Border Crossings and Security | The American Task Force on Palestine

Dangerous situation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) January 7, 2010 - 1:00am

The situation at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is becoming dangerous. Yesterday, an Egyptian border guard was killed by what officials say was sniper fire from the Palestinian side. The shooting reportedly came after Egyptian guards opened fire at Palestinian demonstrators protesting the delay of an aid convoy, which is being held up in Egypt. The aid convoy follows another multinational popular effort to break the siege on Gaza, which was refused permission to travel to Gaza by the Egyptian authorities.

Gunfire at Gaza Protest Near Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) January 6, 2010 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — An anti-Egypt rally in southern Gaza turned deadly on Wednesday when demonstrators rushed the border fence and stoned Egyptian troops on the other side, leading to an exchange of gunfire and the death of an Egyptian soldier. Nine Egyptian soldiers and a dozen Palestinians were wounded from stones and gunfire, witnesses and medics said.

Egypt police clash with Gaza aid convoy activists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
(Editorial) January 6, 2010 - 1:00am

More than 50 people have been hurt in clashes between Egyptian police and pro-Palestinian activists seeking to take a convoy of supplies to Gaza. Protests reportedly broke out when Egyptian authorities at the port city of Al Arish ordered some lorries to go via an Israeli-controlled checkpoint. British MP George Galloway, leading the convoy, told Reuters that Israel was likely to prevent them entering Gaza. The activists want all the goods to be sent via Egypt's Rafah crossing.

Rights group slams planned 'Israelis only' highway in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am

Less than a week after Israel's highest court ordered the state to lift its ban on Palestinian motorists from a highway that stretches into the West Bank, left-wing activists are denouncing new plans on Tuesday to build a road on West Bank land which they claim is intended for use by Israelis only.

In Israel, a highway that divides
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Exchange
by Edmund Sanders - (Opinion) January 4, 2010 - 1:00am

Highway 443 cuts through Palestinian territory but has been closed to Palestinians since 2002, after several Israeli drivers were fatally attacked. Now it's reopening, and so are some national wounds. Reporting from Highway 443, West Bank - Cruising down this disputed four-lane highway, with all its twists and turns, is like taking a road trip through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You pass the walls and barriers that keep Palestinians from accessing Highway 443 as it slices through their land. Then there are the hazardous corridors where Israeli drivers have been shot and killed.

Are Israel and apartheid South Africa really different?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) January 4, 2010 - 1:00am

The day after the murder of the settler Meir Hai about 10 days ago, Major General (res.) Amos Gilad was asked to comment on the claim by settlers that the attack was able to take place because roadblocks had been lifted on West Bank roads. The security-political coordinator at the Defense Ministry told his radio interviewer that the policy of thinning out internal roadblocks has greatly contributed to the West Bank's impressive economic growth.

ISRAEL: Good neighbors make fences
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - (Blog) December 23, 2009 - 1:00am

While Egypt's steel barricade draws both ire and fire from Gaza, it isn't the only neighbor fencing in its property. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to build a fence along the country's border with Egypt. The border sprawls about 143 miles through sand-land and mountainous terrain, and with the exception of the official crossing at Taba, it is wide open. It is largely a peaceful area, but in recent years it has become increasingly exploited by a wide range of factors that are evolving into a real threat.

Encountering Peace: Change in Gaza is possible
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) December 22, 2009 - 1:00am

Thirty-nine young people from Gaza applied to attend a peace education workshop sponsored by the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information that was held this past weekend in a school in Beit Jala. Thirty-five of them were denied entry by the IDF and did not have the opportunity to join the 70 other Israelis and Palestinians who spent the weekend in dialogue, debate, disagreement and agreement, rejoicing in the mutual recognition that we all want peace and that peace is possible.

Gaza underground on schedule to beat Egypt's wall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - December 22, 2009 - 1:00am

Ismail Atallah could not hide his disgust. With both hands he squeezed an imaginary throat in front of him. “This is what they are trying to do,” he said. “They want to strangle us. The blood of 1.5 million people means nothing to the Egyptians.”

Gazans fire at Egyptian workers in Rafah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roee Nahmias - December 17, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a number of different occasions in recent days at Egyptian construction workers building a steel fence meant to separate Egypt from the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported on Thursday. According to reports, the shootings took place near Rafah crossing and led to the temporary suspension of works. There were no reports of injuries in the incidents, and Egypt has increased its forces along the border.

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