June 7th

Washington Asks: What to Do About Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Some topics are so inflammatory that they are never discussed without first inserting a number of caveats. And so, when Anthony Cordesman, a foreign policy dignitary in this town’s think tank circuit, dropped an article on Wednesday headlined “Israel as a Strategic Liability,” he made sure to open with a plethora of qualifications.

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Israel Ambassador Rejects Flotilla Clash Inquiry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel’s ambassador to Washington said Sunday that his country would reject an international inquiry into last week’s deadly raid on a Turkish ship, but there was still no formal announcement from Jerusalem on the matter. “We are rejecting the idea of an international commission,” Michael B. Oren, the ambassador, told Fox News Sunday. “We are discussing with the Obama administration the way in which our inquiry will take place.” He added, “At the end of the day, Israel has the right, the duty, as a democracy to investigate any military activity.”

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June 4th

Pres. Obama says the flotilla tragedy can be used to advance peace. Israel says it wants to find new ways for goods to enter Gaza. David Ignatius says the US should keep pressing Israel on its Gaza policy. A Palestinian MK on the flotilla is assailed upon her return to the Knesset, and the Interior Minister seeks to have her citizenship revoked. Survivors begin to tell their stories. Proximity talks continue in spite of the attack. At the PIC, Pres. Abbas says investment is crucial to liberation. Gideon Levy says PM Netanyahu always said the world was against Israel, and now it is. Anshel Pfeffer says Israel is being let down by the diaspora. Four projectiles are fired into southern Israel from Gaza. Hamas raids Gaza NGOs. Jonathan Power says the flotilla tragedy shows the power of nonviolence. Aaron David Miller says Palestinian-Israeli peace is a hopeless cause. Gaza businessmen attend the PIC in spite of the blockade. Leon Wieseltier says the flotilla attack reflects a paranoid mentality.

Parliament comes close to blows over flotilla raid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - (Blog) June 4, 2010 - 12:00am

A discussion in Israel's parliament Wednesday went from heated to a total boil as lawmaker Haneen Zoabi took the stand. Zoabi, an Arab Israeli legislator, took part in the Gaza flotilla and was aboard the Mavi Marmara during the ill-fated takeover that left nine dead and dozens more injured. Jewish public opinion in Israel was not impressed with her decision to join aid ship. Some dismissed it as a populist, attention-seeking move. Others denounced her participation as siding with the country's enemies conspiring against the state.

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4 rockets hit south
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shumlik Hadad - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Four Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel Thursday, causing no injuries. One rocket was fired at Sderot Thursday evening prompting the Color Red alert to go off. The Qassam apparently exploded in an open area near the town. Earlier in the evening, two rockets landed near the southern city of Ashkelon, while another rocket landed in the Ashkelon Beach region, near a kibbutz.

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Hamas raids, closes NGO offices
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - June 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas’s security forces on Monday and Tuesday raided the offices of several non-governmental organizations in the Gaza Strip and confiscated equipment and furniture, drawing sharp condemnations from human rights groups. The sources said the raids were carried out by agents belonging to Hamas’s Internal Security apparatus without court permission. Hamas spokesmen in the Gaza Strip on Thursday refused to comment on the raids.

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In its hour of need, Israel was let down by Diaspora
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) June 4, 2010 - 12:00am

"We felt like the Ramallah lynch." I am certain that the unnamed Israeli naval commando who said these words to a reporter a few hours after the bloodbath on the Mavi Marmara regrets them now. It is quite clear why the image came to his mind at the time. None of us has forgotten the pictures of a baying mob literally hacking to pieces the reservists Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Nurzhitz nine and a half years ago and throwing their bodies out of the window of a Palestinian police station.

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Henning Mankell on Gaza flotilla attack: 'I think they went out to murder'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Kate Connolly - June 3, 2010 - 12:00am

The bestselling Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell today accused Israel of murder, piracy and kidnapping after describing how the aid ship he was travelling on was seized by Israeli forces this week. Mankell, whose detective novels featuring the commissar Kurt Wallander have sold almost 30m copies worldwide, was aboard the Swedish ship Sofia, one of six ships in the flotilla carrying aid to Gaza. The 25-strong crew, including Mankell, were all arrested and held in custody.

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Netanyahu was right
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) June 4, 2010 - 12:00am

The time has come to take off our hats to the prime minister. Benjamin Netanyahu's predictions have proved accurate, and his prophecies are coming true right before our eyes. Now we can proudly declare that our government is led by a man of vision, a statesman who has foretold the future. Even his greatest critics can't deny it; the facts speak for themselves.

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Gaza flotilla: Sarah Colborne's account
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Robert Booth - June 3, 2010 - 12:00am

On Sunday 30th we set off together. We had assembled all the boats in international waters. At 11pm that night, Israeli naval boats were detected on the radar and sighted and a decision was made to move further back into international waters, further from Israel.

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