Civilian Deaths | The American Task Force on Palestine

Israel was wrong to boycott Goldstone probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Avineri - (Opinion) April 6, 2011 - 12:00am

Even after Richard Goldstone retracted his statement that Israel deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza, the diplomatic and moral damage to Israel caused by the Goldstone report will not disappear, just as the Supreme Court's acquittal of Israel Kastner back in the 1950s didn't erase the terrible things said by Judge Benjamin Halevy in the district court ruling. ("He sold his soul to the devil." ) That's the power of metaphors as opposed to dry facts. As far as Israel is concerned, the lesson is simple: It shouldn't boycott international forums, even if they are clearly biased against it.

Building a Stage for Mideast Peace Before the Final Curtain
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - April 6, 2011 - 12:00am

Juliano Mer Khamis lived a paradox. The internationally renowned actor, director and political activist, who was killed here this week, was both an Israeli and a Palestinian, born to a Jewish mother and an Arab Christian father in the Israeli Arab town of Nazareth. Mr. Mer Khamis embodied the Israeli-Arab conflict and embraced its complexities in a way that few could. He was regarded as an Arab by many Israelis, and by some in this West Bank city, his adopted home, first and foremost as a Jew.

Hamas suspect held in WBank actor killing-Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Mohammed Assadi - April 5, 2011 - 12:00am

A top Palestinian security official said police had arrested a member of the Islamist Hamas group over the assassination of award-winning Arab-Israeli actor and director, Juliano Mer Khamis. "One of those arrested is a prime suspect in the killing, he belongs to Hamas and is being interrogated," the official, who declined to be named, said on Tuesday,

Now that Goldstone has changed his mind, what’s next?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas, Marcy Oster - April 5, 2011 - 12:00am

What happens now with the Goldstone Report may well be up to Goldstone. Richard Goldstone’s April 2 Op-Ed in the Washington Post disavowing his earlier assumption that Israel had committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity during the 2009 Gaza war has left pro-Israel activists wondering: What next? Moves already are afoot to get the United Nations to retract the U.N. Human Rights Council’s endorsement of the Goldstone report on the monthlong 2008-09 Gaza war. The Israeli government and an array of Jewish groups have issued such calls.

Goldstone does not clear Israel of civilian deaths
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Two years ago, the Israeli government was infuriated by the Goldstone Report, which concluded that the country's defence forces had intentionally targeted civilians during Operation Cast Lead in 2008 - a three-week war against Hamas which cost more than 1,400 Gazan lives.

Despite its flaws, the Goldstone report has changed Israel's behaviour in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Since releasing his report in the September after the fighting, Judge Richard Goldstone has been Israel's most hated person. In the eyes of the Netanyahu government and its rightwing supporters, he personified the effort to "de-legitimise" the Jewish state and deprive it of its ability to defend itself. He was portrayed in the popular mediaas the quintessential self-hating Jew. Human rights groups that gave the commission information have been branded as collaborators and traitors.

'Goldstone retraction reduces chance of similar probe'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Judge Richard Goldstone’s retraction and new-found faith in the Israeli legal system will likely contribute to Israeli efforts to prevent the establishment of a new probe following military action in a future conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a senior IDF officer predicted on Sunday. On Friday, Goldstone published an op-ed in The Washington Post in which he said he that he no longer believed that Israel had intentionally targeted civilians during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip in 2009.

Israeli actor slain in Jenin refugee camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

A prominent Israeli actor and director who mentored young Palestinians at a youth theater that he founded in the West Bank town of Jenin was fatally shot Monday in the community’s refugee camp. Juliano Mer Khamis, 52, born to a Jewish mother and a Christian Arab father, personified the complexities of the conflict dividing his country. He served in Israel’s army as a paratrooper and portrayed Israeli Jews in film and on stage, but he cast his lot with the Palestinians.

Israeli commander testifies in lawsuit over death of US activist in Gaza, says it was accident
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 3, 2011 - 12:00am

An Israeli military commander testifying Sunday in a civil lawsuit over the death of American activist in the Gaza Strip eight years ago said the young woman and other activists ignored army warnings to move before she was crushed by an armored bulldozer. Rachel Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Washington, was killed in March 2003 as she tried to block the Israeli military vehicle in a dangerous area along the Gaza-Egypt border. The activists believed the Israelis were about to demolish nearby Palestinian houses.

Video: Inside ATFP Gala 2013

Photo Gallery: ATFP Gala 2013

Recent News