January 10th

Israel begins to demolish the famous Shepherd Hotel in occupied East Jerusalem to make room for a new settlement. Sec. Clinton, the EU and other international leaders condemn the action, and the PA says it is destroying chances for peace. Palestinian-American business interests are trying to take over an Israeli real estate company. Israel bombs Gaza, with no injuries. Hamas urges militants in Gaza to stop attacking Israel. Israeli officials will travel to Washington for talks. Palestinians may ask for UN recognition. Israeli academics call for boycotting settlement universities. Hamas denies its leaders meet with Israeli officials. Akiva Eldar says PM Netanyahu's policies are creating a Palestinian state. The EU says East Jerusalem should be regarded as the Palestinian capital. A Knesset committee approves a draft bill to revoke citizenship from those accused of terror or espionage. Occupation forces kill a Palestinian man at a checkpoint. The BBC looks at the plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Tony Karon says the death of Palestinian protesters has reawakened the Israeli left. Ian Buruma says Israel is acquiring inappropriate friends on the European extreme right.

ATFP Expresses Grave Concerns over Demolition of Shepherd Hotel
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

Washington DC, Jan. 10 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today expressed grave concerns about the effects of Israel's demolition of the historic Shepherd Hotel in occupied East Jerusalem on prospects for peace.


Israel's wrong friends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Ian Buruma - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel has been welcoming some rather peculiar visitors of late. The Dutch populist, Geert Wilders, is a frequent caller, telling sympathetic audiences that Israel is on the front line of the Western war against Islam. And, in December, a delegation of European far-right politicians toured Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank, pleasing their hosts by reassuring them that this was “Jewish land”.

»

Israeli left reawakens after death of Palestinian protestors
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Tony Karon - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

The security forces had set up roadblocks to stop us from reaching the black township to attend a funeral for one of the thousands they had killed to protect our "security". So we had to take backroads and cross open ground. Some were intercepted and turned back, but hundreds of us white activists still made it in, to stand side by side with a mourning community rededicating itself to the fight for justice - and to make clear to them, and to our own communities, that we would resist the crimes committed in our name.

»

Palestinian plight in northern Lebanon refugee camps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Wyre Davies - January 8, 2011 - 1:00am

It is sometimes controversially said that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live in worse conditions than those during the Israeli occupation in Gaza. There is no better place to witness and document the plight of Lebanon's refugees than Nahr al-Bared. It was such conditions that contributed to the destruction of the refugee camp, in 2007, as troops from the Lebanese army fought with Islamist militants. In May of that year, fierce fighting erupted here - a sprawling Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli in northern Lebanon.

»

Israeli troops kill Palestinian at West Bank checkpoint
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
January 8, 2011 - 1:00am

The man leapt from a taxi and ran towards the checkpoint east of Nablus carrying a pipe bomb, ignoring orders to stop, a spokesman said. Troops later found a second explosive device on his body. Palestinian security officials said the man was a member of the militant group Islamic Jihad in the town of Jenin. Last Sunday another Palestinian man was shot dead at the same checkpoint. Israeli officials said he had tried to attack troops with a bottle after they refused to let him through.

»

EU diplomats step up opposition to east Jerusalem building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

The European Union stepped up its opposition to Jewish building in east Jerusalem on Monday. In an internal document sent to 25 EU Consuls General in Jerusalem, the EU said: "Israel has left Palestinian neighbourhoods ever more isolated" and "by legal and practical means, is actively pursuing its [illegal] annexation by systematically undermining the Palestinian presence in the city," London-based The Independent reported.

»

Knesset committee okays Citizenship Law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

The Knesset's Internal Affairs Committee on Monday approved a bill allowing citizenship to be revoked from Israelis convicted of terror or espionage crimes. The bill will be brought to the Knesset plenum for its first reading. The Shin Bet, which had previously supported the motion, announced during the discussion that they had reversed their opinion on the matter. A stormy verbal confrontation broke out during the meeting between the initiator of the bill, Knesset Member David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu), and Balad Chairman MK Jamal Zahalka.

»

EU diplomats say East Jerusalem should be treated as Palestinian capital
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

East Jerusalem should be treated as the capital of the Palestinian state, according to a report compiled by the heads of European diplomatic missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah. The report includes several other unprecedented recommendations to the European Union regarding its attitude toward East Jerusalem. The European diplomats, mainly consuls, also recommend that EU officials and politicians refuse to visit Israeli government offices that are located beyond the Green Line and that they decline any Israeli security in the Old City and elsewhere in East Jerusalem.

»

Netanyahu will deliver a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

What do you want from Benjamin Netanyahu? For the first time, the prime minister promised last July that he wants to forge an agreement within a year with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Since that day, the Israeli right wing has simmered with consternation. Virtually not a day passes without its leaders contributing another brick to the building of Palestine.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017