June 29th

10 Jordan Valley families given 24 hours to leave ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 29, 2010 - 12:00am Ten families in the Jordan Valley were handed home demolition orders on Sunday and given 24 hours to evacuate their lands. Most of the homes to be demolished belong to the Daraghmah and Al-Makahmreh families, who say they have documents proving their ownership of the land filed with Israel's Land Registry. The families said they had been issued demolition orders before, however this was the first time they had been given a 24-hour notice. » Read more

Israel army court sentences Bethlehem man to life ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency June 29, 2010 - 12:00am An Israeli military court has sentenced a Bethlehem residents to life in jail, a prisoners group said Tuesday. Nayef Obeiyat was detained in 2006 and was sentenced to life by Israel's Ofer military court, the Detainees Center reported.

Hamas is a threat to the Palestinian cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) June 29, 2010 - 12:00am It's a pity that Israel, while substantially loosening its grip on Gaza, will continue to enforce a blockade when, with just a little imagination, it could insist on a deal with the activists once again steaming its way: You can proceed to Gaza if, once you get there, you demand that Hamas cease the persecution of women, institute freedom of religion, halt the continuing rocketing of Israel, release an Israeli hostage, ban torture and rescind an official charter that could have made soothing bedtime reading for Adolf Hitler. This may take some time. » Read more

Barred from Jerusalem for crime of being Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - June 29, 2010 - 12:00am To say that Palestinian Murad Al-Khalaf's roots are in Jerusalem is a serious understatement. His family lived in the Baka district of West Jerusalem until they were forced to leave in the war of 1948. They have since lived – and live – in the inner East Jerusalem district of Ras al-Amud. His family doctor father's clinic in East Jerusalem's main street of Salahadin is opposite three shops owned by each of his uncles. One of his brothers, also a doctor, works at one of Jerusalem's two main (Israeli) hospitals, the Shaare Zedek Medical Centre. The city is, in short, his home. » Read more

Palestinian boycott of Israeli settlement goods starts to bite ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - June 29, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli factories based in settlements on the West Bank have been forced to cut back production as a growing Palestinian boycott movement begins to take effect. The boycott, endorsed by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was given further momentum this week when a campaign to clear supermarket shelves of produce originating in settlements was rolled out in Ramallah. » Read more

June 28th

The danger of an Islamized Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times June 28, 2010 - 12:00am The slim owner of Gaza City's Gallery cafe has sharp eyes and a sharp tongue. It's easy to imagine him conversing with artists and actors — he is also a theater director — far into the night. But he crossed a line. He allowed female patrons at his cafe to smoke hookah pipes and to talk with men. He ignored demands by plainclothes police to rein in "immoral" behavior. In early May, police interrogated and accused him of having extramarital affairs. » Read more

Israeli inquiry into Gaza flotilla raid opens ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Joseph Nasr - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's prime minister and defence chief will be called to testify in an investigation into a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, the leader of an Israeli commission of inquiry said in an opening statement on Monday. An international observer on the commission said everyone involved was determined it would be rigorous. Turkey, angered by the killing by Israeli commandos of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in a melee on a Gaza blockade-running vessel intercepted on May 31, has said the Israeli probe would be biased. » Read more

Militants set fire to U.N. summer camp in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am Masked Palestinian gunmen set fire to a U.N.-run summer camp in Gaza on Monday, officials and witnesses said, the second time in recent weeks that militants have attacked a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) children's camp in the Hamas-controlled territory. About 25 militants stormed the recreation facility and assaulted security guards before setting the building on fire, U.N. spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said. In May, gunmen set a building on fire after accusing the United Nations of promoting immorality in the Islamist-ruled enclave. » Read more

Racing Palestinian girls speed into record books ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Diaa Hadid - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian women are speeding into the record books by competing on an all-female car racing team — the Speed Sisters. Along the way, they're crashing through another gender barrier in this conservative Muslim society. The eight women have entered a popular race called "Speed Test." Souped-up cars race around a track, weaving their way around obstacles and spinning circles around others. The all-female team is a first for the event. » Read more

Report: Turkey closes airspace to Israel military following Gaza flotilla raid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press June 28, 2010 - 12:00am Turkey has closed its airspace to Israeli military flights following a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, the Turkish prime minister and officials said Monday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Toronto that Turkey imposed the ban after the May 31 raid on a Turkish ship that was part of a six-vessel international aid flotilla, according to the state-run Anatolia news agency. The prime minister, who is in Canada to attend a summit of the Group of 20 major industrial and developing nations, did not elaborate. » Read more