April 8th

Abbas urges West to stop Israeli strikes on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
April 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Western powers on Thursday to intervene after Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed four Palestinians. He called on the West "to immediately intervene to stop this aggression", the official Wafa news agency reported. Abbas also urged Palestinian militants not to give Israel an excuse to hit Gaza. The flareup of violence followed an attack on an Israeli school bus in which an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza wounded two people, drawing a swift Israeli response.

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Ahead of games, West Bank summons Olympic spirit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 8, 2011 - 12:00am

"It's one thing winning the medal, that's great, but I think some of the other things I've been able to experience because of this have been enriching as much as completing that original goal," says Jamie Staff, 2008 Beijing Gold medal winner for the UK. "It changed my life," he reflected on the tail end of a whirlwind trip to the West Bank. With the gold medal in his pocket, Staff arrived in the West Bank as part of London's Cultural Olympiad, in events celebrating 500 days to the opening of the Summer Games.

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Christians demand freedom of access during Easter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 7, 2011 - 12:00am

As Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza await news on permits from Israel to visit holy sites in Jerusalem, local Christians issued a call for the respect of freedom of worship. "For Christians, Holy Week in Jerusalem has a special spiritual connection," said a statement from the Kairos Palestine group on Wednesday. Holy sites "are equally important to the Palestinian Christians of Gaza and the West bank, who want to join their Jerusalemite Christian brethren in the liturgical events leading to the resurrection, the holiest celebration in Christianity."

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11 killed in Gaza, dozens injured in series of strikes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli air strikes and artillery fire have hit Gaza eight times Friday, killing six, and bringing the total number of dead over the past 24 hours to eleven, almost half of who were civilians. A mother and daughter, and elderly man were killed in two separate strikes near Khan Younis, and a fourth unidentified man was killed in the most recent strike near Gaza City.

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Israelis conducting global war on Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Eli Lake - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel's security agencies are stepping up targeted attacks throughout the world on Hamas' leadership in what one Israeli official called "intelligence-based prevention." In the past two months, Israeli operatives have intercepted a German ship in international waters, fired a missile at a suspected Hamas leader in Sudan, and captured a Hamas engineer in the Ukraine, according to Israeli and Western officials and press reports from the region.

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Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - April 8, 2011 - 12:00am

At least one Palestinian was killed and two Israelis were injured Thursday amid escalating violence between Israel's military and militants in the Gaza Strip. The clashes marked the first time the Israel Defense Forces successfully deployed a new short-range rocket interception system, Iron Dome, to destroy a Palestinian rocket launched toward the city of Ashkelon.

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The Goldstone Chronicles
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) April 7, 2011 - 12:00am

We have a new verb, “to Goldstone.” Its meaning: To make a finding, and then partially retract it for uncertain motive. Etymology: the strange actions of a respected South African Jewish jurist under intense pressure from Israel, the U.S. Congress and world Jewish groups.

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Germany Pushes Israelis on Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Judy Dempsey - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am

As Germany moves closer to other European countries in adopting an increasingly tough stance toward Israel’s reluctance to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that it was more urgent than ever that the talks be restarted. With the Middle East highly volatile as fighting and protests continue in a number of countries, Mrs. Merkel warned the visiting Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, against any further delay in returning to the negotiating table.

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Warning by Israeli on U.N. Nod to Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Dan Bilefsky - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am

President Shimon Peres of Israel warned Thursday against potential attempts by the United Nations to impose a Palestinian state on Israel and said that the recent recanting of the harshest conclusions by the author of a United Nations report accusing Israel of war crimes was insufficient to undo the “libels” caused to Israel’s reputation.

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April 7th

Sudan accuses Israel of bombing it, killing two. Jenin mourns a lost theatrical hero. The IMF says Palestine is ready for statehood. The World Bank praises Palestinian state-building efforts but says the occupation is the main obstacle. Israelis and Palestinians bicker over the future of a pre-1948 village. Occupation forces detain 100 Palestinian women in the West Bank. Pres. Abbas visits Cairo. Israel destroys Palestinian homes and roads in the Jordan Valley. Israel charges five Palestinians in a Jerusalem bomb plot. Hamas members are arrested for allegedly plotting to abduct Israeli soldiers. Jordan's FM says settlement building is a threat to peace. Leaked cables suggest Peace Now urged the US to press for evacuations of unauthorized settler outputs. A new poll suggests most Egyptians support maintaining the treaty with Israel. The authors of a new Israeli peace plan say PM Netanyahu must take the lead. Larry Derfner says the Goldstone Report was not the problem, the Gaza war was. Palestinian human rights groups issue an open letter to Goldstone. The Ford Foundation will no longer fund Israeli NGOs. Osman Mirghani says Israel is trying to thwart Arab democracy. Daoud Kuttab says Goldstone’s reconsideration’s are not good for anybody.

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