June 2nd

Gaza flotilla: Why the blockade makes sense for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by David Makovsky - (Opinion) June 1, 2010 - 12:00am

The activists aboard the Gaza flotilla that was raided by Israeli security forces Monday may have believed that breaking the Gaza blockade was at its core forcing Israel to address an issue the activists see as moral blindness. Yet the situation is far more complex than they would like people to believe. The story of the flotilla crisis begins from the time Israel withdrew from Gaza in August 2005. Israelis were told that if they stopped occupying foreign land, they would be more secure.

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Coverage is dominated by the Gaza flotilla attack. Hussein Ibish says Israel's narrative of attack is failing badly. The New York Times profiles the Turkish NGO, and says the blockade of Gaza should be lifted and an international investigation launched. Survivors' testimonies strongly contradict the Israeli narrative of the events. Israel sees no need to apologize. The LA Times says Israel has suffered a self-inflicted wound. David Grossman says it shows Israeli society is confused and panicked. Serious complications emerge for the PA. David Makovsky defends the blockade. Both Egypt and Israel takes steps to ease it. An Australian journalist was allegedly electroshocked in the attack. Margaret Atwood says Israel is haunted by its treatment of the Palestinians. The head of Mossad says Israel is becoming a liability for the United States. Pres. Abbas urges international protection for Palestinians. An Israeli Navy commander vows, “next time we will use more force.” Patrick Cockburn says this was a typical botched Israeli military action. The National says Israel fails to understand how it looks to others.

Mossad chief: Israel gradually becoming burden on U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - June 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said on Tuesday that Israel is progressively becoming a burden on the United States. "Israel is gradually turning from an asset to the United States to a burden," said Dagan, speaking before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Dagan said that the U.S. government has recently examined the possibility of coercing a settlement on Israel and the Palestinians, but retreated from the idea after realizing it would not lead to a peace agreement.

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Why Israeli raid on Freedom Flotilla makes Abbas's job harder
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

The diplomatic uproar over a fatal Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound "Freedom Flotilla" is likely to complicate the US-mediated peace talks. But not because Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is pulling out. Rather, the flotilla incident has boosted international sympathy for Hamas, the chief rival of Mr. Abbas's Fatah party and a long-time critic of peace negotiations with Israel.

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Israel, Egypt ease Gaza blockade after deadly raid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Josef Federman - June 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel and Egypt signaled a temporary easing of the Gaza Strip blockade Tuesday following harsh international condemnation of the deadly Israeli raid on an aid flotilla en route to the sealed-off Palestinian territory. Egypt said it was freely opening its border with Gaza for the first time in more than a year to allow in humanitarian aid, setting off a mad rush to the crossing by thousands of residents, while an Israeli official said there is an "ongoing dialogue" with the international community on how to expand the amount of goods entering the area.

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Israel naval raid a folly foretold
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by David Grossman - (Opinion) June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

No explanation can justify or whitewash the crime that was committed off the coast here early Monday morning, and no excuse can explain away the stupid actions of the Israeli government and the army. Israel did not send its soldiers to kill civilians in cold blood; indeed, this is the last thing it wanted.

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Gaza boat passenger says Australian photographer electroshocked by Israeli soldiers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Australian photographer Kate Geraghty was electroshocked on the arm by Israeli soldiers who stormed a flotilla of boats heading to Gaza, a fellow passenger said on Wednesday. One of the first to be released from detention center on Wednesday (AEST) was organizer with the Free Gaza Flotilla, Huwaida Arraf, a dual U.S./Israeli citizen who claimed she was aboard the U.S.-flagged vessel Challenger 1 along with Australian Fairfax journalist Paul McGeough and Geraghty.

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Israel's self-inflicted wound
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
(Opinion) June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

There's a lot still to be learned about what happened at 4 a.m. Monday in the waters off the Gaza Strip when Israeli commandos boarded a ship that was seeking to break the long-standing Israeli blockade. Did the commandos, who were lowered onto the boat from helicopters, immediately open fire, as claimed by organizers of the six-ship flotilla? Or did the passengers attack first with knives, clubs and, ultimately, guns, as claimed by Israeli officials?

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The Shadow over Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Margaret Atwood - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

The Moment The moment when, after many years of hard work and a long voyage, you stand in the centre of your room, house, half-acre, square mile, island, country, knowing at last how you got there, and say, I own this, is the same moment the trees unloose their soft arms from around you, the birds take back their language, the cliffs fissure and collapse, the air moves back from you like a wave and you can’t breathe. No, they whisper. You own nothing. You were a visitor, time after time Climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming. We never belonged to you.

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Israel sees no need to apologize for raid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel struck a defiant tone Tuesday over its lethal takeover of a humanitarian flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, saying it had nothing to apologize for even as much of the world called for an end to its three-year blockade of the coastal Palestinian enclave. Israel's hard-line response came as organizers of the flotilla said they were sending another ship to attempt to break the longstanding siege, which began after the militant group Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

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