PA frees Islamic Jihad leaders arrested after bombing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority released on Thursday two West Bank leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement who were detained Wednesday in connection with a bombing that killed a British citizen in Jerusalem. Khaled Jaradat and Tareq Qa'dan were detained for several hours but released due to lack of evidence, Qa'dan told Ma'an. He said that "there was no direct reason for the arrest." Walid Badad, an official from the Islamic and national factions in Jenin, said the release came after a meeting in which factions "affirmed the prohibition against politically motivated arrests."

»

Jerusalem bus bomb will harm the Palestinian cause
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

The deadly attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday has, inevitably, further ratcheted up the tension that has been brewing in the region for weeks. The strike at the heart of the city's teeming transport hub demands a strong response from the Israeli government, both for the sake of its own people and to warn Palestinian militants that a return to the bloodstained days of a decade ago is in neither side's best interests.

»

Jerusalem bus bomb will harm the Palestinian cause
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am

The deadly attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday has, inevitably, further ratcheted up the tension that has been brewing in the region for weeks. The strike at the heart of the city's teeming transport hub demands a strong response from the Israeli government, both for the sake of its own people and to warn Palestinian militants that a return to the bloodstained days of a decade ago is in neither side's best interests.

»

ATFP Deplores Violence, Warns Against Escalation of Conflict
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, March 23 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) has been following the escalating violence between Palestinians and Israel over the recent weeks with growing alarm. ATFP reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of all forms of terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians no matter who the perpetrators or the victims might be and no matter in what cause such actions are rationalized. The particularly indefensible and contemptible killing of children must especially be condemned without reservation.


Jerusalem Blast Raises Fears of Growing Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

A bomb exploded at a crowded bus stop near Jerusalem’s main bus station on Wednesday, killing one woman and wounding at least 24 other people. It was the worst attack in Jerusalem in four years, putting Israelis on alert, shattering years of relative calm here and prompting international condemnation. Paramedics and others aided the wounded Wednesday after an explosion at a crowded Jerusalem bus stop. One person was killed and at least 24 were wounded. Residents ran for cover Wednesday during a rocket attack on the Israeli city of Beersheba, about 25 miles southeast of Gaza.

»

Jerusalem bombing comes amid rising Israel-Gaza violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The first Jerusalem bombing in years rocked a bus stop in the city center today, wounding more than 20. The explosion comes amid rising Israeli-Palestinian violence and speculation that another war with the Islamist militant group Hamas is inevitable. One Jerusalem resident who heard the explosion said it had been so long since the last attack that the bombing sounded like a crash from a nearby construction site.

»

ANALYSIS-Bloodshed fills Mideast peace talk vacuum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Lethal strikes in Gaza and a deadly suitcase bomb in Jerusalem on Wednesday confirmed fears that violence between Israelis and Palestinians is on the rise again after nearly two years of relative calm. Virtually ignored for the past three months as the neighbouring Arab world plunged into turmoil, the 62-year-old Middle East conflict has slid quickly back into its familiar cycle of bloody attack, retaliation and counter-attack. Nine Palestinians and one Israeli have died since Tuesday.

»

Hamas planning to resume efforts against IDF in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Blog) March 11, 2011 - 1:00am

Hamas militants in the West Bank have resumed their efforts to kill Israeli soldiers or civilians and abduct their bodies, Palestinian and Israeli security sources have told Haaretz. The sources said Hamas activists believe they cannot keep Israeli hostages out of the Shin Bet and Palestinian Authority's reach for long. So they plan to kill them, abduct and bury the bodies, then negotiate returning them to Israel.

»

Israel: Gaza smuggling rising amid Mideast unrest
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 10, 2011 - 1:00am

A top Israeli diplomat says smuggling of arms from Egypt into the Gaza Strip has grown following the unrest in the Arab world. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon says Israel has observed "increased activity" in Gaza. He accused militants of "trying to take advantage of the uncertainties in the region to booster their capabilities to attack Israeli cities and Israeli citizens." Ayalon says explosives and terrorists are also being smuggled. Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets at Israel in recent years.

»

Hamas sees opportunity in change in Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - February 18, 2011 - 1:00am

Egypt's revolution brought sudden and unintended freedom to Ayman Nofal. During the chaos in Cairo, the senior Hamas commander broke out of an Egyptian jail with thousands of other prisoners, traversed the Sinai desert in a series of getaway cars, crawled through a smuggling tunnel at the border and emerged back home in the Gaza Strip to a hero's welcome. Now Nofal has one thing on his mind. "I'm anxious to get back to fighting Israel," the 37-year-old Palestinian militant said in his Nuseirat refugee camp home, surrounded by several of his six children and a plastic flower bouquet.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017