IDF panel rules West Bank settlers not protected by Basic Law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - June 3, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's Basic Laws neither apply to nor protect settlers, the military appeals committee ruled in response to an appeal from a resident of Yitzhar, Akiva Hacohen, who was banned last October for six months from the West Bank except for Ariel. The ban was later extended for three months. Hacohen, represented by Yitzhak Bam of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, appealed the decision to the military appeals committee, which allows challenges to decisions of the IDF command in the West Bank. » Read more

Israel: remember 1947 and the Exodus ship ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Richard Irvine - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am No one can accuse history of not having a sense of irony. Sixty-three years ago, in July 1947, a passenger ship destined for Palestine and named the Exodus was stopped and boarded by the British navy. The ship was crowded with Holocaust survivors determined to make a new life for themselves in British-controlled Palestine. The British, facing Zionist terrorism and trying to keep promises made to the Palestinian Arabs to limit Jewish immigration, were determined to stop it. Accordingly, when the Royal Navy boarded the ship 20 miles out from Haifa, a full-scale battle ensued. » Read more

An Assault, Cloaked in Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Michael B. Oren - (Opinion) June 3, 2010 - 12:00am PEACE activists are people who demonstrate nonviolently for peaceful co-existence and human rights. The mob that assaulted Israeli special forces on the deck of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara on Monday was not motivated by peace. On the contrary, the religious extremists embedded among those on board were paid and equipped to attack Israelis — both by their own hands as well as by aiding Hamas — and to destroy any hope of peace. » Read more

Fatalities on Gaza Flotilla Said to Include U.S. Citizen ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Michael Slackman, Sabrina Tavernise - June 3, 2010 - 12:00am One of the nine people killed in an Israeli commando raid on a flotilla of ships heading for Gaza this week was a United States citizen of Turkish descent, according to officials in Turkey and Washington. The development added a new diplomatic complexity as Israel struggled to defuse rising international anger over its raid on six ships seeking to break its blockade of the Gaza Strip, where officials from the Hamas movement were reported on Thursday to be resisting Israeli efforts to deliver truckloads of goods seized from the flotilla. » Read more

Spin doctors cannot hide Israel’s actions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National June 2, 2010 - 12:00am The Israeli prime minister’s spokesman Mark Regev once explained to an Australian reporter how he could chew and talk at the same time. This week Mr Regev tested his ability to speak with a foot planted firmly in his mouth. » Read more

Don’t Save Israel this Time! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am I preferred to follow the Western visual media’s coverage of the crime that was committed by Israel against the humanitarian aid ships headed for Gaza that caused the deaths of around 20 people from Arab and international organizations rather than following Arab visual media coverage. Our media wants to spread the spirit of provocation instead of presenting information. It wants to increase escalation instead of helping us understand the consequences of what happened and how this battle with Israel should be dealt with so that Israel does not escape the consequences. » Read more

New Israeli Tack Needed on Gaza, U.S. Officials Say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - June 3, 2010 - 12:00am WASHINGTON — The Obama administration considers Israel’s blockade of Gaza to be untenable and plans to press for another approach to ensure Israel’s security while allowing more supplies into the impoverished Palestinian area, senior American officials said Wednesday. The officials say that Israel’s deadly attack on a flotilla trying to break the siege and the resulting international condemnation create a new opportunity to push for increased engagement with the Palestinian Authority and a less harsh policy toward Gaza. » Read more

Boycott - for things to change ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - June 3, 2010 - 12:00am Hopelessness and lack of a political horizon seem to have made the Palestinian Authority (PA) more assertive, even proactive. After years of marking time while negotiations with Israel went nowhere and Israeli colonisation proceeded apace, Ramallah is beginning to stir. One of the engines driving movement is the plan of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to build the infrastructure of a state and then unilaterally proclaim the state in August 2011. » Read more