March 24th

Jerusalem bombing comes amid rising Israel-Gaza violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The first Jerusalem bombing in years rocked a bus stop in the city center today, wounding more than 20. The explosion comes amid rising Israeli-Palestinian violence and speculation that another war with the Islamist militant group Hamas is inevitable. One Jerusalem resident who heard the explosion said it had been so long since the last attack that the bombing sounded like a crash from a nearby construction site.

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Peace Can’t Be Provisional
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Ephraim Sneh - (Opinion) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel needs to achieve an end to its conflict with the Palestinians. Recent developments in the region make this goal all the more urgent. Yet instead of working to achieve a permanent-status agreement, ending all claims by the two parties, we are increasingly hearing talk about pushing for an interim agreement based on provisional borders. This would be a profound mistake.

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Jerusalem Blast Raises Fears of Growing Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

A bomb exploded at a crowded bus stop near Jerusalem’s main bus station on Wednesday, killing one woman and wounding at least 24 other people. It was the worst attack in Jerusalem in four years, putting Israelis on alert, shattering years of relative calm here and prompting international condemnation. Paramedics and others aided the wounded Wednesday after an explosion at a crowded Jerusalem bus stop. One person was killed and at least 24 were wounded. Residents ran for cover Wednesday during a rocket attack on the Israeli city of Beersheba, about 25 miles southeast of Gaza.

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For Palestinians, action must follow talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Frustrated by a stagnant political process, the Palestinian people have spoken - they want reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. But can their leaders deliver? It seemed so at first glance last week. After street protests in Ramallah and Gaza saw thousands calling for a new unity government, Hamas's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh hastily invited Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, to Gaza. Mr Abbas, all too aware of the Palestinian Authority's crumbling support, had little choice but to respond.

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'Both Israel, Hamas responsible for escalation'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Who is responsible for the sudden escalation of the situation in the Gaza Strip? All of a sudden rockets are coming out from Gaza after a period of calm and Israel tanks are shelling residential areas, which killed four members of the Helu family in the Shejaiya refugee camp in the Strip.

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We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The spread of conflict and violence across the Middle East is dampening widespread hopes of an "Arab Spring" that followed the peaceful ousters of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia. Anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain have taken on an increasingly bitter sectarian character, especially with the military intervention of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the uprising in Libya has degenerated into an all-out civil war compounded by an international no-fly zone intervention.

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March 23rd

ATFP Deplores Violence, Warns Against Escalation of Conflict
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, March 23 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) has been following the escalating violence between Palestinians and Israel over the recent weeks with growing alarm. ATFP reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of all forms of terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians no matter who the perpetrators or the victims might be and no matter in what cause such actions are rationalized. The particularly indefensible and contemptible killing of children must especially be condemned without reservation.


Rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel. Four Palestinian civilians and four militants are killed in Israeli airstrikes. PM Fayyad’s five-week period form a cabinet has expired, but he says the process is on hold pending a potential unity government. Hamas calls for a day of mourning and Pres. Abbas calls for a cease-fire. The UN and the Arab League condemn the killing of civilians in Gaza, and PM Netanyahu says he regrets the deaths. Ma'an provides a summary of Gaza border violence in March. Israel passes a law banning mourning its founding. Critics call the new law racist. Sefi Rachlevsky says Israel’s anti-democratic racism must end. Amira Hass says those firing rockets are playing with the lives of Palestinian children. Ha’aretz says a small war is already brewing in Gaza. Palestinians are pushing for new negotiations with Israel. Abbas urges Russia to help restrain Israel. The French FM says that a Palestinian state must be created in 2011. Aluf Benn says Israel is oblivious to the implications of Arab uprisings. The State Department praises the performance of Palestinian security services. Ghassan Khatib says the murder of a settler family was totally unacceptable but does not justify Israel’s policies. Yossi Alpher says the world’s attention is elsewhere and the peace process is even more unlikely to move forward.

The anti-democratic racism of Israel must end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

If there is one country in the world that should have heeded the commandment 'Thou shall not build nuclear reactors,' it is Japan, and that is not 20-20 hindsight. The traumas of World War II, of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with the fact that Japan sits on the seam of tectonic plates, should have kept it away from that path. But Japan became a leader in the construction of reactors after all.

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The sanctity of the soaring Qassam
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The Hamas authorities once again forgot that the neighbor/occupier to its east is crazy. Fact: Over Shabbat, Hamas' military wing fired more than 50 mortar shells at Israel. Or perhaps it didn't forget: Perhaps it merely thought the Palestinian people in Gaza were ready for another high-tech Israeli onslaught, for another Israel Defense Forces video game in which children playing on a roof are identified as lookouts and sentenced to death.

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