April 1st

Village: Elon Moreh settlers create new outpost ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 1, 2010 - 12:00am Caravan homes, water tanks and tents were installed by settlers on lands belonging to the village of Deir Al-Hatab on Thursday, in what locals said appeared to be an attempt to create an outpost of Elon Moreh settlement. Head of the Deir Al-Hatab village council, Abdul Karim Hussein, said the outpost was set up in the early hours of the morning about 500 meters northeast of the village. » Read more

Israel silent on Obama's four-month building freeze in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - March 31, 2010 - 12:00am President Barack Obama asked Israel to agree to put a four-month freeze on plans to pursue controversial construction projects in East Jerusalem, in return for enabling direct Israel-Palestinian peace talks to start, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Wednesday. The paper quoted an unnamed official in Jerusalem. Officials at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv were unavailable for comment. » Read more

When Israel and France Broke Up ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Gary J. Bass - (Opinion) March 31, 2010 - 12:00am IN the face of rising tensions between the United States and Israel over housing construction in East Jerusalem, the Obama administration has rushed to reassert what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently called the “unshakable bond” between the two countries. No doubt, that relationship rests on enduring foundations, including broad American public sympathy for a besieged democracy, a mutual strategic interest in resisting Arab extremism and a sense of moral duty to preserve the Jewish people after the Holocaust. » Read more

PA officials in US for security consultation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - April 1, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Abu Ali has left for Washington together with the commander of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, Ziyad Hab al-Rih, for security consultations. The meetings are aimed at examining the Palestinian Authority's preparedness for taking full security control of additional territories in the West Bank, which now belong to Areas B and C and will become part of Area A. The two officials will be joined by additional Palestinians officers later on. » Read more