'We're the only ones who believe them' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Ben Smith - June 1, 2010 - 12:00am A delicate diplomatic maneuver by President Barack Obama to smooth frayed relations with Israel without alienating America’s Arab allies may have been blown out of the water Monday morning by Israel’s botched attempt to enforce the Gaza blockade — and by the lack of condemnation from Washington that followed it. » Read more

U.S. must deal with Benjamin Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) June 1, 2010 - 12:00am Israel’s disastrous commando operation against the Gaza relief flotilla delays and complicates — but does not entirely derail — the kiss-and-make-up session that would have played out at the White House on Tuesday, had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not canceled his planned meeting with President Barack Obama » Read more

Terror at dawn ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) June 1, 2010 - 12:00am What Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has so rightly called “a massacre” saw the death of at least 10 peace activists on board the lead ship of the six-vessel Freedom Flotilla and the injury of scores others, as heavily armed Israeli commandos seized the convoy and sailed it toward their port of Ashdod. Israeli sources put the toll at nine. The full details of this outrage are not yet clear since the Israeli authorities are censoring all reports and used sophisticated jamming technology to halt media broadcasts from the vessels as they were assaulted. » Read more

No excuse ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times June 1, 2010 - 12:00am Displaying, yet again, utter disregard for international humanitarian law and contempt for the sanctity of life, Israeli commandos yesterday attacked the Gaza-bound aid flotilla and cold-bloodedly murdered several activists on board a Turkish ship. Their mistake: trying to deliver much-needed aid to the 1.5 million Gazans suffering under a prolonged Israeli blockade that constitutes, according to the Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, “collective punishment under international law”. » Read more

Israel itself may be among the victims of its pathology ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Eyad Sarraj - (Opinion) June 1, 2010 - 12:00am Resorting to brute force is an expression of fear. Its deployment yesterday by the Israeli soldiers who raided and opened fire on the freedom flotilla en route to Gaza, killing at least 10 civilians and injuring dozens more, will not serve Israel or treat its existential anxiety. » Read more

Gaza: From blockade to bloodshed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian (Editorial) June 1, 2010 - 12:00am If an armed group of Somali pirates had yesterday boarded six vessels on the high seas, killing at least 10 passengers and injuring many more, a Nato taskforce would today be heading for the Somali coast. What happened yesterday in international waters off the coast of Gaza was the work of Israeli commandos, not pirates, and no Nato warships will in fact be heading for Israel. Perhaps they should be. » Read more

Zero housing starts in W. Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - June 1, 2010 - 12:00am For the first time in more than two decades, and possibly in the history of the settlement movement, a three-month period has passed without any new settler construction in Judea and Samaria, according to numbers released on Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The report, which shows zero settler housing starts in the first quarter of 2010, is part of a larger report on construction in Israel that is released by the CBS four times a year, including at the end of May. » Read more

Straight into the trap ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - June 1, 2010 - 12:00am The Israel Defense Forces had little trouble explaining the naval commando raid yesterday to the Israeli public. The troops slid from helicopters into a violent crowd, which attacked them with sticks. It's no wonder the troops opened fire in self-defense. » Read more

Top ministers fume after Gaza flotilla operation goes ahead without their approval ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - June 1, 2010 - 12:00am Senior ministers have been sharply critical of the fact that the decision to seize control of the flotilla to Gaza was made after two meetings of the forum of seven senior ministers but without official deliberation by the inner cabinet, the body that has the authority to approve military actions of this scale. » Read more

Palestinians: Three killed in IDF strike on Gaza rocket-launching cell ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Anshel Pfeffer - June 1, 2010 - 12:00am The Israel Air Force on Tuesday attacked a group of Palestinian militants at a rocket-launching site in the Gaza Strip. Three people were killed in the attack, according to Palestinian officials. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed striking Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. The army said it identified a secondary explosion in the attack. Palestinians said a senior member of the Palestinians Resistance Committees and a woman were killed in the attack. The third fatality has not yet been identified. » Read more