Security | The American Task Force on Palestine

For Palestinian police in West Bank, Israel is still laying down the law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - February 14, 2011 - 1:00am

Last week's column, which in Hebrew was titled "Dispersing a demonstration with a French scent," prompted a visit to the headquarters of EUPOL COPPS, the EU Police Coordination Office for Palestinian Police Support, which trains the civilian police force in the West Bank. The initiative was theirs, and the perfume, it turns out, was Jean Paul Gaultier.

Egypt makes Israel nervous for all the wrong reasons
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Michael Young - (Opinion) February 10, 2011 - 1:00am

According to a State Department cable written in August 2008 and posted on the website of The Daily Telegraph this week, Israeli officials favoured General Omar Suleiman to succeed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "There is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of" Mr Suleiman taking power, an American diplomat in Tel Aviv reported to his superiors.

Israel Police brace for possible Temple Mount unrest amid Egypt turmoil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - February 4, 2011 - 1:00am

Jerusalem police said on Friday that they were increasing the state of preparedness surrounding the Temple Mount in the Old City due to a fear of riots that they suspect may occur as a result of the uprising in Egypt. Police said that entrance to the Temple Mount will be open on Friday only to men 50 years of age and older who have a blue identity card, signifying that they are Israeli citizens, and to women of all ages.

Israel's human rights abuses in the name of security
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Janan Abdu - January 31, 2011 - 1:00am

"Israeli security" is the sacred cow of the Israeli street and ruling establishment. Practically all the manifestations of Israeli racism directed at the state's Palestinian citizens, as well as those living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, fall within this elastic slogan. In the name of this slogan, too, Israeli human rights organisations working to expose the practices of the state and army have recently had restrictions placed upon them.

Israel Denies Sending Egypt Riot Equipment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
January 31, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel has denied an Al Jazeera report that Egypt had requested Israel to send riot-dispersal gear and that two airplanes had landed in Cairo with the equipment. Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Monday denied both that Egypt had made the request and that Israel had sent the equipment. Some 250,000 protesters gathered Monday in Tahrir Square in Cairo as Egypt entered its seventh day of protests against the government of President Hosni Mubarak.

2 Gaza rockets explode in Israeli towns
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 31, 2011 - 1:00am

The Israeli military says two rockets fired from Gaza have exploded in Israeli towns. No one was hurt, but there was some damage. The attacks came a few minutes apart late Monday. One rocket hit Netivot, 9 miles (14 kilometers) east of Gaza, and the second exploded in Ofakim, 15 miles (25 kilometers) from Gaza. The military says the range indicates the rockets were Grads. Israel charges that Iran supplies Gaza militants with Grads. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Israel should focus on Mideast peace, not Iran's nukes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) January 28, 2011 - 1:00am

When in June 1981 the Israel Air Force bombed the nuclear reactor under construction in Iraq, opinions about the operation were divided. This writer thought that Menachem Begin, the prime minister and defense minister at the time, was at his best. Others considered it a mistake because Iraq would neither forgive nor forget, and at the first opportunity would bomb Israel. This “opportunity” really did present itself 10 years later, when the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait led to Operation Desert Storm, led by the United States and its allies. Iraq launched 39 Scud missiles at Israel.

Hezbollah agents entering Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - January 27, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel's minister of strategic affairs said Thursday the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group has infiltrated agents into the Gaza Strip to train Palestinian militants. Gaza is ruled by the Hamas militant group, which, like Hezbollah, is sworn to Israel's destruction. The minister, Moshe Yaalon, Israel's former military chief of staff, told reporters that "Hezbollah experts can get into the Gaza Strip, like the Iranian rockets are coming to the Gaza Strip." He said Hezbollah militants can go from Lebanon to Sudan, then to Egypt and on to Gaza.

Warily Eyeing Egypt, Israelis Feel Like Spectators
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - January 26, 2011 - 1:00am

After the Tunisian revolution and the emergence of a Hezbollah-backed government in Lebanon, Israelis are confronting another jolt to the system as mass protests rock Egypt, the partner in Israel’s oldest and most important Middle East relationship. While the recent upheavals have not been about Israel, they could have a potentially momentous impact on its future. Yet Israel, often a major player, now finds itself in the less familiar, and somewhat unnerving, role of spectator.

Pregnant TV reporter objects to 'humiliating' Israeli security checks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

A pregnant newswoman from the Arab Al Jazeera television network walked out of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's annual foreign press conference after security officials asked her to remove her bra.

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