Not Befitting a Democracy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) July 17, 2011 - 12:00am


Israel’s reputation as a vibrant democracy has been seriously tarnished by a new law intended to stifle outspoken critics of its occupation of the West Bank. The law, approved in a 47-to-38 vote by Parliament, effectively bans any public call for a boycott — economic, cultural or academic — against Israel or its West Bank settlements, making such action a punishable offense.


Rights group: In last 5 years, Israeli army detains 835 Palestinian youths for throwing rocks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Associated Press - July 18, 2011 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — Over the past five years, Israel’s military has detained more than 800 Palestinian youths and children for pelting rocks at Israelis soldiers, and has interrogated and jailed many of them, a rights group said in a report released Monday. Drawing on military statistics and interviews for its 70-page report, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem counted 835 minors who were taken into custody from 2005 through early 2011, including 34 children who were 13 or younger. In the worst case, B’Tselem cited an 8-year-old who was seized in the West Bank in February.


Palestinian factions settle comfortably into limbo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - July 17, 2011 - 12:00am


Reporting from Jerusalem— A proposed Palestinian unity government that was touted two months ago as a potential Mideast game-changer has been stalled by familiar political realities and lingering antagonisms. Since rival factions Fatah and Hamas announced a reconciliation after four years of feuding, the promised coalition government remains unformed due to disputes over who will serve as prime minister. Other goodwill measures, such as mutual prisoner releases, have also gone unfulfilled since May, and public attacks against one another have resumed.



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