March 4th, 2013

Palestinian Justice System Still a Work in Progress ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Diana Atallah - March 4, 2013 - 1:00am Ramallah -- When a Palestinian court ordered a government center in 2011 to remove garbage they disposed of on lands belonging to Majid Zaher (not his real name) near Ramallah, he thought his case was over. » Read more

Israel industrial park, meant to pull in Bedouins, draws skeptics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - March 1, 2013 - 1:00am On a patch of agricultural land outside Israel's only officially recognized Bedouin city, workers are laying concrete for what the government says will be a cornerstone of its policy to lure impoverished Arabs from barren Negev desert terrain to approved Israeli towns. » Read more

Erdogan’s Double Standards ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Shlomi Eldar - March 3, 2013 - 1:00am “Turkey and Israel are both vital allies of the United States. We want to see them work together in order to be able to go beyond the rhetoric and begin to take concrete steps to change this relationship,” said new U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a news  conference in Ankara on Friday [March 1]. » Read more

Palestinians Still Feel The Squeeze Of The Restrictions On Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR) by Larry Abramson - March 4, 2013 - 1:00am The streets of Gaza are busy, but they are also crumbling. Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Israel has maintained tight limits on shipments of anything that could be used for military purposes. That includes basic building materials that could be used for bunkers and rocket launching sites. Ask businessman Ali Abdel Aal what's the toughest thing for him to find, and he'll tell you "cement and gravel." » Read more

Palestinian Reconciliation Not Close ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Naela Khalil - (Editorial) March 3, 2013 - 1:00am Despite the "warm peace" witnessed between Azzam al-Ahmad, the Fatah official responsible for the reconciliation file, and Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chief of Hamas' political bureau, on Feb. 28 in Cairo, the meeting's good feelings did not transfer to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip in any way. Moreover, the relationship between the two movements continues to deteriorate. » Read more

Gaza grown herbs exported to Europe ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Saud Abu Ramadan - March 4, 2013 - 1:00am The farm where Jamal Abu Najja grows spices and medicinal herbs, had been part of an Israeli settlement west of the southern Gaza town of Rafah until late August 2005 when Israel pulled out from the coastal enclave and evacuated 21 settlements. Since then, the Palestinians are planting around one third of the 360-square kilometer Gaza Strip lands with various kinds of agricultural products, including fruits, vegetables and recently herbs and spices. » Read more

Europe: Settlement products are tainted goods ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Daniella Peled - (Opinion) March 3, 2013 - 1:00am Food labeling is a hot topic in Europe right now. Following the horsemeat scandal, with traces of equine flesh found in beef products across the continent, there have never been such strident calls for responsible sourcing of food products clearly tracing their origin. » Read more

Police question Israeli about attack on Arab woman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 3, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli police say they have questioned a 17-year-old Israeli girl from a West Bank Jewish settlement suspected of participating in a group attack on a Palestinian woman last week at a Jerusalem train station. Jerusalem Police Chief Yossi Parienty told Israeli reporters Sunday that the Palestinian woman told police that Israeli women spit on her, attacked her and ripped off her headscarf. A bystander photographed the incident and the photos were publicized widely in Israeli media. » Read more

Israel: Autopsy of Detainee Shows Signs of ‘Resuscitation Attempts’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - February 28, 2013 - 1:00am The Health Ministry said Thursday that tests showed that the hemorrhages and fractured ribs found during the autopsy of a Palestinian prisoner who died in Israeli detention last weekend were “characteristic of the resuscitation attempts that were performed on the deceased,” efforts that lasted for 50 minutes. » Read more

Israel blames Hamas for keeping shut Gaza crossing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press March 4, 2013 - 1:00am An Israeli military spokesman says the militant Islamic group Hamas has pressured a Palestinian contractor into keeping closed the Gaza side of the only cargo crossing with Israel. Maj. Guy Inbar says the crossing was set to open on Monday but the Palestinian operator of the crossing said he wouldn't come to work. Inbar says Hamas wants control of the crossing, operated by its rival, the secular Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank. There was no comment from Hamas. » Read more