Israel seals off Hebron following shootings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli forces on Wednesday sealed off parts of the southern West Bank district of Hebron in the wake of an attack against Israeli settlers in the area which killed four. Deputy mayor of Bani Na'im Raja Ziadat, a village close to the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement, where the attack occurred, said a curfew was imposed at dawn after troops withdrew. He added that Israeli forces were deployed heavily throughout the district. Israeli forces are denying residents access to the village and barring vehicular travel on the Route 60 bypass road, the mayor said.

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PA condemns attack claimed by Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 1, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority has condemned Tuesday's shooting attack that left four Israeli citizens dead near a settlement close to Hebron in the occupied West Bank. "What happened tonight in Hebron was timed to coincide with the PLO's decision to engage in negotiations to end the occupation and achieve freedom and independence for our people," Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said.

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Silwan residents say settlers provoked clash
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood said settlers attempted to enter the Al-Ein Mosque early Thursday morning, sparking skirmishes that lasted until after sunrise. Israeli forces arrived as locals said they were attempting to drive the settlers out of the mosque area. Two settler cars were torched, and several windshields smashed in the violence. The incoming border police force was described as "massive," and said to have been firing tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets toward Palestinians.

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Facing jail, the unarmed activist who dared to take on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - August 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Baroness Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, yesterday issued an unusually sharp rebuke to Israel over a military court's conviction of a Palestinian activist prominent in unarmed protests against the West Bank separation barrier. Lady Ashton said she was "deeply concerned" that Abdallah Abu Rahma was facing a possible jail sentence "to prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest against the separation barriers in a non-violent manner".

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Bassam Aramin's search for justice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
August 18, 2010 - 12:00am

On a hot August afternoon exactly three years ago Bassam Aramin was adamant that he did not want revenge for the death of his ten-year-old daughter, Abir, but justice. At the time, he added quietly: "I have to prove my daughter was killed: that is my problem." Yesterday he had the satisfaction of knowing that his three-year fight to do just that had been vindicated by a judge's ruling that Abir Aramin had indeed been shot dead by a border policeman with a rubber bullet, that the killing was "totally unjustifiable" and that the state should pay her family compensation.

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The banality of occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Edna Canetti - August 18, 2010 - 12:00am

Those who want to know what’s happening know it. The truth screams from all directions. The Breaking the Silence movement publishes detailed reports about the conduct of IDF soldiers in the territories. The same is true for B’Tselem, Machsom Watch, and journalists such as Gideon Levy and Amira Hass.

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IDF trying something new in West Bank: politeness
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - August 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Generations of Israel Defense Forces soldiers have learned a limited lexicon of Arabic expressions while working West Bank checkpoints, patrols, arrests and searches of Palestinian homes. The expressions are designed to order civilians to stop, open the door, identify themselves and present identification papers. For most troops, these are the only words of spoken Arabic that they knew. For Palestinians, this was the soundtrack to the occupation.

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Court holds state responsible for shooting of Palestinian girl
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - August 16, 2010 - 12:00am

A Jerusalem court on Monday held the state responsible for killing killing a 10-year-old Palestinian girl in January 2007. In a civil suit, the court ruled that border guards had either been negligent or disobeyed orders in shooting Abir Aramin with a rubber bullet, calling the incident 'totally unjustifiable'. The judge ruled ordered the government to pay damages to the girl's family, with the exact amount to be determined later.

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North remains target for settler violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli forces entered the northern West Bank village of Beit Furik Monday night, residents reported, and sealed off a military checkpoint at its main entrance. Witnesses said troops patrolling the village after the checkpoint was closed opened random fire. An Israeli military spokesman said he was looking into the report. Beit Furik is located less than five kilometers northeast of Huwwara village and the Israeli military checkpoint at the edge of the area, where settlers set fire to several dunums of olive groves on Monday afternoon.

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Israeli forces demolish 2 homes near Hebron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 16, 2010 - 12:00am

The owner of one of two homes demolished southwest of Hebron said he produced paperwork to prove his home was constructed with a permit, but that bulldozers razed his home anyway. Speaking on behalf of the home owner, head of the Abu Al A'rqan-village council Mohammad Ash-Shawamreh said Israeli troops entered the village with orders to demolish the homes of Fathi Mahmoud Ash-Shawamreh and Mustafa Ibrahim Ash-Shawamreh. Fathi is currently being held in an Israeli prison.

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