Israel's wrong friends ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Ian Buruma - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am Israel has been welcoming some rather peculiar visitors of late. The Dutch populist, Geert Wilders, is a frequent caller, telling sympathetic audiences that Israel is on the front line of the Western war against Islam. And, in December, a delegation of European far-right politicians toured Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank, pleasing their hosts by reassuring them that this was “Jewish land”. » Read more

Israeli left reawakens after death of Palestinian protestors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Tony Karon - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am The security forces had set up roadblocks to stop us from reaching the black township to attend a funeral for one of the thousands they had killed to protect our "security". So we had to take backroads and cross open ground. Some were intercepted and turned back, but hundreds of us white activists still made it in, to stand side by side with a mourning community rededicating itself to the fight for justice - and to make clear to them, and to our own communities, that we would resist the crimes committed in our name. » Read more

Palestinian plight in northern Lebanon refugee camps ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Wyre Davies - January 8, 2011 - 1:00am It is sometimes controversially said that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live in worse conditions than those during the Israeli occupation in Gaza. There is no better place to witness and document the plight of Lebanon's refugees than Nahr al-Bared. It was such conditions that contributed to the destruction of the refugee camp, in 2007, as troops from the Lebanese army fought with Islamist militants. In May of that year, fierce fighting erupted here - a sprawling Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli in northern Lebanon. » Read more

Israeli troops kill Palestinian at West Bank checkpoint ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News January 8, 2011 - 1:00am The man leapt from a taxi and ran towards the checkpoint east of Nablus carrying a pipe bomb, ignoring orders to stop, a spokesman said. Troops later found a second explosive device on his body. Palestinian security officials said the man was a member of the militant group Islamic Jihad in the town of Jenin. Last Sunday another Palestinian man was shot dead at the same checkpoint. Israeli officials said he had tried to attack troops with a bottle after they refused to let him through. » Read more

EU diplomats step up opposition to east Jerusalem building ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post January 10, 2011 - 1:00am The European Union stepped up its opposition to Jewish building in east Jerusalem on Monday. In an internal document sent to 25 EU Consuls General in Jerusalem, the EU said: "Israel has left Palestinian neighbourhoods ever more isolated" and "by legal and practical means, is actively pursuing its [illegal] annexation by systematically undermining the Palestinian presence in the city," London-based The Independent reported. » Read more

Knesset committee okays Citizenship Law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am The Knesset's Internal Affairs Committee on Monday approved a bill allowing citizenship to be revoked from Israelis convicted of terror or espionage crimes. The bill will be brought to the Knesset plenum for its first reading. The Shin Bet, which had previously supported the motion, announced during the discussion that they had reversed their opinion on the matter. A stormy verbal confrontation broke out during the meeting between the initiator of the bill, Knesset Member David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu), and Balad Chairman MK Jamal Zahalka. » Read more

EU diplomats say East Jerusalem should be treated as Palestinian capital ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am East Jerusalem should be treated as the capital of the Palestinian state, according to a report compiled by the heads of European diplomatic missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah. The report includes several other unprecedented recommendations to the European Union regarding its attitude toward East Jerusalem. The European diplomats, mainly consuls, also recommend that EU officials and politicians refuse to visit Israeli government offices that are located beyond the Green Line and that they decline any Israeli security in the Old City and elsewhere in East Jerusalem. » Read more

Netanyahu will deliver a Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) January 10, 2011 - 1:00am What do you want from Benjamin Netanyahu? For the first time, the prime minister promised last July that he wants to forge an agreement within a year with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Since that day, the Israeli right wing has simmered with consternation. Virtually not a day passes without its leaders contributing another brick to the building of Palestine. » Read more

Hamas leader does not meet Israeli personalities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 9, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister of the deposed Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haneya does not meet Israeli personalities, an aide to Haneya said Sunday. "Initially, Haneya rejects to see any Israeli persons seeking to meet him," said Yousef Rizka, the advisor of Haneya who leads the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. Thus, Haneya is unlikely to meet Israeli activists who plan to visit Gaza to urge him to help release Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was captured by the Hamas in 2006, according to Rizka. » Read more

Israeli academics' petition calls for boycotting university in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 9, 2011 - 1:00am Over 150 senior Israeli university lecturers and researchers have signed a petition calling for an academic boycott of the Ariel University Center, located in the largest Israeli town in the central West Bank. The petition, initiated by Nir Gov with the Weizmann Institute, stated that the college was built on occupied land "only a few kilometers away from Palestinians living in villages and refugee camps under unbearably harsh conditions and without basic human rights," local daily Ha'aretz reported. » Read more