April 14th

Palestinian says 150 trees cut by settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - April 13, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian villager Ibrahaim Salah faced a rude welcome after arriving at his olive grove Tuesday, claiming that his trees were cut down by settlers. "I arrived at my land Tuesday morning and couldn't believe my eyes," said the Samaria resident, who is allowed to access his grove only a few times a year with a security escort. "We found some 150 olive trees that are dozens of years old cut down." Salah says that only 60 trees remain in his plot of land at this time, yet most of them are too young and do not produce commercial quantities of trees. » Read more

Goldstone report: Statement issued by members of UN mission on Gaza war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Christine Chinkin, Hina Jilani, Desmond Travers - April 14, 2011 - 12:00am In recent days some articles and comments appearing in the press with respect to the report of the United Nations (UN) fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict of 2008-2009 have misrepresented facts in an attempt to delegitimise the findings of this report and to cast doubts on its credibility. » Read more

The new Christian settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yair Altman - April 14, 2011 - 12:00am About 1,000 Americans have signed a document requesting to convert to Judaism, move to Israel, and settle in Samaria. The group members are seeking to serve in the IDF and later establish communities based on the Kibbutz movement model. The document was presented to Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset Member Lia Shemtov, who met with the group's representative last week and promised to offer her help in facilitating the initiative. The Christian group's representative, Baruch Abramovich, said he was hopeful that MK Shemtov would be able to elicit the government's support for the initiative. » Read more

JVP, Harsh Critic Of Israel, Seeks a Seat at the Communal Table ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Gal Beckerman - April 13, 2011 - 12:00am On a recent Wednesday night in New York City, Rebecca Vilkomerson, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization that critics label anti-Israel, made the case for her group’s main protest tactic: a targeted campaign of boycott, divestment and sanction — or BDS, as it has become known — against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. » Read more

EU grants Palestinian produce duty-free access ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 13, 2011 - 12:00am The European Union announced Wednesday it would grant duty-free access to produce from the West Bank and the Gaza strip in a bid to support Palestinian state building. The deal was announced during a visit by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who was in Brussels for a meeting with international donors. "Facilitating Palestinian trade is a crucial element of the state building process which the EU is supporting both politically and financially," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement. » Read more

U.S. Report Details Rights Abuses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Josh Nathan-Kazis - April 13, 2011 - 12:00am An annual report by the U.S. Department of State on human rights in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza paints a stark picture of human rights conditions among minority populations in Israel, and Palestinian populations in the West Bank and Gaza. “Principal human rights problems were institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against Arab citizens, Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip… non-Orthodox Jews, and other religious groups,” begins the segment dealing with Israel and the Golan Heights. » Read more

Gaza war report co-authors reject Goldstone's retraction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz April 14, 2011 - 12:00am The three co-authors of the damning United Nations report on the 2008-2009 Gaza war rejected on Thursday an op-ed by the fourth member and chairman Richard Goldstone in which he retracted key conclusions of the report – in particular saying that Israel had not intentionally targeted civilians during the war. » Read more

Palestinian FM does not expect resuming peace talks soon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Fares Akram, Chen Xu - April 13, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki on Wednesday said Israel's positions make the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians more difficult. In an interview with Xinhua, Al-Maliki said the Palestinians will seek recognition of their state from the United Nations as a response to the failure of the latest round of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations. » Read more

Pushed by Goldstone, Israeli army embraces new ‘smart’ warfare ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - April 11, 2011 - 12:00am Despite Israel’s rejection of the Goldstone report on the Gaza war a year-and-a-half ago, the international criticism it engendered has led the Israel Defense Forces to make a number of significant changes in policy and doctrine. And they'll stay even though Richard Goldstone has recanted one of the most significant findings of his committee's report -- that Israel intentionally targeted civilians and may have perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. » Read more

Netanyahu's pulling-out plan preemptive act to avoid diplomatic tsunami ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Saud Abu Ramadan - April 14, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinians were not surprised at the Israeli media reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering measures to defy a "diplomatic tsunami," if the UN recognizes a Palestinian state on the territories Israel occupied in 1967. Since the suspension of the direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in last October, one month after it was launched in Washington, due to Israel's refusal to halt settlement construction, the Palestinians threatened to use diplomatic options, including grabbing international recognition of a Palestinian state. » Read more