June 13th, 2008

Israeli Settlers’ Attack On Palestinian Family Captured On Video
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Arthur Bright - June 13, 2008 - 4:56pm

A Palestinian family's brutal beating by Israeli settlers has been captured on video and aired just a week before the UN Security Council is set to consider a resolution condemning construction of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. The BBC reports that the video, recorded last Sunday, shows four men attacking an elderly shepherd, his wife, and his nephew after the four told the shepherd to move his flock, which was grazing near the settlement of Susia in the West Bank. The BBC describes the film, which is available on its website:

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Year On, Fayyad Aims To Change Palestinian Mindset
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Wafa Amr - June 13, 2008 - 12:39pm

When he was named to lead a government reeling from civil war in Gaza, those Palestinians who had even heard of Salam Fayyad mostly saw him as an obscure, expatriate technocrat with little feel for their troubles. Now, a year after President Mahmoud Abbas made Fayyad prime minister in place of a Hamas leader he accused of staging a coup in the Gaza Strip, the former World Bank and IMF official is reaching out for grass roots support with a message of change.

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June 12th

Reuters features an article on Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (1). The Washington Times reports on Israel’s plan to build 1,300 new apartments in east Jerusalem (2). Video footage obtained by the BBC of Israeli settlers assaulting a Palestinian family causes controversy (3). Militants from Gaza bombard southern Israel after the home of a Hamas commander is blown up (5). Israel refuses to reopen the Rafah crossing as part of a cease fire deal with Hamas (7).

Deepening Us-israel Partnership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Week
(Editorial) June 12, 2008 - 4:00pm

Media accounts of last week’s policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) naturally focused on presidential politics. But the policy conference had a number of other resounding messages, including this one: U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation is stronger than ever. Once more a slogan than reality, the idea of a genuine partnership between the two nations has become an everyday fact of life on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon.

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Mortar Shells, Qassam Rockets Rain On Israel's South
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shumlik Hadad - June 12, 2008 - 3:59pm

  A 59-year-old Israeli woman was lightly-to-moderately wounded in the Yad Mordechai area on Thursday afternoon as Palestinian terror groups launched a barrage of mortar shells and Qassam rockets against Israeli communities near the Gaza border. The injured woman was evacuated to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment.

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Barak: Labor To Vote For Dissolution Of Knesset
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Atilla Somfalvi - June 12, 2008 - 3:56pm

"The way things look at present time, we will support the motion for the dissolution of the Knesset on the June 25th preliminary vote," said Labor party chairman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, on Thursday morning at a Labor party meeting. "We would prefer to see stability, but if the reality necessitates it then there is nothing to fear by going to elections," he said.

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U.s. Fulbright Winner Barred From Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Joseph Mayton - June 12, 2008 - 3:54pm

CAIRO -- A decision by the Egyptian government to decline an American Fulbright winner the opportunity to carry out his research in the Middle Eastern nation highlights the political nature of the award. In a similar case last month, Israel threatened to deny exit visas for Gaza residents, initially forcing the United States to cancel their scholarships. Four of the Gazans have since been issued travel permission and have left Gaza for Jerusalem en route to the United States to study, but three others remain in limbo as to their status.

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Settlers Attack Palestinian Homes In Hawara
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna)
June 12, 2008 - 3:52pm

RAMALLAH, June 12 (KUNA) -- Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian home on Thursday, injuring two in Hawara town, South Nablus. Eyewitnesses said that settlers from Yetzahar settlement near Hawara attacked houses in the area clashing with Palestinians, which resulted in the injuries. They added, settlers stabbed one of the injured with a sharp tool, and hit the other with a metal bar on his head. Medical sources assured that those injured are now in stable condition.

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Joint Israeli-palestinian Public Opinion Poll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestinian Center For Policy And Survey Research
June 12, 2008 - 3:50pm

Israelis strongly oppose cease-fire with Hamas if agreement does not include release of Gilad Shalit; Palestinians strongly oppose such an agreement if it does not include the West Bank or does not stipulate an immediate opening of the Rafah crossing to Egypt 

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Shelving The American Role
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by George Hishmeh - June 12, 2008 - 3:49pm

Once Barack Obama shockingly unveiled his true and one-sided views regarding a Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement at last week's meeting in Washington of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, it became obviously clear that he has unwittingly disqualified himself as the much-promised instrument of "change" or that "we can" help bring about an honorable end to the decades-old conflict.

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