Postscript: A shroud of shame
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hirsh Goodman - (Opinion) April 19, 2012 - 12:00am

Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner, a senior officer in the Central Command, takes his rifle butt and bashes it into the face of a young Danish pro-Palestinian protester on a bicycle near Jericho. Instead of flatly condemning the officer, this paper, among others, has tried to justify his actions both editorially and by publishing op-ed pieces and letters in his defense.

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UNIFIL Commander: Isreali Occupation in Ghajar for Political Reasons
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 18, 2012 - 12:00am

BEIRUT, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFL) commander Maj.Gen. Paolo Serra said Wednesday that the continued Israeli occupation of the Lebanese side of the border village of Ghajar has political reasons. In remarks published in al-Joumhouria newspaper, General Serra said, "the problem of Ghajar is political more than military." But he added that it is the subject of continued discussions by UNIFIL with the Israeli side.

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Israeli Officer Who Struck Protester Is Dismissed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - April 18, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that a senior officer caught on videotape striking a Danish pro-Palestinian activist in the face with an M-16 rifle during a standoff in the West Bank was to be dismissed from his post “on moral grounds.” In addition, the officer, Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner, will not receive a planned promotion to serve as the deputy commander of the military’s prestigious officer school, and will not be eligible to serve in a commanding position for the next two years, the military said in a statement.

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IDF officer who hit Danish protester unlikely to be dismissed, precedents indicate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gili Cohen - April 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Will Lt. Col. Shaul Eisner, who was filmed over the weekend hitting a Danish protester with his rifle butt in the Jordan Valley, be dismissed from the army for his behavior? Probably not, at least based on how past incidents of soldier violence have been handled. Very few of the investigations into alleged acts of gratuitous violence by Israel Defense Forces soldiers against Palestinians or protesters in the West Bank have resulted in criminal prosecution or discharge from the army, even when the incidents were filmed and generated a public outcry.

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Israeli soldiers 'shoot, injure farmer' in southern Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 17, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers shot and injured a Palestinian farmer on Tuesday in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Forces opened fire from an army watchtower toward fields in Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis, hitting Hasan Shenyo in the leg as he worked on his land, witnesses told Ma'an. Shenyo was taken to the European Hospital in Khan Younis with moderate injuries. An Israeli military spokeswoman said forces identified "a number of suspects approaching the fence" between southern Gaza and Israel.

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Netanyahu fears victory over Iran's nuclear program
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am

A recent skit on the sketch comedy "Eretz Nehederet" featured a "debate" about the Iranian nuclear program between U.S. and Israeli leaders. After some discussion, U.S. President Barack Obama accedes to the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and he urges them to attack Iran. Netanyahu and Barak exchange frightened glances and plead with Obama to stop them.

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Israel should never forget its Mideast atrocities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am

The person who symbolized "the other Germany" more than anyone in West Germany, the person who was Germany's conscience throughout his literary career, has made the Israeli establishment and its clones crazy. These people have responded pettily and violently. Gunter Grass' service in the Wafen SS when he was 17 has nothing to do with his positions. You need lots of chutzpah and maybe even ignorance to think the Germans don't know how many despicable Nazis Israel catered to, as long as they supported its policies.

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A sea-change in trust
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Mohammed Najib - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Ten years after Operation Defensive Shield, the wide Israeli operation in the West Bank, a new reality has been created on the ground, whose impact deeply affects West Bank residents.

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Restoring IDF freedom of action
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Shlomo Brom - (Opinion) April 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Operation Defensive Shield began on March 29 and ended on April 10, 2002. It was the first large-scale operation initiated by Israel since the beginning of the second intifada in September 2000 that engaged a large part of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority. It was a turning point in Israel's struggle to stop the bloodshed caused by this intifada.

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Gantz: Israel can handle all enemies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yoav Zitun - April 16, 2012 - 12:00am

"The Shoah was the darkest period in the history of mankind and Judaism," IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said on Monday, "But we mustn't forget that even before (the Holocaust) and after it there were those who sought to erase Jacob's descendents from the face of the planet." Speaking at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Gantz stressed that "today the situation is completely different. We are facing these threats with an army that can handle everything."

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