former Palestinian intelligence agent is already zooming in on his next targets, including his former boss and a top Islamic court judge. He also set up a Web site so ordinary Palestinians can send him evidence of official misconduct, thievery and nepotism. "I'm going to the end," he said of his unprecedented crusade.

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A message for Palestinians in the Israel-U.S. disagreement?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Eric Fingerhut - March 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Jeffrey Goldberg lamented the other day that the AIPAC policy conference had too many speakers from the center-right and not enough from the left. One exception he did cite was Ghaith al-Omari, advocacy director for the American Task Force on Palestine, who spoke Sunday afternoon on a panel entitled "Prognosticating Peace: Are Direct Israeli-Palestinian Talks in Sight?" And al-Omari had an interesting perspective on the recent flareup in tensions between the U.S. and Israel, believing there was an important message in the episode for Palestinians, as well.

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Qaeda-labelled group claims fatal Gaza rocket
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 18, 2010 - 12:00am

GAZA, March 18 (Reuters) - A previously unknown group in the Gaza Strip calling itself Ansar al-Sunna (Followers of the Sunnis) send out an SMS message to media claiming to have fired a rocket that killed a man in Israel on Thursday. The name, which is also used by al Qaeda allies in Iraq and elsewhere, indicated that the group belongs to hardline Salafist tendencies in the Palestinian enclave which have challenged the ruling Hamas Islamist movement. Hamas has been trying to enforce an informal ceasefire between Israel and the territory.


PNA to reduce dependence on Western training programs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 18, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) tends to reduce dependence on U.S. and European officers in training its forces in the West Bank, a spokesman said Thursday. Adnan Al-Dumiri, spokesman for the PNA's forces, said Palestinian officers who received training would start shifting their experience to newly-admitted cadets. "The PNA's dependence on the Americans and Europeans is decreasing," he told Xinhua.

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First planned Palestinian city receives US grant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Bethlehem - Ma'an - The US government signed two grant agreements on Monday in support of Rawabi, the first Palestinian planned city outside Ramallah, and to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance. The grants, offered by the US Trade and Development Agency (TDA) Awards Grants, will go toward two projects for technical assistance to develop an IT master plan for the new city, and a tertiary waste water treatment feasibility study for Rawabi and surrounding communities, a statement said.

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What is Israel afraid of?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ali Jarbawi - (Opinion) March 15, 2010 - 12:00am

The program of the 13th Palestinian government, commonly referred to as the Fayyad Plan, called for all Palestinian institutions, and Palestinian society as a whole, to unite behind a state-building effort. The program embodies an authentically Palestinian initiative to work pro-actively and constructively toward establishing the state of Palestine through non-violent means over a two-year timeframe, despite the lack of progress in negotiations and continued military occupation.

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Washington is the indespensible partner for a settlement
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Daily Star - March 12, 2010 - 1:00am

The situation facing Israel, the Palestinians and all other interested parties, especially the United States, is difficult, but it also presents important new opportunities. Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians may resume soon, although continued disagreements over Israeli settlement building may yet derail this.

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PA fears East Jerusalem building will make it look weak
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - March 12, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority will not begin indirect talks with Israel unless construction in the settlements, including in East Jerusalem, is completely frozen, PA President Mahmoud Abbas told the Arab League on Thursday. Abbas' statement was reported by both chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

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Women in charge in West Bank's key district
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

At 35, Leila Ghanem is the first woman to become a Palestinian governor, the latest in a group of trailblazing women leaders who are slowly winning acceptance in this traditional society.

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Gazan hairdressers protest Hamas restrictions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
March 10, 2010 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza's male hairdressers have filed a complaint with a human rights group over a Hamas edict banning them from cutting women's hair. Gaza's Islamic militant rulers announced the ban last week. It affects only five coiffeurs but highlights Hamas' increasing attempts to impose a strict version of Islam in the already conservative Palestinian territory.

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