March 13th

Israel lets aid into Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yoav Zitun - March 13, 2012 - 12:00am Israel’s Ministry of Defense has decided to leave border crossings between Gaza and Israel open despite ongoing rocket attacks, in order to allow a flow of goods and aid delivered from Israel to the people of Gaza. Following the decision, the Kerem Shalom crossing remained open on Monday even though three mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip landed on the Palestinian side of the crossing. During the latest round of fighting in the Gaza region, approximately 50 rockets aimed at Israel landed in Palestinian territory. » Read more

Toll rises in Israel-Gaza Strip crossfire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - March 12, 2012 - 12:00am Reporting from Jerusalem— The toll on civilians from violence between the Israeli military and militants based in the Gaza Strip rose Monday as three Palestinians — a 15-year-old boy on his way to school and a father and daughter walking in the street — were killed by Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian officials said. » Read more

Hamas: Egypt offered fuel in return for calm ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 13, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egypt offered to provide fuel to Gaza if militants agree to a ceasefire with Israel, Hamas-affiliated MP Younis al-Astal said Monday. The Gaza Strip has faced up to 18-hour blackouts per day since Egypt cut fuel supplies through an underground tunnel network, and officials are negotiating an emergency route to stave the power crisis. Gaza's sole power station shut down on Saturday evening for the third time in the past month. » Read more

Egypt-mediated truce calms Israel-Gaza border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karin Brulliard - March 13, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — A reported truce mediated by Egypt on Tuesday appeared to bring a shaky calm to the most intense cross-border fighting in three years between Israel and militants based in Gaza Strip. The cease-fire, which Egyptian state media said took effect hours before dawn on Tuesday, is intended to halt a four-day cycle of more than 300 militant-fired rockets into southern Israel and dozens of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Though both sides have warned that the conflict could expand, neither has seemed inclined to escalate to all-out war. » Read more

As Rockets Fly, New Conditions Shape Fight in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Fares Akram, Isabel Kershner - March 12, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Cross-border fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza continued for a fourth day on Monday, with the Palestinian death toll rising from Israeli airstrikes and the militants’ rockets reaching farther into Israel. » Read more

March 12th

For Israel, it is about walls and war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) March 10, 2012 - 1:00am The recent visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States received the lion’s share of publicity about Israel’s position in the Middle East and the world. However, the real story about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict rests elsewhere. » Read more

‘Reel freedom’ helps make Jerusalem more livable ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Khaled Diab - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am In East Jerusalem, the Israeli occupation has affected the city’s cultural landscape. Chronic underinvestment, expanding settlements and a massive wall – which Israel says it has constructed for security purposes and Palestinians allege is a land grab – have had the effect of squeezing the life out of Palestinian quarters and shifting the cultural center of gravity to Ramallah in the West Bank. In addition, it seems many Palestinian Jerusalemites have not been able to shake off the curfew mentality of the intifada, which ended almost seven years ago. » Read more

Political disunity of Palestinians is a critical failure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) March 11, 2012 - 1:00am When it comes to Palestinian politics, every step forward seems inevitably followed by two steps back. On Friday, a day after Hamas had rejected the idea that it would at any point strike Israel on behalf of Iran, Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed 12 and wounded a dozen others. Hamas once again finds itself on the defensive, both from Israel and from factions within the Occupied Territory. » Read more

Netanyahu's flawed arguments for war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Adel Safty - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am The Iranian crisis has given rise to another duel between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The public platform for the confrontation of the two men was provided by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) policy conference which the two men addressed separately last week. They duelled in the past over how to achieve peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At the Aipac policy conference, they publicly duelled about waging another war in the Middle East. » Read more

Israel has a legal case for striking Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Robert Ash, Jay Sekulow - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- In a world where nuclear weapons could soon be in the hands of a rogue nation like Iran, an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be fully justified. Despite its ban on aggressive war, Article 51 of the United Nations Charter clearly recognizes a state’s inherent right of self-defense. Thus, Israel has full authority to act unilaterally or collectively in its self-defense. » Read more