January 20th

Palestinian faults Arabs over Jerusalem support ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters January 19, 2011 - 1:00am Arab states are failing to help the Palestinians in Jerusalem, a Palestinian official said on Wednesday, criticising them for paying only a fraction of funds pledged to sustain Palestinian life there. Foreign Minister Riad Malki's comments reflected the Palestinians' frustration over the Arab failure to support them in the face of what they see as an Israeli campaign to "Judaize" Jerusalem, the city at the heart of the Middle East conflict. » Read more

In search of scrap, Gaza children risk lives in border zone ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet by Katie Nguyen - January 18, 2011 - 1:00am Children in Gaza risk regular gunfire from Israeli troops while looking for construction material in destroyed buildings close to the blockaded enclave's border with Israel, Save the Children said on Tuesday. Citing a report by a UNICEF-led group on children caught up in conflict, it said 26 children were shot by Israeli soldiers near the border last year, including 16 outside the buffer zone which extends 300 metres (yards) from the border security wall and fence. » Read more

Palestinians hoist flag in Washington for first time ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 20, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington on Tuesday hoisted its national flag for the first time, a highly symbolic gesture that drew an angry response from a senior US lawmaker. The US State Department, enmeshed in an uphill struggle to revive stalled Middle East peace talks, said that the ceremony was approved several months ago and did not change the status of the Palestinian representation in Washington. » Read more

Brigades claim fire on Israeli civilians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 20, 2011 - 1:00am A statement from the Gaza militant group the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades said Wednesday that fighters targeted a civilian Israeli vehicle traveling on the main road near the border and fired. The brigades, affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the attack was against "three settler cars" near Kissufim, an Israeli military base north of Khan Younis, and that militants "opened fire directly" on the vehicles. The statement said the attack took place in the afternoon, and that injuries had been sustained by the cars' passengers. » Read more

Palestine hopeful US won't use veto ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 20, 2011 - 1:00am Member of the Palestinian negotiating committee Nabil Shaath told a French delegation Tuesday that he believed the US would have a hard time using their veto on a draft resolution submitted to the UN over Israeli settlement building. US officials, however, the same day warned at the United Nations that putting the resolution to a Security Council vote would "complicate" peace efforts. While the US has still not said though whether it would veto the measure, Israeli media has said indications are that the resolution will be quashed. » Read more

Israel drops investigation into police shooting of Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - January 19, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli officials said Tuesday they were dropping a criminal probe of an Israeli border policeman who shot to death a Palestinian motorist after the man sideswiped a foot patrol of soldiers and then tried to escape when they opened fire. Justice Ministry officials described the incident as a "lethal and rapid chain of events that ended tragically with a man's death," but said in a statement that there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges. » Read more

Israeli human rights groups sound alarm over parliamentary panel on funding ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - January 19, 2011 - 1:00am An initiative in the Israeli parliament this month to investigate the funding of local human rights organizations has intensified debate here about the role of the groups, which rightist critics have accused of harming Israel. Human rights advocates say they are working in an increasingly hostile public climate - particularly since the Gaza war two years ago, which brought allegations of Israeli war crimes - and they warn that free speech and the right to dissent are being challenged. » Read more

Israeli army to discharge soldier in mistaken killing of Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - January 19, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli army said Wednesday that it will discharge a soldier for fatally shooting a 66-year-old Palestinian man in his bed in the West Bank city of Hebron during an early-morning roundup of Hamas militants on Jan 7. The man, Omar al-Qawasmeh, was killed by special forces troops who apparently mistook him for a militant who lived in the same building. Qawasmeh's wife said he had been sleeping and she was praying when soldiers came to their bedroom and immediately opened fire. » Read more

Israeli Soldier Discharged Over Killing of Unarmed Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - January 19, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli military announced Wednesday night that a soldier’s military career had been terminated after the fatal shooting of an unarmed 65-year-old Palestinian man in his bed during an arrest last week in the West Bank city of Hebron. Soldiers apparently mistook the man, Omar al-Qawasmeh, for a Hamas militant whom they had come to arrest, and who lived in an apartment in the same building. » Read more

January 19th

Memories and maps keep alive Palestinian hopes of return ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ian Black - November 26, 2010 - 1:00am Refugees remain the most intractable issue of the Middle East conflict, as two new books show A Palestinian girl at a refugee camp in Jordan. 1948 is a key date in Palestinian collective memory. Memories and maps feature prominently in the experience of Palestinians – a people scarred by dispossession, dispersion, occupation and profound uncertainty about their future. So amid the latest wrangling over the stalled peace talks with Israel come two sharp reminders of the depth of the conflict and how difficult it will be to resolve. » Read more