June 16th

Family of Palestinian driver killed by police demands investigation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) June 16, 2010 - 12:00am Israel on Monday was facing another demand for an investigation into its military's actions, this time from the Palestinian Authority and the family of a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, who was shot and killed Friday. Ziad Joulani, 41, a shopkeeper and father of three with no criminal or history of political activism, was killed when police opened fire as he got out of his car, witnesses said. [For the record: An earlier version said Joulani was a father of four; he has three daughters.] » Read more

Gaza: U.N. to Distribute Aid Seized by Israel in Blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Neil MacFarquhar - June 16, 2010 - 12:00am The United Nations expects to soon distribute the aid brought by a Turkish flotilla trying to run the Gaza blockade and seized by Israel after a bloody confrontation. Robert H. Serry, the United Nations envoy to the Middle East peace negotiations, told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that despite such attempts, Gaza received only a fraction of its needs. Three-quarters of the damage caused by the 2009 war— including homes schools and hospitals — has not been repaired or rebuilt, Mr. Serry reported. » Read more

Palestinian minister urges settler business to relocate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ron Friedman - June 16, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority National Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libda defended his government’s decision to boycott goods produced in the settlements, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. Abu Libda said the move was in accordance with international law and necessary for Palestinian self-preservation. In May, the PA announced that it would be enforcing a complete boycott of all goods made in the West Bank settlements, an announcement that was accompanied by a door-to-door enlistment campaign and a public burning of settlement-made goods. » Read more

Elia Suleiman: stories my father told me ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Steven J. Rosen - (Interview) June 16, 2010 - 12:00am We're in a street in occupied Ramallah. A young Palestinian man is taking out his rubbish. An Israeli tank is parked nearby, its gun barrel pointed right at the man's head. As he walks to the bin and back, the tank turret tracks him in whirs and clanks, the barrel dipping when he steps off the pavement. The man is about to go inside when his phone rings. He starts talking to a friend about a party, pacing back and forth, ignoring the tank, which is still noisily following his every move. When he goes back inside, the gun swivels to point directly at the camera. » Read more

June 15th

The Yom Kippur syndrome ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - June 15, 2010 - 12:00am The blame game between the political and military establishments is revealing the same characteristics that led us to the Yom Kippur War, and the same subsequent spats over who was responsible and who must be held accountable. Then, as now, the chief failure was that of intelligence. Then, as now, the military was full of itself, sure that we'd "break their bones," in the famous words of then-chief of staff David Elazar on the second day of the Egyptian-Syrian assault. Israeli forces approaching Gaza flotilla » Read more

Meridor: Israel should refrain from building in areas that will be annexed to PA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - June 15, 2010 - 12:00am Cabinet Minister Dan Meridor said Tuesday that Israel should refrain from building in areas that will be annexed to the Palestinian Authority in the future, even after a 10-month settlement construction freeze is over in September. Meridor made the comments during a tour of the West Bank settlements Efrat. "The freeze will be over in three months, and from then on we will not be committed to it; it's a matter of where it is wise and logical for us to build," Meridor said. » Read more

Ireland tells Israel to withdraw staffer over Dubai hit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters June 15, 2010 - 12:00am Ireland's government said on Tuesday it was calling on Israel to withdraw a designated member of staff at its Dublin embassy over the use of fake passports in the assassination of a top Hamas militant in Dubai in January. Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said an investigation had showed that the eight Irish passports used by suspects in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh were forgeries. "The misuse of Irish passports by a state with which Ireland enjoys friendly, if sometimes frank, bilateral relations is clearly unacceptable and requires a firm response," he said in a statement. » Read more

Shin Bet Chief: Hamas buying land within Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - June 15, 2010 - 12:00am Shin Bet security service director Yuval Diskin said on Tuesday that the Islamist group Hamas was busy buying up land within the municipal territory of Jerusalem. Speaking at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Diskin added that the central forces currently operating in East Jerusalem were the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the Islamic Movement. He explained that they were competing with each other over influence and presence in the area. » Read more

Hamas blocks peaceful Gaza demo against buffer zone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua June 14, 2010 - 12:00am Hamas security forces on Monday prevented Palestinian activists from holding peaceful demonstration against an Israeli-imposed buffer zone in the Gaza Strip, organizers said. Hamas policemen seized keys of vehicles that were set to transport tens of Palestinians to demonstrate near the no-go zone to the east of southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, the Popular Committee Against Buffer Zone said in a statement. » Read more

A Palestinian Ben-Gurion? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Gadi Taub - (Opinion) June 15, 2010 - 12:00am At this time, Israeli prisons maintain a separation between criminal and security detainees. Some of the most veteran prisoners are unhappy about this, because when such separation is in place, the criminals talk about crime all day and plan their next criminal act, while security detainees talk about ideology the whole day and plan the next “acts of resistance.” Once upon a time, when the detainees were mixed, they spent their days arguing with each other. » Read more