World bank report on economy focus of Dailies

The three Palestinian Arabic dailies focused in the Tuesday issue on a report by the World Bank on the Palestinian economy under Israeli occupation. The three papers highlighted the part in which the report said Israeli restrictions are hurting Palestinian competitiveness. Al-Quds highlighted the World Bank report on its front page but its main story was on a report that US President Barack Obama aims to achieve three goals from his trip to Israel and these include Iran, his relations to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and resumption of peace talks. Neither of the other two papers, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida, gave any prominence to this story, which came from the Associated Press, but both papers said that Obama has included a visit to the Nativity Church in Bethlehem to his agenda, even though this has not yet been officially confirmed. Al-Ayyam had a story quoting Hamas official saying that no one can stop the flow of weapons to Gaza. This came from Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, who told an Egyptian newspaper that Hamas does neither agree to the destruction of the smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. Another story that appeared in al-Ayyam focused on the formation of the Israeli government and said that Netanyahu was putting the final touches to this government. It said in a different story that the Palestinian Authority returned to Israel a 23-year-old Israeli who entered the West Bank city of Tulkarm and asked for political asylum. Al-Quds said in a story that Israeli police are preventing Muslim women who carry out Quran schooling inside the yards of al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City from entering the Muslim holy place. It also had a story about striking Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi saying in a letter he got out of prison that he refuses to be sent to exile in return to his release. “Either Jerusalem (his hometown) or martyrdom,” was the headline from Issawi in al-Hayat al-Jadida. The same paper had a story quoting PLO Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yousef saying that the crisis over the resignation of finance minister Nabeel Kassis is on its way to be resolved. It also said President Mahmoud Abbas received in his office the wife of a Palestinian journalist who has been missing in Syria. The wife is a Turkish national. Bashar Qaddoumi has been missing in Syria for several months and believes to be either in the hands of the Syrian army or has been killed by them. It had a story and picture showing Prime Minister Salam Fayyad planting trees in a West Bank village. Al-Ayyam also had a story on top of its front page on the discovery to five tons of spoiled candies at a candy factory in Ramallah.