July 11th, 2011

Firebomb hurled at Palestinian news agency in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - July 10, 2011 - 12:00am A Palestinian news agency said that a firebomb was hurled at its Gaza City newsroom, setting off a small fire Sunday morning. No one claimed responsibility for the fire at the Maan news agency, which damaged the front door of the office but did not spread beyond. Maan editor-in-chief Nasser Laham decried the firebombing as an assault on "freedom of the press in Palestine." The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate called it "an attempt to silence the free press" and urged authorities to investigate. » Read more

Vote set on Israeli settlement boycott bill ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Aron Heller - July 10, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli backers of a bill that would punish people for boycotting West Bank settlements said Sunday they will push forward with the proposal, despite accusations that it's an undemocractic slap at freedom of speech. In recent years, settlement opponents in Israel have joined boycotts of products made in the settlements. The Palestinians and most of the international community say settlements are illegal because they are built on war-won land. The Palestinians want the West Bank for their future state. The local initiatives have angered settlers and their powerful political patrons. » Read more

Testimony ends in Israel case over killed American ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Associated Press - July 10, 2011 - 12:00am An Israeli court heard its final witness Sunday in a trial surrounding the death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003. Israel's commanding officer in Gaza at the time, Col. Pinhas Zuaretz, testified Sunday. Corrie, a pro-Palestinian activist from Olympia, Washington, who was 23 at the time, was killed when she stood before the bulldozer on the Gaza-Egypt border. She and other activists believed the military was about to demolish nearby Palestinian homes. » Read more

West Bank escalation reminiscent of years before second intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - (Blog) July 10, 2011 - 12:00am Recent events in the northern West Bank recall the sad picture at the start of the previous decade. The March murder of the Fogel family in Itamar, by two Palestinians, once again drove up tensions between settlers and nearby villagers. Particularly in the vicinity of Yitzhar, settlers are engaged in a violent struggle to restore the "balance of deterrence" through attacks on their neighbors. The result is an expansion of the defensive ring around each settlement; Palestinian farmers know they risk injury if they breach it, and that the security forces are unlikely to respond quickly. » Read more

Fayyad: PA committed to protecting homeland ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 11, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Prime Minister in Ramallah Salam Fayyad said Sunday the Palestinian Authority aimed to protect the Palestinian homeland from Israel's settlement project. Speaking at an event welcoming a Jordanian parliamentary delegation in Ramallah, Fayyad praised a Jordanian initiative to visit Palestine and learn more about life under occupation. Fayyad briefed the delegation on the PA's efforts to achieve statehood and thanked the visitors for their cooperation and coordination between Amman and the Palestinian government. » Read more

Abbas: PA may not pay salaries next month ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 11, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas revealed on Saturday that the PA is encountering a serious financial crisis and might not be able to pay civil servant salaries next month. Abbas had warned of the measures in a meeting with leaders of Palestinian popular organizations Friday night. “We might pay a half salary depending on the money our treasury receives.” Abbas warned against any negative reactions such as strikes or protests, especially by trade unions, stating that such protests would only harm what the PA has accomplished. » Read more

Netanyahu, the purveyor of hatred ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) July 11, 2011 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is nobody's fool. He certainly knows that photos of policemen dragging away civilians who have come to protest the occupation and the siege do not enhance Israel's standing as "the only democracy in the Middle East." He undoubtedly understands that horse-trading over terrorists' dry bones does not help rebuild the shattered remnants of trust between Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

Mideast Quartet meets to avoid looming crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 11, 2011 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Envoys from the Middle East diplomatic Quartet meet on Monday in Washington in one of the final attempts to avoid a major confrontation at the United Nations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Monday's meeting sees the senior diplomats -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov -- "compare notes about where we are and plot a course forward" on the peace process, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Friday. » Read more

Israel Blocks Air Travelers to Palestinian Conference ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - July 8, 2011 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Israel prevented a gathering of foreigners here on Friday by blocking, deterring or deporting hundreds of air travelers who had been invited by Palestinian activists to fly into Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport and then travel to the West Bank for a week of “fellowship and actions.” » Read more

July 8th

Hysteria at the airport ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Haim Zisovitch - (Opinion) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am A dull and not-so-funny joke I remember from childhood recounts the story of a child who was late to come home at night, and in order not to alert his sleeping parents used drums and trumpets to cover up the sound of his steps. This is precisely how Israel has been dealing with the Gaza-bound flotilla, and now with the subsequent fly-in. If the intention of flotilla and fly-in organizers was to direct global attention to Gaza, Israel’s government and law enforcement agencies are doing everything to help them and even boost the resonance. » Read more