Border Crossings and Security | The American Task Force on Palestine

Power to the People: Gaza and Its Generators
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Omar Ghraieb - March 6, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza – When Ahmed Ashour finished high school two years ago he knew where his future lay. He decided to not apply to any university, even though his family could easily afford it, and instead went in to the business of selling and servicing small electric generators.

Israel Guards Against Increased Terror Peril From a Laxly Patrolled Sinai
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner, David Kirkpatrick - March 2, 2012 - 1:00am

NEGEV DESERT, Israel — For decades, the striking ridges and shady passes of the western Negev Desert along Israel’s border with Egypt were an alluring gateway to the pristine beaches of the Sinai Peninsula. Today, though, from the Israeli side at least, the jagged landscape of red-brown mountains seems to cast longer shadows and has grown more menacing.

Report: Israel’s Security Situation Worst in Decades
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Oren Kessler - February 29, 2012 - 1:00am

The Arab revolts and an emboldened Iran have created the most precarious security situation for Israel since the end of the Cold War, according to a study released this week. The report, “The 2011 Arab Uprisings and Israel’s National Security,” was released by Bar-Ilan University’s Begin- Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and authored by the center’s director, Prof.Efraim Inbar.

PA: No Decision on Security Coordination
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 29, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The the Palestinian Authority's minister of civil affairs, denied on Tuesday that the government had decided to end security coordination with Israel. Hussein al-Sheikh told the PA's Voice of Palestine radio that all options were under consideration, but decisions will wait until the president returns from abroad. The minister was responding to reports that the PA is planning to reconsider its security, political and economic agreements with Israel in the coming days, as a PLO official said Sunday.

Palestinian activists plan massive march on Israel's borders next month
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) February 26, 2012 - 1:00am

You probably have not yet heard about the Global March to Jerusalem (GM2J) planned in less than five weeks for March 30, but its organizers believe that it will focus the world's attention on Israel's oppression of the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Ahmadinejad’s Iran is the New Best Friend of Israeli Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

The red-bordered headline on Israel's weekend newsstands was as jarring for its calm, consumer-guide choice of wording as for the subject matter, which was, in essence, a countdown to Armageddon. WHERE IT'S BEST TO LIVE IN A TIME OF EMERGENCY, read the Yedioth Ahronoth banner. Lest the meaning be lost, the full-out article – framed by stories hinting at IDF preparations for a possible attack on Iran - ranked a long list of Israeli cities, towns, and Arab villages for their survivability and "preparedness for wartime."

Yalla Peace: Hope for Peace at a Roadblock
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ray Hanania - (Opinion) February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

It’s almost become normal for Palestinians and Israelis who support peace to find themselves at the same old roadblock, going nowhere fast. The only things moving are the extremists who continue to pave the way to the mutual destruction of both sides. Israeli and Palestinian leaders refuse to take the steps necessary to make peace.

The Slow Turn Toward Palestinian Non-Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Arieh O'Sullivan - February 14, 2012 - 1:00am

Sami Awad is wrapping up a day of training with Palestinian women leaders in Bethlehem, another step in the effort not only to empower women, but to extend the concept and practice of non-violent popular resistance. “At the theoretical level,” Awad says. “I would say that the idea of non-violence is becoming more accepted. The criticism we had is going down.”

Unequal Neighbors: Off the Grid in Area C
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Charlotte Alfred - February 10, 2012 - 1:00am

MASAFER YATTA (Ma'an) -- Pylons tower over South Hebron Hills village Um al-Kher, hoisting electricity cables that bisect the agricultural community. But like hundreds of their Palestinian neighbors, this tiny hamlet has no access to the power grid. The cables running above the heads of the 150 Um al-Kher residents supply a chicken farm set up a decade ago by the adjacent Karmel settlement, wedging the village on both sides. "They give electricity to the chickens but not to us," says Aziz Muhammad Hadhalin, 26, an engineer and community activist.

Settlers ‘Raid Nablus Village’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 10, 2012 - 1:00am

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Settlers raided a Nablus-district village overnight Thursday, sparking clashes with residents, a PA official said. Dozens of Israelis from Yitzhar settlement threw stones at a number of homes in Burin, Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an. No injuries have been reported. They smashed car windows on the main road from the Jewish-only settlement, he added. Youth from Burin gathered at the home of Ayman Sufan after it came under attack, and clashed with the group of settlers, Daghlas said.

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