Gaza war anniversary: How one group helps victims overcome trauma
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - December 28, 2009 - 1:00am

Jerusalem — Rawya Hamam was watching her son deteriorate. Hisham wouldn't sleep, clung to her incessantly, and said he wanted to go back into her belly so he'd be safe. "Grandma is lucky she died so she doesn't have to live here now," the boy told his mother.

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Israel Kills Six Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - December 26, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli soldiers killed six Palestinians on Saturday in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the bloodiest violent outbreak in months. Three of those killed belonged to a militant group within the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement Israel accused of perpetrating a roadside shooting that killed a Jewish settler two days earlier. An official in Abbas's government accused Israel of a "grave escalation." A militant leader threatened revenge, charging Israel would now "open the gates of hell."

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Scars of conflict still raw in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - December 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Until the day the soldiers came, Majed Abdullah al-Atamneh counted himself a fortunate man. He owned six houses on the eastern fringes of Abed Rabbo village in the northern Gaza Strip, three taxis and several acres of land planted with olive and lemon trees. All his sons and their families lived in the family compound, 56 men, women and children in total.

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Tough Military Stance Stirs Little Debate in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 24, 2009 - 1:00am

In the year since Israel launched its devastating military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, the country’s political and military leaders have faced intense international condemnation and accusations of possible war crimes. But Israel seems to have few qualms. Officials and experts familiar with the country’s military doctrine say that given the growing threats from Iranian-backed militant organizations both in Gaza and in Lebanon, Israel will probably find itself fighting another, similar kind of war. Only next time, some here suggest, Israel will apply more force.

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Go back unto death: Life in postwar Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 17, 2009 - 1:00am

In one corner of Salah Samouni’s modest living room hangs a “martyr poster” – a customary honor printed for those killed in all Israeli attacks, in the West Bank and Gaza over the years. On the Samouni poster, the 29 faces stare back from eternity, from Muhammad Helmi Samouni, age six months, to Rizqa Muhammad Samouni, age 55. It was this oversize poster that Salah Samouni brought with him to the public hearing held by the UN Fact Finding Mission led by Richard Goldstone in Gaza City in June.

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Childhood in ruins
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - (Opinion) December 17, 2009 - 1:00am

Ghiada abu Elaish's fingers twist in her lap and her eyes cloud over as she recalls the day an Israeli shell killed four of her cousins and left her in a coma for 22 days. She has had almost 12 months to reflect on the tragedy, a time in which hatred and anger might have consumed the 13-year-old. Remarkably, though, not only has she survived shocking injuries and a dozen operations, with many more to come, but she has retained both her sweet nature and faith in a bright future.

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The impunity of Israel and its allies will carry a price
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seumas Milne - (Opinion) December 17, 2009 - 1:00am

When evidence of war crimes is produced, you might expect states that claim to defend the rule of law to want those crimes investigated and the perpetrators held to account. Not a bit of it. The decision by a London judge to issue a warrant for the arrest of Israel's former foreign minister Tzipi Livni over evidence of serious breaches of the laws of war in Gaza has sparked official outrage in Britain.

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Enough of blaming the Goldstone Report!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) December 16, 2009 - 1:00am

A brief news item in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) a few days ago made depressing reading. It was entitled: “State Department blames Goldstone for stalled peace talks.” “Wow!” I thought to myself, has it really come down to this? The United States and Israel, who do not hesitate to toot their horn about their democratic credentials, now blame the stalled Arab-Israeli peace process on Judge Richard Goldstone, the main author of a report on potential war crimes during the Gaza war that was issued last September by the United Nations Human Rights Council inquiry commission?

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Israel condemns UK attempt to arrest Tzipi Livni
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
December 15, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel has reacted angrily to the issuing by a British court of an arrest warrant for the former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. The warrant, issued by a London court on Saturday, was revoked on Monday when it was found Ms Livni was not visiting the UK. Ms Livni was in post during Israel's controversial Gaza assault last winter. It is the first time a UK court has issued a warrant for an Israeli former minister. Pro-Palestinian campaigners have tried several times to have Israeli officials arrested under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

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Israel is ready for peace. Are its neighbors?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Nadav Tamir - (Opinion) December 15, 2009 - 1:00am

The time for peace in the Middle East is now. This has been the consistent message from both the Netanyahu and Obama administrations. And it is time to take advantage of the fact that we have a stable government in Israel capable of making a move toward peace, a US government that has made it an important foreign-policy priority, our best Palestinian Authority negotiating partner thus far in President Mahmoud Abbas, and a majority of the population and government on both sides who desire a two-state solution.

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