June 29th

Israel to build 50 West Bank homes for outpost evacuees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tomer Zarchin - June 29, 2009 - 12:00am Israel will build 50 new homes in an existing West Bank settlement as part of a wider plan to absorb residents slated to be evicted from the illegal outpost of Migron. The complete plan calls for the construction of 1,450 homes in the settlement of Adam. The State Prosecutor's Office informed the High Court on Friday that 190 housing units will be built in the settlement of Adam in the first stage, in accordance with the plan, which was approved by the Defense Ministry in May. » Read more

Gaza residents 'live in despair' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Aleem Maqbool - June 29, 2009 - 12:00am In a report, it said that a main cause was the continuing Israeli blockade. The report comes six months after the end of Israel's military offensive in Gaza in which at least 1,100 Palestinians died. Israel said the offensive was aimed at curbing rocket attacks into southern Israel by Palestinian militants. The Red Cross says that the people of Gaza are unable to rebuild their lives and are sliding ever deeper into despair. There is not the cement or steel to reconstruct neighbourhoods hit by Israeli strikes. » Read more

Israel's settlements are on shaky ground ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Sarah Leah Whitson - June 28, 2009 - 12:00am The debate over Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is often framed in terms of whether they should be "frozen" or allowed to grow "naturally." But that is akin to asking whether a thief should be allowed merely to keep his ill-gotten gains or steal some more. It misses the most fundamental point: Under international law, all settlements on occupied territory are unlawful. And there is only one remedy: Israel should dismantle them, relocate the settlers within its recognized 1967 borders and compensate Palestinians for the losses the settlements have caused. » Read more

Israel alone cannot block peace progress ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Opinion) June 28, 2009 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is attempting to drum up support for his peace plan. He claimed that Europe had responded favourably to his conditions for a peaceable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, a refusal to resettle Palestinian refugees within Israel proper and that any future Palestinian state would be denied the right to an army or control over its borders and airspace. » Read more

U.N. fact-finding commission faces skepticism in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - June 29, 2009 - 12:00am Reporting from The Gaza Strip -- A novel approach toward injecting international justice into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict got underway Sunday in this embattled enclave, but it left neither side particularly satisfied. Borrowing from the South African reconciliation experience, a United Nations fact-finding commission opened what it said was the first-of-its-kind public hearing to gather witness testimony about alleged war crimes during Israel's 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip in winter. » Read more

Netanyahu's Settlement Smoke Screens ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Gershom Gorenberg - (Opinion) June 27, 2009 - 12:00am It has become a fixed feature in the Israeli media, almost like the weather forecast. Nearly every day come reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government is on the verge of a deal with President Obama to avoid a full freeze on construction in West Bank settlements. The sources are normally Israeli government officials, with an occasional American source speaking very far off the record. » Read more

A guide to Israeli settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Gershom Gorenberg - (Opinion) June 28, 2009 - 12:00am In Cairo this month, President Obama urged Israel to stop settlement construction in the occupied territories. "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his own policy speech soon after, ardently defended the communities and the people who live in them. "The settlers are neither the enemies of the people nor the enemies of peace. Rather, they are an integral part of our people." So what's all the fuss? We present a guide for the perplexed. For starters, what's a settlement? » Read more

June 26th

Will Obama Buckle? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - June 26, 2009 - 12:00am There is considerable discussion in Washington about whether President Obama is maintaining or easing the pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu. There is no real evidence pointing to the latter other than the silence from the administration on the just-announced plan to expand the Talmon settlement by some 300 units, a provocation and a test of Obama's resolve. Beyond that is the general fear that the Israeli government has invariably won these battles with previous administrations and the feeling that Obama will, like his predecessors, blink as the lobby quietly (or loudly) pushes back. » Read more

Hamas leader rejects "freak" Israel offer of state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Khaled Yacoub Oweis - June 25, 2009 - 12:00am DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal denounced on Thursday an Israeli offer of a demilitarized Palestinian state as a "big prison" and said only armed struggle could restore Palestinian rights. In a speech this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the U.S. goal of a Palestinian state but said it should be demilitarized and the Palestinians must accept Israel as a Jewish nation. » Read more

Israel gives Abbas forces freer hand in West Bank cities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Adam Entous - June 25, 2009 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel agreed on Thursday to give Palestinian security forces a freer hand to operate in four West Bank cities and to limit its own military activities there in a U.S.-backed move to bolster President Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinian officials said the changes were inadequate because the Israeli army still reserved the right to re-enter the cities of Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho to counter what it called any "urgent" threats by militants. » Read more