I love my country
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Noam Raz - (Opinion) February 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Op-ed: IDF soldier who serves as B’Tselem official explains why he criticizes Israel A volley of bullets tears through the quiet night. I’m in an IDF outpost opposite Tulkarm in the West Bank and the bullets ring out as they strike the outpost wall. Moments later, I find myself holding a grenade launcher – a weapon that fires dozens of grenades a minute, reaching as far as two kilometers away. I cock the launcher and, without giving it a second thought, open fire at houses in Tulkarm.

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A film-maker's eye on the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Peter Kosminsky - January 28, 2011 - 1:00am

It's April 1988, about five in the morning, 40km outside Kabul in Afghanistan. I'm taking shelter in a scrape in the rock, flattening my cheek against the cold surface, semi-automatic gunfire and the concussion of departing mortars beating in my ears. In theory, I'm making a documentary about young Soviet army conscripts in Afghanistan. In reality, I've been marooned on this "zastava", or mountain outpost, for days. The 17-year-old kids, who are the heroes of our documentary, fire back at the attacking mujahideen, in the grip of a kind of hyper-bravado.

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Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian gunman - army
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
January 20, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian gunman opened fire at Israeli soldiers, who shot back and killed him, near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday, the military said. The incident seemed likely to fuel concern in Israel that Palestinian attacks against Israelis in the occupied West Bank, which have largely subsided in the past few years, could increase if peace talks remain frozen. Major Itamar Ashkenazi, a deputy battalion commander in the area where the shooting took place, said the attacker was on a donkey when he approached the guard post near the Jewish settlement of Mevo Dotan.

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Israel's top soldier faces 'land grab' investigation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Aron Heller - January 20, 2011 - 1:00am

Government watchdog investigation into an alleged land grab by Israel's incoming military chief could threaten the appointment of the decorated general, a justice official said. After winning an internal battle to become Israel's top soldier, Maj Gen Yoav Galant must answer the state comptroller's inquiry into how he expanded his large property in northern Israel. A hearing is scheduled for next week.

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Brigades claim fire on Israeli civilians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 20, 2011 - 1:00am

A statement from the Gaza militant group the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades said Wednesday that fighters targeted a civilian Israeli vehicle traveling on the main road near the border and fired. The brigades, affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the attack was against "three settler cars" near Kissufim, an Israeli military base north of Khan Younis, and that militants "opened fire directly" on the vehicles. The statement said the attack took place in the afternoon, and that injuries had been sustained by the cars' passengers.

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IDF discharges soldier involved in Hamas raid which left Palestinian civilian dead
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
January 20, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday that they have discharged a soldier who was involved in a raid on a West Bank Hamas cell, during which an elderly Palestinian civilian was killed. The IDF raided Hebron earlier this month in order to re-arrest five Hamas members that the Palestinian Authority had released only the day before.

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Israeli Soldier Discharged Over Killing of Unarmed Palestinian
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - January 19, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israeli military announced Wednesday night that a soldier’s military career had been terminated after the fatal shooting of an unarmed 65-year-old Palestinian man in his bed during an arrest last week in the West Bank city of Hebron. Soldiers apparently mistook the man, Omar al-Qawasmeh, for a Hamas militant whom they had come to arrest, and who lived in an apartment in the same building.

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Israeli army to discharge soldier in mistaken killing of Palestinian
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - January 19, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it will discharge a soldier for fatally shooting a 66-year-old Palestinian man in his bed in the West Bank city of Hebron during an early-morning roundup of Hamas militants on Jan 7. The man, Omar al-Qawasmeh, was killed by special forces troops who apparently mistook him for a militant who lived in the same building. Qawasmeh's wife said he had been sleeping and she was praying when soldiers came to their bedroom and immediately opened fire.

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Media: Palestinian died from medicine, not gas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mark Lavie - January 19, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel's military contends that a woman who died after a Palestinian protest was the victim of a medical error and was not killed by tear gas, Israeli media reported late Thursday. A Palestinian group disagreed. The Israeli reports said that according to Palestinian medical records, the woman was mistakenly given a dose of medicine 10 times the accepted amount, causing her death. The woman, Jawaher Abu Rahmeh, 36, took part in a weekly demonstration against Israel's West Bank separation barrier on Dec. 31, when soldiers fired tear gas to control the crowd. She died the next day.

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Israeli army digging in to protect wartime assets
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 18, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Monday it plans to implement comprehensive measures in order to better protect missiles, munitions and other crucial military hardware from rocket attacks in any future conflict, according to The Jerusalem Post. In addition, the Home Front Command has shortened the estimated time civilians would have to take cover from incoming missiles. The army will not have the medium-range "Iron Dome" anti- missile system, which is said to protect areas in a 70-km radius, up and running until 2013.

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