Palestinians say detainee tortured before death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jeffrey Heller - February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

The death of 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat in an Israeli jail on Saturday and a hunger strike by four inmates have flared tension across the occupied West Bank, where stone-throwing protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers on Sunday. The Palestinian autopsy findings could further fuel unrest that has surged in the Palestinian Territories weeks before U.S. President Barack Obama is due to visit the region. Israel demanded the Palestinian Authority restore calm to the area.

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Wrong Cause
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Editorial) February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

Many injustices plague Palestinian society, few of which can be blamed on the Jewish state, even by the farthest stretches of the imaginations of Israel’s enemies. These are self-inflicted injustices. In the Gaza Strip, an Islamic quasi-state ruled by the totalitarian regime of Hamas has in the past few weeks arrested or summoned for interrogation at least 16 journalists as part of a campaign aimed at intimidating the local media, as reported by The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh.

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Minister: Autopsy shows torture killed Jaradat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

An autopsy has revealed that Arafat Jaradat died of extreme torture in Israeli custody and did not have a cardiac arrest, the PA Minister of Detainee Affairs said Sunday. At a news conference in Ramallah, Issa Qaraqe said an autopsy conducted in Israel in the presence of Palestinian officials revealed that 30-year-old Jaradat had six broken bones in his neck, spine, arms and legs.

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Lawyer: Israeli officers tortured Jaradat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli officers tortured Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old who died Saturday in Israeli custody, his lawyer and the Ministry of Detainee Affairs said Sunday. Kameel Sabbagh, a lawyer at the ministry, said he was present at Jaradat's last hearing on Thursday. The Israeli judge postponed the hearing for 12 days. "When I entered the courtroom I saw Jaradat sitting on a wooden chair in front of the judge. His back was hunched and he looked sick and fragile.

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Palestinians Dispute Israel’s Findings on a Prisoner’s Death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Khaled Abu Aker - February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

The Israeli Health Ministry said Sunday night that preliminary autopsy findings could not determine the cause of death of a 30-year-old Palestinian prisoner, which Israeli officials had at first attributed to a heart attack. But Palestinian officials said the lack of heart damage coupled with bruising on the man’s chest, back and neck suggested that he was tortured during interrogation.

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Prisoner's death stokes fears of third uprising
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

The mysterious death of a 30-year-old Palestinian gas station attendant in Israeli custody stoked new West Bank clashes Sunday, along with Israeli fears of a third Palestinian uprising. A senior Palestinian official alleged that Arafat Jaradat was tortured by Israel's Shin Bet security service, citing an autopsy he said revealed bruising and two broken ribs. Israel's Health Ministry said the autopsy did not conclusively determine the cause of death, but that the bruising and broken ribs were likely the result of attempts to revive the detainee.

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Dozens injured in West Bank clashes over prisoner death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

Dozens of Palestinians were injured Sunday including two shot with live bullets at demonstrations across the West Bank to protest the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody. At least 26 protesters sustained wounds from rubber and live bullets during clashes near Ofer prison, west of Ramallah, medics said. The 13-year-old son of a Preventive Security officer was taken to Ramallah government hospital after he was shot in the chest with a live bullet at the protest. A 19-year-old was shot with rubber-coated bullets all over his body, a Ma'an reporter said.

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Gaza man self-immolates in government office
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

A man set himself on fire at a government office in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, wounding himself and four others, witnesses and medics said. The man was seriously wounded after he self-immolated at an office for the Ministry of Social Affairs in Jabalia, witnesses told Ma'an. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said four others were wounded in the incident, including two female staff members and an elderly man. The wounded were taken to Kamal Udwan Hospital and Shifa Hospital, al-Qidra said.


DFLP chief hurt in Damascus explosion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

The head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine was lightly injured on Thursday in a car bomb that shook central Damascus and killed several people, a DFLP official said. Nayef Hawatmeh, 74, suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment when the bomb exploded near DFLP offices in Syria, DFLP central committee member Khalid Atta told Ma'an. Atta said the bomb had not targeted the DFLP office, which was damaged in the attack.

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Israel's Cover-ups
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) February 16, 2013 - 1:00am

We are usually highly critical of Arab governments, accusing them of being outdated. We also blame them for their rigid commitment to policies of suppression and silence. But then we witness a country, such as Israel, displaying traits that are just as bad as those we have been criticizing. We typically assume Israel is a modern and strong country that can deal with everything in a transparent manner. It has larger universities, larger research centers and more advanced media institutes than us.

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