December 3rd

Hebron settlers brace for forceful evacuation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Michael Blum - December 3, 2008 - 1:00am

Hundreds of Israeli settlers and supporters prepared on Wednesday to battle a forceful eviction after Israel declared a closed military area around a house in Hebron, occupied in defiance of a court order. The military decree followed violent protests on Tuesday involving settlers and their far right-wing supporters who hurled rocks at Palestinians, security forces, homes and cars and desecrated Muslim tombstones.

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The slow death of Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Andrea Becker - November 24, 2008 - 1:00am




It's grim in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Anne Penketh - (Blog) December 3, 2008 - 1:00am

I met Karen AbuZayd, the head of UNRWA, when she was sitting in the basement dining room of a trendy London hotel beside a mirror on which an artist has written in gold letters: "this is shit."It is understandable that Mrs AbuZayd, whose UN agency looks after the welfare of Palestinian refugees, did not wish to be photographed in front of the art work. But the message on the mirror aptly sums up the dramatic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, as she was the first to point out.

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Israel convicts top Palestinian
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
December 3, 2008 - 1:00am

An Israeli military court has convicted the Speaker of the Palestinian parliament of being a member and officer of an illegal organisation. Abdel Aziz Dweik belongs to the Hamas movement, which controls Gaza. He has been in prison since his arrest by Israeli forces in 2006 and will be sentenced at a later date. Dozens of Palestinian legislators were arrested by the Israeli army in 2006. Thirty lawmakers remain in Israeli custody. They were detained following the capture by Hamas-allied militants of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.

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Israel: Airstrike Kills 2 in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 3, 2008 - 1:00am

An Israeli airstrike aimed at a militant squad in southern Gaza killed two Palestinian youths on Tuesday, and a militant was shot and killed in the West Bank when he tried to elude arrest. Palestinian medical officials said the two killed in Gaza were brothers, ages 15 and 17. An Israeli military spokesman said the target was a squad that had fired a mortar shell 20 minutes earlier. The armed wing of Hamas said it fired eight mortar shells at Israeli forces on Tuesday.

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US-Palestinian Partnership Visits West Bank to Support Education and Economic Initiatives
Press Release - Contact Information: Omar Tuffaha - December 3, 2008 - 1:00am

In mid-November, U.S.-Palestinian Partnership co-chairs, Ziad Asali and Jean Case, and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman led a delegation to the West Bank and Israel to announce the Partnership's accomplishments to date and explore future opportunities. The delegation participated in the opening of a Youth Development and Resource Center (YDRC) in the village of Beita.


December 2nd

An op-ed in the New York Times suggests that Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton should apply "tough love" to Israel and pressure for a withdrawal from the Occupied Territories (1). The UN accuses Israel of punishing international aid workers along with the citizens of Gaza (2). Palestinians are killed by Israeli forces in Gaza and Nablus (3) (4) (5) (9). The West Bank reportedly has seen an economic surge over the past year (6). Haaretz journalist Amira Hass is arrested by the Israeli police for entering Gaza without a permit (7).

IDF troops shoot and kill wanted Palestinian during raid in Nablus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - December 1, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian militant during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus on Monday, the IDF said. Such killings have become less frequent in the West Bank since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas launched a security campaign with U.S. backing. An IDF spokesman said troops entered Nablus to arrest a wanted man. When the militant attempted to get away, the troops fired warning shots and then fired at his lower body, the spokesman said. "He was hit and was transferred to an Israeli hospital, where he died of his wounds," he said.

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Obama mulls ex-ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, as special Mideast envoy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - December 1, 2008 - 8:00pm

President-elect Barack Obama is considering the appointment of Daniel Kurtzer, former American Ambassador to Egypt (1997-2001) and Israel (2001-2005), to become his administration's presidential envoy to the Middle East, a senior Israeli diplomatic source said this week. Obama's decision to appoint a special envoy reporting to him directly, rather than to the secretary of state, indicates that the president-elect attaches special importance to the regional peace process. Reportedly, several of Obama's advisers recommended the appointment.

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Haaretz journalist Amira Hass arrested for illegal stay in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Tomer Zarchin - November 30, 2008 - 8:00pm

Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass was detained by Sderot police last night for having entered the Gaza Strip without a permit. By order of the army, Israeli journalists have been barred from entering Gaza since the abduction of soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. Hass was stopped by soldiers at the Erez Checkpoint, on the Gaza-Israel border, as she was returning to Israel from the Strip. Upon discovering that she had no permit to be in Gaza, the soldiers transferred her to the Sderot police.

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