Humanitarian | The American Task Force on Palestine

Danish Protester: ‘No One Would Care if a Palestinian was hit with a Rifle’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - April 20, 2012 - 12:00am

Without the video, all Andreas Ias would have to show for his weekend bicycle ride in the Jordan valley would be two stitches and a slightly swollen lower lip – plus a hardening anger about the treatment by Israeli soldiers of Palestinians. But a few seconds of footage uploaded to YouTube catapulted the 20-year-old Danish activist into the media spotlight, drew statements from the Israeli prime minister, president and chief of staff, led to the disciplining of an Israeli army officer, and prompted debate over the use of video cameras as a weapon of modern warfare.

Palestinian Prisoner Ends Hunger Strike After Expulsion Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 29, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian prisoner suspended her hunger strike after 43 days upon a deal to be expelled for three years to Gaza, Palestinian sources said Thursday evening. Hana Shalabi, a woman from the West Bank, agreed personally to the Israeli offer of temporary expulsion, the sources added. Palestinian officials and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helped forge the deal, according to the sources.

Palestinian Female Detainees Tell Horrific Stories of Abuse in Israeli Prisons
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya
by Amjad Samhan - March 8, 2012 - 1:00am

Throughout the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, around 800,000 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli authorities, more than 10,000 of whom are women. Many of those female detainees were subjected to several forms of abuse, sexual in particular, but very few were willing to talk. On the eve of International Women’s Day, however, some decided to break their silence. S.H., who refused to disclose her full name, was arrested for a few days to put pressure on her husband, also detained at the time, and extract confessions from him.

Smugglers’ tunnels are Hamas’ lifeblood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Salon.com
by Matthew Duss - (Opinion) February 27, 2012 - 1:00am

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The first things you notice are the trucks, entering Rafah’s dusty main thoroughfare from small side streets, flatbeds fully loaded and covered. Then there are the young boys packed three to a motorbike, darting heedlessly in between the rumbling behemoths, clutching shovels. As you get closer, you see the enormous mounds of earth and rubble, some 10 feet high and more, set amid acres of makeshift canopies, tents and metal garages, which serve as loading docks for Rafah’s booming tunnel trade.

Khader Adnan: The West Bank's Bobby Sands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - (Analysis) February 17, 2012 - 1:00am

It was only after talking with lucidity and animation for an hour about her husband's 61-day hunger strike that Randa Jihad Adnan's eyes, visible though the opening of her nekab, filled with tears. Until then, this articulate 31-year-old graduate in sharia law from Al Najar University in Nablus, the pregnant mother of two young daughters aged four and one and half, had described with almost disconcerting poise the two months following the arrest of her husband, Khader Adnan, on 17 December.

Israel OKs Tourist Center in Tense Arab Area
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has given a hardline Jewish group permission to build a new archaeological center in a tense Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem, officials said Tuesday. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach said Tuesday that a Jerusalem planning committee approved the project this week. The public has 60 days to appeal. Any Israeli-backed project in east Jerusalem runs the risk of sparking protests that can escalate into violence, as conflicting claims to the area are at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

EU: No Change in Palestinian Aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
February 8, 2012 - 1:00am

BRUSSELS, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- The European Union says the Palestinian Authority's new Fatah-Hamas unity government will not change the EU's ongoing financial assistance to Palestinians. Hamas is officially considered a terrorist group by the European Union but it gained some recognition for freeing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a recent prisoner swap with Israel, the EUobserver reported.

Does helping Palestinians beautify the occupation?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) January 30, 2012 - 1:00am

There is a thorn in the side of the Israeli prohibitions industry, in the guise of several stubborn and persistent women of retirement age. In a word: nudniks. They are the MachsomWatch volunteers, who during the past seven years have been offering their persistence in order to appeal the travel ban that the Shin Bet security service imposes on Palestinians who seek work in Israel."

UN: Gaza blockade – collective punishment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - January 18, 2012 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON - The United Nations' submitted its annual report on the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories on Wednesday, painting a grim picture that includes food insecurity, isolation, violence and failing health and education services – all courtesy of the Israeli "occupation." The report, which was presented during a Security Council session upon the Palestinians' request, asserted that the number of civilian casualties rose by more than 30% in Gaza and the West Bank compared to 2010.

Supreme Court Thrusts Israel Down the Slope of Apartheid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) January 13, 2012 - 1:00am

The High Court of Justice's ruling Wednesday on the legality of the Citizenship Law proves the erosion of this institution's role as Israel's guardian of civil rights. Let's look at how the justices voted at the moment of truth on the law, which bans Palestinians from living in Israel with spouses who are Israeli citizens.

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