Israel security chief warns lifting blockade risky
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Amy Teibel - June 15, 2010 - 12:00am

A top security official warned Tuesday that Israel would open itself to grave danger by lifting its three-year naval blockade of Gaza but did not oppose easing the embargo to allow more goods in through Israeli-controlled land crossings. Yuval Diskin, head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency, also told parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee that Gaza militants possess 5,000 rockets, Israel's most specific estimate yet. Diskin's testimony was reported by a meeting participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was closed.

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Palestinian killed in tunnel collapse in Rafah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 15, 2010 - 12:00am

A Palestinian worker was killed Tuesday in a tunnel cave-in beneath Gaza's southern borders with Egypt, witnesses said. Witnesses in the scene said a 22-year-old smuggler was buried alive in a tunnel collapse accident. His body was dug out a few hours later. On Sunday, a 17-year-old smuggler died instantly in a power shock while working in one of the tunnels that snake under the Gaza-Egypt borderline. Palestinian rights groups say at least 150 Palestinians have been killed in tunnel cave-ins and sporadic tunnel accidents.

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Hamas blocks peaceful Gaza demo against buffer zone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas security forces on Monday prevented Palestinian activists from holding peaceful demonstration against an Israeli-imposed buffer zone in the Gaza Strip, organizers said. Hamas policemen seized keys of vehicles that were set to transport tens of Palestinians to demonstrate near the no-go zone to the east of southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, the Popular Committee Against Buffer Zone said in a statement.

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Beatings, arrests, nighttime raids and dubious indictments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - June 14, 2010 - 12:00am

M., a Haaretz reader from Zichron Yaakov, was disturbed by reports about the manner in which Palestinian children are arrested in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are being detained held in the middle of the night, held in conditions of fear and pain before their interrogations, and then finally interrogated without the presence of their parents or a lawyer.

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Separate roads push West Bank Arabs to the byways
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Ben Hubbard - June 13, 2010 - 12:00am

For the thousands of Palestinians who travel daily between the north and south West Bank, there is only one route: a steep and narrow track up and down a canyon with 15 hairpin turns and the scars of frequent accidents. Wadi Nar means "the Valley of Fire," a place where brakes fail, clutches burn up, engines stall and people die. The ride up and down the canyon walls is among the worst routes Palestinian motorists must use to circumnavigate the towns, army posts and well-maintained highways built for Israelis on land the Palestinians claim for a future state.

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Managing the Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

ISRAEL'S BLOCKADE of Gaza is crumbling. In the wake of last week's clash between Israelis commandos and militants on a relief flotilla, the world at large has condemned it; the Obama administration has called it "unsustainable." Egypt reopened its crossing into Gaza for humanitarian aid and some travel. But the solution is not as simple as simply ending the checks on sea and land traffic by Israel. What's needed is a new regime that addresses the legitimate needs of Palestinians in Gaza without further empowering Hamas and its patron, Iran.

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Israel's Gaza blockade: It works
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg - (Opinion) June 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The L.A. City Council wants to boycott the Grand Canyon State. When will the United Nations condemn Los Angeles for its callous pursuit of collective punishment against Arizona in retaliation for its immigration policies? To be sure, the boycott is mainly symbolic, but at least in principle the measure is aimed at hurting all Arizonans regardless of whether they support the "regime" in Phoenix. That's collective punishment.

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Israel to permit entry to Arab investors for PIC
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel will permit an exceptional 815 Middle East businessmen and women to enter the West Bank for Bethlehem's second Palestine Investment Conference (PIC) in June, officials announced on Tuesday. Executive director of PIC Ja’far Hdeib called news of the permits, communicated by Israel's Civil Administration late Monday night, the first signs of success for the conference, titled Investing in Palestine: Empowering Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

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Israel ends highway segregation, pleasing no-one
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - May 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Starting Friday, Israeli troops will guard new checkpoints in the West Bank that nullify the impact of an Israeli court order allowing Palestinian drivers to use route 443. What was hailed as a victory for justice six months ago, when a 2002 ban on Palestinian traffic was ruled illegal, now looks like sleight of hand presaging a "human rights travesty", says the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).

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Gaza aid agencies urge Israel to ease Gaza access restriction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Humanitarian aid agencies urged on Monday the Israeli government to ensure full and unfettered access into and out of the Gaza Strip for materials and exports necessary for the revival of the agriculture and fishing sectors in Gaza. "Maintaining agricultural livelihood and local food production in Gaza depend on the opening of border crossings," Philippe Lazzarini, UN acting humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, told a news conference in Gaza on behalf of several humanitarian aid agencies.

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