March 23rd

Lebanon bomb kills senior Fatah official, 4 others
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 23, 2009 - 12:00am

A roadside bomb killed a senior official in the Palestinian Fatah faction and four other people in southern Lebanon on Monday, security sources said. Kamal Medhat, deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Lebanon, was killed with his companions on a road near Mieh Mieh camp outside the southern city of Sidon. The bomb, hidden under a manhole cover in the road, flipped one car off the road and badly damaged another. Television footage showed debris ablaze in a field.

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Responsibility sought by injured American's parents
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - March 23, 2009 - 12:00am

The parents of American national Tristan Anderson, who was critically injured during a protest in Naalin against the security fence by a tear gas shell fired by anti-riot forces, held a press conference Monday in Jerusalem. Nancy and Mike Anderson said their son never presented a threat to anyone and demanded that the State of Israel take responsibility for their son.

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Israel Military condemns soldiers' shocking T-shirts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - March 22, 2009 - 12:00am

The Israeli military yesterday officially condemned as "unacceptable" shocking images printed on T-shirts ordered by some soldiers to commemorate the end of their basic training or field duty. The Israeli daily Haaretz disclosed that some T-shirts are emblazoned with "dead babies, mothers weeping on their children's graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques". One, which the paper says was a sharpshooter's T-shirt, shows a pregnant Arab woman with a bullseye superimposed on her belly, accompanied by the slogan "1 shot, 2 kills".

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The myth of the Israeli unity government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
March 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for two more weeks to form a coalition, the maximum allotted time under Israeli law, is neither surprising nor particularly encouraging. While the prime minister designate has stated that he is taking the additional time to forge a broader coalition, there is more self-interest behind the decision than any real enthusiasm for the peace process. Nor is there real reason to believe that a coalition government that embraces more than just the Right would be any greater friend of peace.

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Lebanon bomb kills senior Fatah official, 4 others
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 23, 2009 - 12:00am

A roadside bomb killed a senior official in the Palestinian Fatah faction and four other people in southern Lebanon on Monday, security sources said. Kamal Medhat, deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Lebanon, was killed with his companions on a road near Mieh Mieh camp outside the southern city of Sidon. The bomb, hidden under a manhole cover in the road, flipped one car off the road and badly damaged another. Television footage showed debris ablaze in a field.

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A Religious War in Israel’s Army
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - March 21, 2009 - 12:00am

The publication late last week of eyewitness accounts by Israeli soldiers alleging acute mistreatment of Palestinian civilians in the recent Gaza fighting highlights a debate here about the rules of war. But it also exposes something else: the clash between secular liberals and religious nationalists for control over the army and society. Several of the testimonies, published by an institute that runs a premilitary course and is affiliated with the left-leaning secular kibbutz movement, showed a distinct impatience with religious soldiers, portraying them as self-appointed holy warriors.

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Car Bomb Found Near Crowded Israeli Mall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - March 23, 2009 - 12:00am

A 200-pound car bomb malfunctioned near a crowded mall in the Israeli port city of Haifa on Saturday night, averting what could have been one of the largest such attacks in Israel in the past several years, police said. A bomb squad was called to the Lev Hamifratz shopping center after a small explosion, possibly a detonation charge, inside a Subaru in the mall's parking lot, according to police.

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March 20th

An Israeli settler leader reportedly calls for the assassination of Palestinian President Abbas during a fund-raising speech in New York City (1). Concern grows about the radical views of possible new Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman (2). Fallout continues regarding Israeli soldiers’ disturbing accounts of the war in Gaza (3) (10) (13). Israel’s emerging new cabinet may find itself at odds with the US government (4) (8). A UN official accuses Israel of war crimes (5), while the PA accuses Israel of ‘ethnically cleansing’ East Jerusalem (6). Talks regarding captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit may resume (7). The United States lays out its conditions for dealing with a Palestinian national accord government (9). Raghida Dergham argues that moderate forces must go on the offensive against extremism across the Middle East (12). Australian journalists interview Hamas leader Khaled Mishal (14). Israeli authorities block a Palestinian cultural festival in East Jerusalem (15).

Staring into the heart of Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Canberra Times
March 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The tea cup stops short of his lip, as Khalid Mishal pauses to consider the ironies of trench warfare in the Middle East: a lurch to the political right has anointed as Israel's next prime minister the man who, 11 years ago, sent Mossad agents on a bizarre mission to assassinate Mishal.

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Jerusalem Police set to prevent 'Palestinian Culture Festival'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - March 20, 2009 - 12:00am

Jerusalem Police announced on Friday they would prevent the so-called Palestinian Culture Festival the Palestinian Authority plans to organize in the city on Saturday. The PA is planning to fly a glider plane painted in the colors of the Palestinian national flag over the walls of the Old City as part of the festival, which is meant to declare the city to be "the capital of Arabic culture for 2009." The police said that they were determined to enforce the law, whereby any event organized and funded by the PA is prohibited within Jerusalem's municipal jurisdiction.

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