Gazans need a new lifeline from stifling blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) February 15, 2013 - 1:00am

Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Israel has inflicted collective punishment on Palestinians in an attempt to weaken support for the armed group. As part of this, Israel has severely limited the importation of goods into Gaza, putting ordinary Palestinians on what Israeli officials once euphemistically termed "a diet".

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Palestinian rally for hunger striker turns violent
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ian Deitch - February 15, 2013 - 1:00am

Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli soldiers on Friday at a rally held in support of a prisoner observing an intermittent hunger strike to protest his incarceration. The Israeli military said about 200 Palestinians threw rocks at soldiers who responded with tear gas during the rally outside Ofer prison in the West Bank. The protesters called for the release of Samer Issawi, who has been on an on-again, off-again hunger strike for several months as he serves time for alleged terror activity.

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The distant drums of intifada
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - February 15, 2013 - 1:00am

The public debate Americans have been conducting recently about the implications of the worldwide war they are waging against Islamic terror is not confined to the decade between September 11, 2001, and the assassination of Osama bin Laden, or to the two four-year terms of President George W. Bush. The Americans are also discussing and implementing far-reaching measures in that war during the second term of Barack Obama. It was the Obama administration that formulated a directive permitting the president to authorize the assassination abroad, without trial, of U.S.

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Vandals desecrate Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
February 14, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli police say vandals have sprayed a dozen Muslim graves in a Jerusalem cemetery with graffiti in a politically motivated act. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the phrase "price tag" was sprayed in Hebrew over the graves early on Thursday. The term is used by a tiny fringe of extremists to protest Israeli policy they view as favoring Palestinians. Israeli military bases, churches and mosques have also been targeted. Rosenfeld says police are investigating.

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Reasons for some cautious optimism about Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Alex Ritman - (Opinion) February 14, 2013 - 1:00am

Of the multitude of documentaries made about the Israel/Palestine situation, few offer any reason for optimism. But a new film being shown at this week's Berlinale presents an unusually positive attitude, focusing on neither war nor suffering, but the foundations for future peace.

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The Success That Failed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) February 14, 2013 - 1:00am

The most progressive and innovative Palestinian thinker on a Middle East peace settlement has been steadily isolated over the past several years. Undercut by Israel, undermined by his own people’s factionalism, unable to meet even once with President Obama, this dynamic Palestinian leader is now close to the end of his rope.

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Israel Eases Economic Siege of Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Shlomi Eldar - February 13, 2013 - 1:00am

We can not claim it clear and loud: The siege of Gaza has been lifted, or at least just about lifted.

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UN officials voice concern over health of Palestinian detainees on hunger strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Nations News Service
February 13, 2013 - 1:00am

Two senior United Nations officials today voiced their concern about Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody, particularly following reports of the fast deteriorating health conditions of several who have been on hunger strike.

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"Herod the Great" show in Israel angers Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ori Lewis - February 13, 2013 - 1:00am

The Israel Museum in Jerusalem on Tuesday unveiled a display dedicated to Herod - branded a baby-killer in the Christian tradition but remembered by many in Israel for rebuilding the Jewish Temple two millennia ago.

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Arab MK to raise issue of prison hunger strikes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ariel Ben Solomon - February 13, 2013 - 1:00am

MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) is trying to internationalize the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by seeking help from the UN and other countries with regards to the release of four Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike in Israeli jails, he told The Jerusalem Post this week. Zahalka has written a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Last week he sent a letter to Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi via the Egyptian Embassy in Israel.

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