U.S. demands IDF probe how American lost eye at West Bank protest ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am The United States embassy has demanded an investigation into how an American citizen lost her eye last week at the Qalandiyah checkpoint after being struck by a tear gas grenade. » Read more

After the Israeli flotilla incident, Turkey is the new Palestinian champion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Alastair Crooke - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am “This is language that we have not heard since the time of Gamal Abdul Nasser.” Thus wrote the influential chief editor of Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, referring to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fiery response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza flotilla – adding that such “manly” positions and rhetoric had “disappeared from the dictionaries of our Arab leaders (since the demise of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser).” He lamented that “Arab regimes now represent the only friends left to Israel.” » Read more

PM's exit strategy: Easing naval blockade of Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prepared to consider easing the naval blockade of Gaza and involving international players in its enforcement. In so doing, he is acceding to pressure from Washington, which opposes continuing the blockade in its present format and demands that Israel make it easier to send civilian goods to Gaza. » Read more

Knesset panel recommends revoking Arab MK's privileges ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am The Knesset's House Committee on Monday recommended revoking the privileges of Israeli Arab MK Hanin Zuabi, after she participated in last week's Gaza-bound aid flotilla which resulted in an IDF raid that killed nine activists. The decision was passed by a majority of seven to one, with MK Ilan Gilon of Meretz opposing. The Knesset committee recommended rescinding from Zuabi three key privileges usually granted to Knesset Members. One is the privilege to exit the country – which is supposed to prevent Zoabi from fleeing Israel if she commits a felony or has debts in Israel. » Read more

After the flotilla attack, it's time for a new, kinder Israeli narrative ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Daniel Kurtzer - (Opinion) June 7, 2010 - 12:00am Of the many confounding aspects of Monday's flotilla fiasco, one of the most curious is the monotone quality of Israel's response. Within hours of the Israeli assault on an aid ship bound for Gaza, while the dead and wounded were still being evacuated from the scene, Israel's deputy foreign minister delivered a verbal broadside that became his nation's public line: The flotilla organizers are terrorist sympathizers, they ambushed Israeli forces, and they are responsible for what followed. » Read more

ATFP Senior Fellow on All Things Considered: Israeli Raid Presents Opportunity For Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR) by Hussein Ibish - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am Full transcript below: GUY RAZ, host:Now, the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, is proud of its reputation as one of the most powerful advocacy groups in Washington, D.C. » Read more

The hijacking of the truth: Film evidence 'destroyed' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - June 6, 2010 - 12:00am Jamal Elshayyal, a journalist with al-Jazeera, woke with a start to the opening salvos of an Israeli assault that would transform the decks of the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish vessel bound for Gaza, into a bloodbath. From the ship's position deep in international waters, satellite images of Israeli speedboats and helicopters approaching the vessel were beamed across the globe before communications were abruptly cut off, leaving the events on the Marmara to unfold away from the eyes of the world. » Read more

Israel's restrictions haven't weakened Hamas's grip over Gaza, analysts say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am Three years after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in a bloody battle with its secular rival, Israel's efforts to undercut the Islamist movement's rule through a policy of isolation have largely failed, according to analysts and residents here. Hamas's security forces remain strong and in full control, while more extreme Islamist challengers are gaining influence because of an Israeli embargo that has done more to frustrate the population than to weaken Hamas's grip, analysts say. » Read more

The Leadership of the Palestinian Cause between Turkey and Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am Out of the Israeli brutality against civilians on board the flotilla in international waters, new realities emerged that may lead to radical solutions if the major players in the International Quartet acted wisely and boldly, and if the regional powers led by Egypt and Turkey understood well the opportunity to support Palestine without one-upmanship. Israel has lost its mind in recent times as it is under extreme pressure that has shaken its confidence in its ability to plan strategies and draw in American support for them, as usual. » Read more

Israel and Outremer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ross Douthat - June 6, 2010 - 12:00am Watching the Israeli government’s botched, bloody attempt to enforce its blockade of Gaza, I kept thinking about Outremer. That’s the name — French for “beyond the sea” — given to the states that the Crusaders established in the Holy Land during the High Middle Ages: the principality of Antioch, the counties of Edessa and Tripoli, and the kingdom of Jerusalem. » Read more