French, Spanish FMs: Lieberman violated every rule of diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - October 11, 2010 - 12:00am

The foreign ministers of Spain and France were furious with their Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, telling him Monday morning during a phone conversation that he had "violated every rule of diplomatic etiquette," an Israeli source reported on Monday. During a dinner meeting on Sunday, Lieberman told France's Bernard Kouchner and Spain's Miguel Angel Moratinos to "solve your own problems in Europe before you come to us with complaints. Maybe then I will be open to accepting your suggestions."

»

WEST BANK: Israeli military court sentences Palestinian nonviolence activist to prison
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - October 11, 2010 - 12:00am

An Israeli military court Monday sentenced Palestinian nonviolence activist Abdullah Abu Rahmeh to one year in prison and a $1,400 fine after it found him guilty of “incitement” and “organizing illegal demonstrations.” Abu Rahmeh’s arrest had provoked strong international reaction, with some describing it as an attempt to silence freedom of expression. The court gave the military prosecutor one month to appeal the decision and ask for a harsher sentence. The prosecutor had sought a sentence of more than two years to make an example of Abu Rahmeh.

»

Israel's democracy rings hollow
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Faisal J. Abbas - (Opinion) October 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Within hours, the YouTube video showing an Israeli soldier belly-dancing around Ehsan Al Dababsi, a Palestinian detainee who was bound and blindfolded, became headline news all around the Middle East.

»

For Israeli army, tests of accountability
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

A YouTube video showing a dancing Israeli soldier shimmying near a bound and blindfolded Palestinian woman went viral on the Internet this week, embarrassing the Israeli military and fueling fresh debate about morals and accountability in the armed forces. The army's chief legal officer ordered a military police investigation of the clip, which was posted two years ago but publicized this week on an Israeli television program. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued an emphatic condemnation.

»

Israeli Supreme Court rebukes Irish Nobel laureate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Aisha Mohammed - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

An Irish Nobel peace laureate called Israel an "apartheid" state during a deportation hearing before the country's Supreme Court Monday, prompting a rebuke from a justice who told her to keep her "propaganda" to herself. Israel has banned Mairead Corrigan Maguire, 66, from entering the country because of her attempt to breach the Gaza naval blockade aboard a vessel in June.

»

Rachel Corrie, an Israeli bulldozer, and our shared global fate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Courtney E. Martin - (Opinion) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Last month, several state witnesses took the stand in a Haifa District Court to testify in the civil law suit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family against the state of Israel. Many may still recall the disturbing photographs that wallpapered the world’s media outlets of Ms. Corrie, a 23-year-old activist from Walla, Walla, Washington, being crushed under a military bulldozer while trying to defend a Palestinian home in Rafah, Gaza under threat of demolition.

»

Dutch watchdog criticizes Israeli tourism website for blurring borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The Dutch advertising watchdog has criticized Israel for publishing "misleading" information on its tourism website that blurs the borders between Israel and occupied Arab territories. The Advertising Code Committee says in a nonbinding ruling that material distributed by the Dutch branch of the Israeli National Tourism Board does not "clearly show where the border lies between what is internationally recognized as Israeli territory and 'disputed' areas."

»

U.N. council endorses report accusing Israel of executions aboard aid flotilla
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Colum Lynch - (Analysis) September 29, 2010 - 12:00am

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Human Rights Council voted Wednesday to endorse the report of a U.N. fact-finding mission that accused Israeli commandos of summarily executing six passengers on a Turkish aid flotilla last May, among them a 19-year old Turkish-American dual citizen who was shot five times, including once in the face. Upon its release last week, the 56-page report was immediately dismissed by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office as "biased" and "distorted." Israel's deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon characterized the report in a radio interview as "a big lie."

»

Israel flotilla raid could go to int'l court-lawyer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
September 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza could end up as a case before the International Criminal Court (ICC), a lawyer who investigated the May raid for the United Nations Human Rights Council said on Tuesday. The mission investigating the raid was not asked to make any recommendations and did not do so. But the suggestion that the case could end up at the ICC -- to which Israel is not a signatory -- maintains pressure on Israel over the incident.

»

Norway: Deputy FM Ayalon ‘distorted the facts’ about meeting with Palestinian PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Shamir - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Norway's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon of “distorting the facts” in regards to his Tuesday meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in New York. Ayalon told Haaretz on Tuesday that a meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which coordinates financial aid for Palestinians, ended abruptly due to a disagreement between Fayyad and Ayalon on the terms of a two-state solution.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017