Over 20 ships expected for second Gaza flotilla ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 7, 2011 - 12:00am A Turkish human rights organization said here on Thursday that it is organizing another Gaza flotilla of more than 20 ships as the anniversary for the first ill-fated voyage on May 31 approaches. The IHH Human Rights Foundation which organized last year's flotilla, which was attacked by Israeli commandos in international waters killing 9, is in the planning stage of a second larger flotilla. IHH board member Huseyin Oruc told Xinhua that currently there are activists from more than 20 countries interested in participating. » Read more

Israeli officials file suit against Goldstone after regret over Gaza war report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Dave Bender, Khaled Khalefe - April 8, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli President Shimon Peres is set to ask United Nations to invalidate Judge Richard Goldstone 's 2009 report on the Israeli army's role in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. The presidential request comes in the wake of the South African jurist's regret over some of UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict probe's conclusions, in an op-ed published in The Washington Post last week. Peres has called the report "a mockery of history," and "fails to distinguish between the aggressor and those acting in self- defense." » Read more

Minister: New Israeli defense system appears to successfully shoot down 1st Palestinian rocket ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Minister: New Israeli defense system appears to successfully shoot down 1st Palestinian rocket.

Abbas urges West to stop Israeli strikes on Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Western powers on Thursday to intervene after Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed four Palestinians. He called on the West "to immediately intervene to stop this aggression", the official Wafa news agency reported. Abbas also urged Palestinian militants not to give Israel an excuse to hit Gaza. The flareup of violence followed an attack on an Israeli school bus in which an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza wounded two people, drawing a swift Israeli response. » Read more

Ahead of games, West Bank summons Olympic spirit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 8, 2011 - 12:00am "It's one thing winning the medal, that's great, but I think some of the other things I've been able to experience because of this have been enriching as much as completing that original goal," says Jamie Staff, 2008 Beijing Gold medal winner for the UK. "It changed my life," he reflected on the tail end of a whirlwind trip to the West Bank. With the gold medal in his pocket, Staff arrived in the West Bank as part of London's Cultural Olympiad, in events celebrating 500 days to the opening of the Summer Games. » Read more

Christians demand freedom of access during Easter ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 7, 2011 - 12:00am As Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza await news on permits from Israel to visit holy sites in Jerusalem, local Christians issued a call for the respect of freedom of worship. "For Christians, Holy Week in Jerusalem has a special spiritual connection," said a statement from the Kairos Palestine group on Wednesday. Holy sites "are equally important to the Palestinian Christians of Gaza and the West bank, who want to join their Jerusalemite Christian brethren in the liturgical events leading to the resurrection, the holiest celebration in Christianity." » Read more

11 killed in Gaza, dozens injured in series of strikes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 8, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli air strikes and artillery fire have hit Gaza eight times Friday, killing six, and bringing the total number of dead over the past 24 hours to eleven, almost half of who were civilians. A mother and daughter, and elderly man were killed in two separate strikes near Khan Younis, and a fourth unidentified man was killed in the most recent strike near Gaza City. » Read more

Israelis conducting global war on Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Eli Lake - April 7, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's security agencies are stepping up targeted attacks throughout the world on Hamas' leadership in what one Israeli official called "intelligence-based prevention." In the past two months, Israeli operatives have intercepted a German ship in international waters, fired a missile at a suspected Hamas leader in Sudan, and captured a Hamas engineer in the Ukraine, according to Israeli and Western officials and press reports from the region. » Read more

Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - April 8, 2011 - 12:00am At least one Palestinian was killed and two Israelis were injured Thursday amid escalating violence between Israel's military and militants in the Gaza Strip. The clashes marked the first time the Israel Defense Forces successfully deployed a new short-range rocket interception system, Iron Dome, to destroy a Palestinian rocket launched toward the city of Ashkelon. » Read more

The Goldstone Chronicles ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) April 7, 2011 - 12:00am We have a new verb, “to Goldstone.” Its meaning: To make a finding, and then partially retract it for uncertain motive. Etymology: the strange actions of a respected South African Jewish jurist under intense pressure from Israel, the U.S. Congress and world Jewish groups. » Read more