Israel’s Settlement Expansion Plans Seriously Threaten All Hopes for Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ATFP February 27, 2009 - 1:00am Washington DC, Feb. 27 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today warned that a series of planned major expansions in Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank constitute an exceptionally dangerous threat to the prospects of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. » Read more

Gaza gloom darkens West Bank springtime ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Douglas Hamilton - February 26, 2009 - 1:00am This Palestinian village is about as far as you can get from the Gaza Strip without leaving the West Bank and crossing the river into Jordan -- which is forbidden. But the fallout from Israel's January blitz on the enclave is widespread. Along with the prospect of a hardline Israeli government that may order further action, it has all but drowned hopes of a peace deal to end four decades of occupation. Unlike Gaza, Palestinians here have not been bombed. They endure smaller prohibitions and injustices which, they say, remind them daily that they are not free in their own land. » Read more

27 Feb. '09: Settlement expansion plans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from B'Tselem February 27, 2009 - 1:00am Following the Oslo agreement, Israel made a commitment to the United States that it would not build new settlements or expand existing ones, except to meet “natural growth.” This narrow allowance, never defined, was utilized by Israel to greatly expand settlements and build new settlements, such as Modi’in Ilit. » Read more

Israel planning mass expansion of West Bank settlement bloc ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - February 27, 2009 - 1:00am Despite the state's formal commitment not to expand West Bank settlements, a government agency has been promoting plans over the past two years to construct thousands of housing units east of the Green Line, Haaretz has learned. The plans, which have not yet been approved by the government, were drawn up by the Civil Administration, the government agency responsible for nonmilitary matters in the West Bank. Details of the plans appear in the minutes of the agency's environmental subcommittee, which were obtained by the B'Tselem organization under the Freedom of Information Act. » Read more

Zero tolerance now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Lara Friedman, Hagit Ofran - (Opinion) February 27, 2009 - 1:00am Media reports that Israel has approved the massive expansion of the West Bank settlement of Efrat represent the first lesson for the Obama administration as to why it must establish a policy of zero tolerance for settlement expansion before it is too late. » Read more

Europe to give $556 million in Palestinian aid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune February 27, 2009 - 1:00am The European Union's executive office says it will give 436 million euros ($556 million) in aid to the Palestinians in 2009, including support for rebuilding Gaza. The European Commission said in a statement Friday that the pledge is to be made at a donors' conference for Gaza on Monday. It is not clear how much of that sum will be spent in Gaza. » Read more

A New Debate on Where Antisemitism Comes From ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward February 25, 2009 - 1:00am Responding to mounting signs of a resurgence of aggressive antisemitism in Europe and elsewhere, the British government recently hosted an unusual gathering to discuss ways of fighting the threat. Known as the London Conference on Combating Antisemitism, the mid-February gathering brought together 125 members of parliaments from 40 nations for two days of emotional calls to action, along with scholarly analyses of what speakers called “the new antisemitism.” » Read more

‘Israel misses the point’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - February 27, 2009 - 1:00am Benjamin Netanyahu is not giving up, still hoping that he can entice Tzipi Livni and even Ehud Barak with key portfolios, should they accept to join his projected coalition government, or else, he must know fully well that his days as head of an Israeli government of extreme rightists will be numbered. Hence, the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations will remain at a standstill. » Read more

Time not ripe for two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews (Opinion) February 26, 2009 - 1:00am The Obama administration will have to address on an immediate basis a number of burning problems of varying degrees of magnitude. In the short run it will be required to tackle the rehabilitation of Gaza under Hamas' rule: On the one hand to secure aid to assure the fundamental wellbeing of its inhabitants, while at the same time curtailing the influx of weaponry into Gaza. The fight against terror, its performers and sources has to be continued in all vigor. » Read more

Hamas must act with wisdom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Marwan Kabalan - February 27, 2009 - 1:00am When the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, captured the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006, the incident was described by some Western analysts as reckless behaviour. The argument was that the kidnapping would not help to alleviate the four decades of suffering of occupied Palestinians. On the contrary, it would make their lives more difficult. » Read more