Fatah showed Palestinians democracy is more than just a slogan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) August 12, 2009 - 12:00am

A week after the Sixth Fatah Convention opened, its chairman Mahmoud Abbas could finally sit back, relax and smile. The rais is beginning to shine through as the undisputed winner. Not only did he manage to convene the conference, an achievement that eluded his legendary predecessor Yasser Arafat, the huge event went through almost without incident (barring a brief shootout between the Presidential Guard and their general intelligence colleagues, in a fight over a parking spot).

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Green Shoots in Palestine II
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - August 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Ever since the collapse of the Oslo peace accords in 2000, and the horror-show violence that followed, there has been only one thing to say about the West Bank: Nothing ever changes here, except for the worst. That is just not the case anymore — much to my surprise.

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Abbas's big move to revamp Fatah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - August 5, 2009 - 12:00am

For the first time in two decades, the most enduring force in Palestinian politics convened a partywide congress Tuesday to strengthen its position in negotiations with rival Hamas as well as with Israel. "Although peace is our choice, we reserve the right to resistance, legitimate under international law," said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the party's pro-West chairman, in his opening speech.

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Abbas Urges ‘New Start’ at Fatah Conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - August 4, 2009 - 12:00am

The mainstream Palestinian movement Fatah came together here on Tuesday for a landmark three-day gathering, its first in 20 years and its first ever on Palestinian soil. The opening ceremony was festive and emotional, though the celebratory tone did not dispel the difficult situation Fatah found itself in. It has struggled to recover from a humiliating defeat by Hamas, its Islamic rival, in the 2006 elections and the subsequent loss of Gaza. Fatah continues to be riddled with internal divisions, and many participants said the conference might be the movement’s last chance to revive.

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Green Shoots in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) August 4, 2009 - 12:00am

In 2002, the U.N. Development Program released its first ever Arab Human Development Report, which bluntly detailed the deficits of freedom, women’s empowerment and knowledge-creation holding back the Arab world. It was buttressed with sobering statistics: Greece alone translated five times more books every year from English to Greek than the entire Arab world translated from English to Arabic; the G.D.P. of Spain was greater than that of all 22 Arab states combined; 65 million Arab adults were illiterate. It was a disturbing picture, bravely produced by Arab academics.

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Bridging Cultures
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Raymond M. Lane - July 31, 2009 - 12:00am

Barefoot and sun-blasted from a summer job working as a swim coach in upper Northwest Washington, 21-year-old Ramzy Charles Suleiman smiles an easy smile and caresses the keys of his grandmother's upright piano.

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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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Ramallah: Warm welcome for 'Abbas' heir'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Dozens of senior Palestinian Authority officials, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed senior Fatah official Abu Maher Ghneim to the West Bank city of Ramallah Wednesday, after 40 years in exile in Tunisia. Other senior movement officials, as well as Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, attended the event. Ghneim retuned to Ramallah ahead of the Fatah convention scheduled to take place in Bethlehem on August 4. Abbas called Ghneim's return "another landmark in the Palestinians' fight for liberation and the modernization of the Fatah movement."

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Gaza children go for world record for kite flying
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - July 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Thousands of children in the Gaza Strip attempted to set a new world record Thursday by flying colorful homemade kites amid the ruins of Israel's bruising offensive earlier this year — a rare display of joy in the isolated seaside territory ruled by Hamas militants. The festive event, sponsored by the United Nations, brought some 6,000 campers in orange uniforms and blue caps to a beach in Gaza's war-torn north, where they released their kites into clear skies. Some included designs such as the red, green, black and white Palestinian flag.

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Top Fatah leader back in W. Bank after over 40 years in exile
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
July 29, 2009 - 12:00am

A Fatah leader returned to the West Bank Wednesday after more than 40 years in exile. Mohammed Ghneim was one of Fatah's last holdouts in the diaspora. Only three of Fatah's two dozen top leaders refused to return with then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to the Palestinian territories after the 1993 Oslo Accords. At the time, Ghneim said he would leave exile in Tunis only to enter a Palestinian state. Recently he relented. On Wednesday, he was greeted in Ramallah by hundreds of activists. He plans to run for a top post at next week's Fatah convention, the first in 20 years.

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