Israeli court rules against Palestinian hunger strikers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Sawafta - May 7, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK May 7 (Reuters) - Israel's Supreme Court turned down on Monday an appeal by two Palestinians, who have been on hunger strike for the past 70 days, to free them from detention without trial. But in its decision, released by the Justice Ministry, the court said security authorities should consider freeing them for medical reasons.

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Palestinian policewomen break traditional stereotypes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Farhana Dawood - May 7, 2012 - 12:00am

It is rare to see women police officers on the streets in any part of the Arab world. But in the Palestinian territories where civil police are themselves, a relatively new concept, concerted efforts are under way to bring more women into the force. In Hebron, the West Bank's biggest city, there are now about 50 women among the 900 police officers deployed locally. Their presence challenges stereotypes but it is traditional values that make it necessary.

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Submit to the strikers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shay Fogelman - (Opinion) May 7, 2012 - 12:00am

It's impossible to determine precisely how many days people can survive without food. The medical history of hunger strikes indicates that healthy people of average weight can expect to lose consciousness on the 55th day of their fast. The data also indicates that hunger strikers can expect to die by day 75. As these lines are being written, administrative detainees Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla are approaching the 70th day of their hunger strike. They are reportedly both still conscious but, statistically speaking, they can expect to die any minute.

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Arab Spring Spurs Palestinian Journalists to Test Free Speech Limits
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - May 6, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Yousef Shayeb, 37, a Palestinian journalist from Ramallah, published an article in a Jordanian newspaper this year charging officials at the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Paris with corruption and espionage. In an interview here last week, he said that he had imagined people might thank him for his exposé.

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Palestine's exiles find family bonds thru Facebook
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ben Hubbard - May 6, 2012 - 12:00am

As Jewish forces advanced on their village during the war that surrounded Israel's creation in 1948, the Palestinian Faour family piled children and belongings into donkey carts and fled, hoping to return home when the fighting stopped. Only some of them got back, and the family is still divided. Some are in the Lebanese city of Sidon as stateless refugees. Others are 80 kilometers (50 miles) away as Israeli citizens in their village of Shaab, across a fenced and hostile border.

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ATFP Expresses Grave Concern Over Condition of Hunger Striking Palestinian Prisoners, Urges Urgent Measures to Diffuse Tensions
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - May 4, 2012 - 12:00am

  The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today expressed grave concern about the health of hundreds of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, and the rapidly deteriorating condition of several of the detainees. The Task Force noted that the crisis is adding to tensions in an already volatile atmosphere on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territories, and calls for urgent measures to defuse the situation.


Palestinian journalists shun press freedom reception by U.S. consulate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 3, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian journalists on Thursday boycotted a reception by the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, protesting against the lack of U.S. pressure on Israel to respond to demands of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners.

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New foot and mouth strain spreads to Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
May 2, 2012 - 12:00am

ROME, May 2 (Reuters) - A new strain of foot and mouth disease (FMD) has reached the Gaza Strip and threatens to spread further after first being detected in Egypt and Libya in February, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday. FAO said sick animals had been detected on April 19 in Rafah, a town that lies on the border between the coastal Palestinian territory and Egypt.

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More Palestinian prisoners join hunger strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - April 26, 2012 - 12:00am

The number of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails has grown to 2,000, with more preparing to join the protest next week, according to human rights groups in the West Bank. The Israeli prison service is taking punitive measures against hunger strikers, including solitary confinement, the confiscation of personal belongings, transfers and denial of family visits, say Palestinian organisations.

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Israel Releases Palestinian Protest Leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - April 25, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Activists say an Israeli military court has ordered the release of a prominent Palestinian protest leader. The European Union and rights group Amnesty International had condemned the detention of Bassem al-Tamimi because he was charged based on evidence obtained through confessions extracted by interrogating children. Activist Jonathan Pollak says Al-Tamimi was freed late Tuesday evening. He had been held since March 2011 on charges of inciting youths to throw rocks at Israeli soldiers and organizing demonstrations against Israeli activities in the West Bank.

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