High level PA panel to investigate "organ theft" claims
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is forming a high-level panel to investigate allegations that the Israeli military “stole organs” from Palestinian detainees, officials said on Thursday. The secretary general of the PA Council of Ministers, Dr Hassan Abu Libdeh, said that the committee has already started work by collecting all available information about the issue. He said the PA will take a sharp position on this issue, because, if true, the alleged events would constitute violations of human rights.

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Fayyad visits family of teen killed by Israeli army
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad visited Al-Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah on Tuesday evening to offer condolences to family of 15-year-old Muhammad Nayif who was killed by Israeli forces in the morning. Fayyad expressed his sorrow and sadness reminding of Muhammad’s father, a Palestinian intelligence officer who was also killed by Israeli forces seven years ago.

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Outcry over violence in Israel ignoring occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The most amazing thing about the wave of murders in recent weeks has been the collective Israeli stupefaction at the discovery of violence in our midst. Once again we have displayed our talent for excluding from the discourse the daily violence inherent in our continued domination over the Palestinians and their land.

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A phone call from Prime Minister Fayyad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Daoud Kuttab
by Daoud Kuttab - (Blog) September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Except for a short encounter on a plane years ago, I had never met in person Salam Fayyad. I certainly didn’t have any communications with him before I wrote the piece praising his two year planhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/fayyads-brilliant-two-yea_b_270253.html for Palestinian statehood. No one from his office had sent me a copy of the plan or suggested that I write about it.

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Hamas leader denies Nazi genocide of Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

A Hamas spiritual leader on Monday called teaching Palestinian children about the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews a "war crime," rejecting a suggestion that the U.N. might include the Holocaust in Gaza's school curriculum. A senior Israeli official said such statements should make the West think twice about ending its boycott of Hamas, in place since the group seized Gaza by force in 2007. Israeli officials called the comments as "obscene" and said they place Hamas in a pariah club of Holocaust deniers that includes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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PA blames Israel for prisoners' sickness
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

A Palestinian Authority minister said Israel was not doing enough to maintain the health of Palestinian prisoners. Prisoner Affairs' Minister Issa Karaki was quoted by the Palestinian Ma'an news agency on Monday as saying that the recent discovery of cancer in 25 Palestinian prisoners "was a troubling phenomenon which indicates the decline in Palestinian prisoners' health conditions and the lack of minimal medical care."

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Gaza and Bilin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Husam Itani - (Blog) September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

In Bilin a weekly march takes place in protest of the racist Israeli separation wall, in which activists from all over the world participate and which witness clashes with occupation forces and settlers, usually resulting in a number of wounded and victims of Israeli gases. The protest marches are organized by a broad coalition of political forces, Palestinian civil society institutions and international organizations that combat racial discrimination, in addition to local inhabitants from the village and neighboring area.

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Hamas fights the Salafists to gain more legitimacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Mkhaimar Abusada - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

The recent shoot-out in a Gaza mosque between Hamas security officers and militants from the radical jihadist group the Warriors of God brought to the surface the deep tensions that divide Palestinian Islamists. Twenty-two people died, including the Warriors of God’s leader, Abdel-Latif Moussa. But Palestinian security officials doubt that these will be the last casualties.

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In Village, Palestinians See Model for Their Cause
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Every Friday for the past four and a half years, several hundred demonstrators — Palestinian villagers, foreign volunteers and Israeli activists — have walked in unison to the Israeli barrier separating this tiny village from the burgeoning settlement of Modiin Illit, part of which is built on the village’s land. One hundred feet away, Israeli soldiers watch and wait. The protesters chant and shout and, inevitably, a few throw stones. Then just as inevitably, the soldiers open fire with tear gas and water jets, lately including a putrid oil-based liquid that makes the entire area stink.

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Israeli academics must pay price to end occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anat Matar - August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Several days ago Dr. Neve Gordon of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev published an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times. In that article he explained why, after years of activity in the peace camp here, he has decided to pin his hopes on applying external pressure on Israel - including sanctions, divestment and an economic, cultural and academic boycott. He believes, and so do I, that only when the Israeli society's well-heeled strata pay a real price for the continuous occupation will they finally take genuine steps to put an end to it.

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