June 28th

Israel allocates 90 mln USD for infrastructure repair in Arab towns
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 28, 2012 - 12:00am


Following decades of administrative neglect, the Israeli government announced on Thursday the allocation of 355 million shekels (90 million U.S. dollars) to repair collapsing sewer and water treatment infrastructures in Arab towns nationwide. Israeli Energy and Water Resources Minister, Uzi Landau, said his ministry had reached an agreement with the Treasury to increase budgets and grants for new sewer systems and waste treatment plants, according to the Ha'aretz daily.


Hamas urges Abbas not to meet with Israeli deputy PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 28, 2012 - 12:00am


Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to receive Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz. The meeting between two leaders, which is scheduled on Sunday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, will be the first time in years that Abbas meet a senior Israeli official, especially since the peace talks between the two sides stalled in 2010. "This meeting benefits only Israel," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, Abbas' bitter rival which governs the Gaza Strip.


New Gaza policy needed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Giora Eiland - (Opinion) June 27, 2012 - 12:00am


The time-out between the latest round of fighting and the one to follow allows us to undertake a strategic assessment of our Gaza policy. Ever since Operation Cast Lead, and especially in recent months, we are managing the struggle using only tactical means. In this framework, we aim to identify the organization that fired at us and then target the rocket launchers.


Israeli research attempts to "inoculate" soldiers against trauma
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 28, 2012 - 12:00am


Israeli scientists are working on a new pre-battlefield treatment which could prevent soldiers from later developing Post Traumatic Anxiety Disorder (PTSD), local media reported on Thursday. According to Tel Aviv University's Talma Hendler and officials at the Functional Brain Center at the city's Ichilov Hospital, the "neurofeedback" method is aimed at teaching the subjects how to gradually change their brain's reaction to a traumatic experience.


Right evades main issue: Settlements are major obstacle to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Eric Yoffie - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am


Seth Mandel, responding in the Commentary blog to my article in Haaretz on settlements, does what settlement defenders almost always do: He changes the subject. My article discussed the impact of settlement on American Jewry; talked about why settlement is in fact a major obstacle to peace; and endorsed changes in settlement policy – such as those proposed by Dan Meridor and Alan Dershowitz – that would be good for peace, for Israel, and for strengthening ties with American Jews.


Palestinians in last push for UN nod for Bethlehem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am


The Palestinians on Wednesday made a final push to have UNESCO recognize the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the Israeli-controlled West Bank as an endangered World Heritage site, despite misgivings by Christian denominations and a cool response from the U.N. agency.


Death of Hamas official won't stop flow of arms from Iran, Syria to Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am


We don't know much about the assassination of Kamel Ranaja in Damascus Wednesday. But from the little information that was obtainable, mostly from Hamas officials, it was orchestrated by professionals. Someone had a group of armed men appear at Ranaja's Damascus home and gun him down. One can only imagine how the assailants took advantage of the turmoil gripping Syria, the clashes between Assad supporters and opposition members and demonstrations, to make it to Ranaja's doorstep and disappear without leaving a trace.


Hamas says the Mossad killed its senior figure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - June 28, 2012 - 12:00am


A senior Hamas figure has been killed at his home in Damascus, in an operation that the Islamist organisation swiftly attributed to the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad. Kamel Ranaja, who died on Wednesday night, was reported to be a deputy to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was killed in a Dubai hotel in 2010. The Mossad was widely believed to be behind that assassination. It caused an international furore after Israeli agents were accused of using stolen passports cloned from British, Irish and other citizens to mount the operation.


Hamas says militant assassinated in Damascus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - June 28, 2012 - 12:00am


Hamas said Thursday that one of its members was assassinated in his home in the Syrian capital, Damascus. An official in the Palestinian militant movement said Kamal Ghanaja was a former aide to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior commander who was himself assassinated in Dubai in 2010. The official said Hamas had been informed that a group of people entered Ghanaja's home, killed him and took some files. He said a senior member of the movement has gone to Damascus to follow the official investigations.


June 27th

NEWS: Israeli and Palestinian leaders may meet early next week. Gazans increasingly turn to the ancient technique of cupping therapy. Israeli academics oppose upgrading the status of a settler college in the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel slams accusations by Iranian officials that “Jews are behind the global drug trade.” Israel's use of Caterpillar bulldozers in demolitions of Palestinian homes is a factor in getting the company dropped from a socially responsible investment index. Egypt says it will increase the flow of people through the Rafah border crossing. A new poll among Palestinians shows a drop in support for Pres. Abbas. A Hamas commander is convicted by Israel of killing 46 Israelis. FM Lieberman accuses a Palestinian MK of being “a terrorist.” Human rights groups say Israeli security forces threaten the families of detainees. Israel fears the UN might be about to establish a fact-finding mission on its settlement activities. British lawyers report that Israel is subjecting Palestinian children to “a spiral of injustice.” Anti-Israel billboards are taken down in Los Angeles. The National profiles two Palestinian officials key to law enforcement and, according to some, crushing dissent. Israel continues to prevent Palestinian students in Gaza from traveling to the West Bank to complete their education. Israeli officials say they're confident that Egypt will maintain the peace treaty. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali poses a series of questions to one state advocates. Bradley Burston says no form of bigotry is “pro-Israel.” Zalman Shoval says Israel still doesn't have a peace partner in the Palestinian leadership. Ben Caspit says Israel will learn to live with the new Egyptian president.

American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017