Uprooting Palestinian trees - and lives
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

The hummer and the jeep screeched to a halt on the path in the olive grove. The soldiers bravely climbed out of the vehicles, and proceeded toward the unknown. Armed and determined, they cleared their way through thorns, stones and rusty barrels; they headed toward the suspicious figures. Within a few minutes, the soldiers received reinforcements. Another hummer appeared on the scene, and its soldiers climbed out of it, armed and determined. Behind them the Swiss red rooftops of the Nachliel settlement jutted into the skyline. Standing before them was a group of thirty people.

»

Israeli gov't begins fortifying schools along Gaza border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 14, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israeli government announced a 90-million-shekel (almost 24 million U.S. dollars) project to shield all educational institutions in a 7-to-15 km radius from the Gaza Strip. Some schools beyond that range have already been strengthened against upwards of 10,000 rockets and mortars that have been fired out of the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. Outgoing Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai officially launched the project during a farewell visit to the area on Wednesday, sources at the Defense Ministry told Xinhua on Thursday.

»

June 1967 was good for the Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Oudeh Basharat - (Opinion) June 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Last week marked the 45th anniversary of the "Six-Day War" which has so far lasted for 16,448 days, and still counting. Apparently because the calendar is so crowded, the first Lebanon War did not find any other time to break out other than during the cursed month of June. A special offer - two wars in one month.


Rafah Border Crossing Gets a Makeover
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Omar Ghraieb - June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

Abu Yousef Hammouda shuffled into the Rafah border crossing to travel to Egypt for his periodic medical treatment and a smile grew on his weary face as he entered the newly renovated and air conditioned halls. “I have traveled to Egypt many times before,” said Hammouda, who looked much older than his 30 years. “The arrival hall wasn’t modern or efficient but today I see what a huge effort has been made and what a great job has been done.”

»

Palestinians condemn Israeli unilateral plan to withdraw from some parts of West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - June 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinians yesterday blasted a plan raised by the Israeli defence minister that called for Israel to unilaterally withdraw from parts of the West Bank if peace talks remain stalled. On Wednesday, Ehud Barak told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Israel "cannot afford to tread water" and has to "consider an interim arrangement or even unilateral steps".

»

Why Unilateralism Won't Work
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently warned that if negotiations with the Palestinians do not yield results soon, Israel might consider "unilateral measures" in the occupied West Bank. He didn't specify what those might be, but several others have suggested that Israel create “temporary” or “provisional” unilaterally-imposed new borders in the territory. This idea is simple, superficially appealing and profoundly dangerous. 

»

Israel is doing everything to separate Gaza, West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) May 23, 2012 - 12:00am

An elephant will be sitting Wednesday in the courtroom of Supreme Court justices Asher Grunis, Salim Joubran and Noam Sohlberg. The elephant will occupy the places of the five plaintiffs, who will be absent: five women from the Gaza Strip who were accepted into Bir Zeit University in the West Bank. Four want to go on to a master's degree in gender studies.

»

Netanyahu: 'Fatal mistake' to concede sacred sites
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
May 22, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday it would be a "fatal mistake" ever to give up control over Jerusalem's holy sites. His remarks, in a parliamentary speech, went a little further than Israel's longtime policy of viewing Jerusalem, a city at the heart of Middle East conflict, as its "indivisible capital".

»

Jerusalem as the eternal capital
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ilan Bloch - (Opinion) May 21, 2012 - 12:00am

As we mark the 45th anniversary of the Israeli conquest of east Jerusalem on the third day of the Six Day War, it is timely that we explore the concept of Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

»

Shadow of another war hangs over southern Lebanon border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Michael Young - (Opinion) April 19, 2012 - 12:00am

The negotiations in Turkey over Iran's nuclear programme last weekend were not particularly high in the attentions of the Lebanese living along their country's southern frontier with Israel. And yet if Iran is one day attacked militarily because the talks have failed, the Marjayoun-Hasbayya district will probably again become a front line in a destructive confrontation between Hizbollah and the Israelis.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017