September 2nd

Settler burden weighs on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Age
by Jason Koutsoukis - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

ON ITS website, the Shomron Liaison Office makes an earnest pitch for would-be settlers to join the movement. ''Have you heard about the growth of hilltop communities in Judea and Samaria?'' reads a flyer. ''Do you want to be part of the action? Become a pioneer and claim your stake in Jewish history.'' Promoting a six-day volunteer program at the outpost of El Matan that is home to about 11 families, the flyer promises room, board and other activities including building and planting.

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Israel PM vowed not to freeze settlements: minister
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank, according to one of his ministers quoted on Wednesday. "I heard the prime minister say with my own ears that he has no intention of freezing construction in the settlements or in Jerusalem," the English-language Jerusalem Post quoted minister without portfolio Yossi Peled as saying. "He said there is no agreement to freeze construction in the settlements. I am telling you this first-hand," he told members of Netanyahu's hawkish Likud party on Tuesday evening.

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Mitchell, Israelis to meet Wednesday in New York
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace will meet two Israeli officials in New York late on Wednesday as part of his push to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. officials said. The envoy, George Mitchell, is due to see Yitzhak Molcho and Mike Herzog to follow up on his talks in London last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bringing about a freeze on Israeli building of Jewish settlements.

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Mitchell, Israelis to meet on settlement deal: diplomat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli officials were to meet Wednesday with US envoy George Mitchell as an Israeli diplomat said both sides moved toward an understanding on the future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Tuesday that Mitchell would meet in New York on Wednesday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's chief of staff Michael Herzog. He expected a statement to be issued afterward.

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Hamas Objects to Possible Lessons on Holocaust in U.N.-Run Schools in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The prospect of United Nations-run schools in the Gaza Strip teaching children about the Holocaust has sparked fierce resistance this week from leaders of the Palestinian Hamas movement and forced international officials to confront a situation fraught with political risk. U.N. officials, who say they are only discussing changes to a school program on human rights, have not commented directly on whether any new curriculum will reference the Holocaust. But Hamas leaders, saying any such reference would "contradict" their culture, are moving quickly to head off the possibility.

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September 1st

President Obama hopes to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting, and reportedly has a two-year framework for achieving a peace agreement. A Palestinian teenager has been killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad continues to explain his de facto statehood program, which is supported by both Arab and Israeli commentators. Hamas leaders deny the Holocaust took place, and pledge never to recognize Israel. Ha'aretz reports that Israeli raids in the West Bank have been decreased due to American diplomatic pressure. The National reports that Israeli settlers plan 150 new homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

Supporting Salaam Fayad's vision for statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad's unveiling of his government program to build the apparatus of a Palestinian state within two years is a bold and welcome initiative.

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Gaza and Bilin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Husam Itani - (Blog) September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

In Bilin a weekly march takes place in protest of the racist Israeli separation wall, in which activists from all over the world participate and which witness clashes with occupation forces and settlers, usually resulting in a number of wounded and victims of Israeli gases. The protest marches are organized by a broad coalition of political forces, Palestinian civil society institutions and international organizations that combat racial discrimination, in addition to local inhabitants from the village and neighboring area.

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Not one penny has reached Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

It has been six months since the international community pledged nearly US$5 billion (Dh18bn) in aid to the Palestinian people, chiefly for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after Israel’s devastating offensive there this year. None of this aid has reached Gaza and no reconstruction has started.

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Jewish settlers plan massive construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

The accelerating pace of Jewish settlement expansion in East Jerusalem this year may spur violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the city and cripple new efforts by the Obama administration to kick-start peace talks, an Israeli anti-settlement group warned yesterday. The “massive” construction being planned by Jewish settlers within Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem is likely to prompt clashes, said Yudith Oppenheimer, the executive director of Ir Amim, a Jerusalem-based advocacy group.

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