Palestinian refugee agency appeals for more aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA appealed on Thursday for more aid from international donors to help alleviate a "grave" financial crisis it faces as it marks its 60th anniversary. Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, UNRWA's chief was joined by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's Queen Rania in appealing for more international assistance for the agency dealing with the humanitarian side of one of the world's longest running refugee situations.

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Listen to Goldstone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Eyal Gross - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian armed groups have launched about 8000 rockets and mortars into southern Israel since 2001. Since 18 June 2008, rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have killed 3 civilians inside Israel and 2 civilians in Gaza when a rocket landed short of the border on 26 December 2008. Reportedly, over 1000 civilians inside Israel were physically injured as a result of rocket and mortar attacks. We have taken particular note of the high level of psychological trauma suffered by the civilian population inside Israel.

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Israel blocks rights groups from advocating for Gazans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - September 24, 2009 - 12:00am

While the Israeli army's crossings into Gaza have gone into near-lockdown mode since Hamas wrested control of the coastal strip more than two years ago, Israeli human rights organizations have regularly stepped in to intervene, with some success. That is, until last week. On Sunday, a group of the most active human rights groups here were informed that the government-run body that controls access to and from Gaza will no longer deal with them.

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White House: Official ‘misspoke’ on Goldstone report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

The White House says an official "misspoke" when he said the Obama administration would not allow the Goldstone report recommendations on Israel's conduct in the Gaza war to reach the International Criminal Court.

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A false equivalency of false equivalencies?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog
by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) September 22, 2009 - 12:00am

I get a lot of interesting responses to the postings on the Ibishblog, but those regarding my last posting on the UN Goldstone commission of inquiry into the Gaza war were particularly revealing. Both Arab and Jewish partisans tend to become enraged by any suggestion of equivalency between Israel and any group of Palestinians, particularly when it comes to conflict, warfare and armed struggle. Indeed, both the Israeli government and Hamas condemned the Goldstone report for the sin of "false equivalency," among other things.

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This judge may have little sway over Israel’s sentence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by James Reinl - (Opinion) September 22, 2009 - 12:00am

Last week’s UN report on war crimes committed during the Israeli invasion of Gaza leads to an inescapable conclusion: those behind the atrocities must be brought to justice. Yet despite lofty talk of global legal frameworks, the world is still a long way from realising the dream of an impartial legal system that can spring into action when evidence is presented that atrocities have been committed.

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How Israel silenced its Gaza war protesters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am

A new report from Adalah shows how the courts and police attempted to stamp out opposition to Operation Cast Lead. "This is a time of war, and every incident harms the people's morale." This was not a sentence in a right-wing journal, but rather a statement by an Israel Police representative during Operation Cast Lead seeking to persuade the Tel Aviv District Court to block anti-war protesters from the city.

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Who's being unfair?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Richard Goldstone - (Opinion) September 21, 2009 - 12:00am

The responses from the government of Israel to the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Gaza have been deeply disappointing. The mission's mandate enabled Israel to bring its concerns and facts relating to Operation Cast Lead publicly before a UN inquiry. It could have been used by Israel to encourage the UN and especially the Human Rights Council to move in a new direction beneficial to the interests of Israel. I repeatedly requested the government of Israel to do that, and to meet with me in Jerusalem to discuss how the Fact-Finding Mission should approach its mandate.

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UN must act on Goldstone's report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Linda S. Heard - (Opinion) September 21, 2009 - 12:00am

The recently released Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict is unequivocal in its condemnation of Israel. Led by Justice Richard J. Goldstone - a South African judge who served as Chief Prosecutor for the UN's Rwanda and former Yugoslavia international criminal tribunals - the report pulls no punches.

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IDF bombs Gaza smuggling tunnels
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Air Force jets attacked three smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip late Sunday night, and hits were identified. The IDF Spokesperson's Office stated that the bombing was retaliation for the Qassam rocket fire from Gaza towards southern Israel Saturday night. The bombing was a conclusion to 24 hours of tension at the Gazan border. On Sunday afternoon two Palestinians were killed and four injured from IDF fire near the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya.

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