Ten years after Camp David, Israel has made peace even harder
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ben White - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am

In an interview earlier this year with The Jerusalem Post, one of the Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah, an area in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem where Palestinians are being evicted from their homes, explained that he had no “personal problems” with “the Arabs” – but insisted that “they have to admit who the landlord is here.” This sentiment offers more insight into the current realities on the ground in East Jerusalem, and Palestine/Israel in general, than dozens of column inches spent analyzing the progress of “shuttle diplomacy,” “concessions,” and “indirect talks.”

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Silwan children live in fear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Jewish and Arab residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood described life in the shadow of clashes in the area during a hearing in the Knesset Committee for the Rights of the Child on Monday. The Arab parents told of arrests of children in the middle of the night, that their kids live in fear. Should they want to play in a nearby playground, the parents said, the children have to take a taxi to get there. On the other hand, Jewish parents complained that their children must travel in armored vehicles out of fear that rocks will be thrown at them.

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Palestinians warn of executing Israeli "absentee property" law in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Emad Drimly - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian officials on Tuesday warned of the Israeli government's decision to expand the implementation of the Israeli law of seizing the "absentee property" in Jerusalem. They told Xinhua in separate interviews that the Israeli law aims at escalating the Israeli measures against the Palestinians in the holy city "in order to seize their properties and push them towards the permanent emigration from the city."

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Ashton asked to send observers to Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Ramallah - Ma’an - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held a second meeting Monday with officials in Jerusalem, where dignitaries stressed the centrality of the holy city in Palestinian life and culture. Ashton was in Palestine as part of her second Middle East trip.

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House-by-house struggle for East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Jeremy Bowen - July 19, 2010 - 12:00am

Sometimes you can see just why it is so difficult to make peace in Jerusalem. This city excites strong passions. Not only is it holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians. It is also a national symbol for Israelis and Palestinians. No piece of ground on the planet is more contested. It has changed hands violently many times. On a dusty, narrow and steep street on the Israeli occupied eastern side of the city stands a battered seven-storey building. Scorch marks smudge the stonework around some of the windows.

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Force Israel's hand on Palestinian home demolitions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seth Freedman - July 16, 2010 - 12:00am

In theory, a municipality demolishing illegal structures on its land should not raise any eyebrows. In practice, however, such a measure should be viewed in the context of the wider politics of the locality – and when it comes to the tinderbox of Israeli-Palestinian affairs, the Israeli authorities' actions should be seen for the provocative and spiteful behaviour that they are.

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Beit Yonatan council to fight expulsion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
July 16, 2010 - 12:00am

The council for Jewish residents in Silwan have secret plans to bring in about 2,500 youth to help prevent to their expulsion from Beit Yehonatan should police attempt to force them to leave the disputed building, Channel 10 reported on Thursday evening. According to the plans, the youth will be brought into the area two days before any planned expulsion from the building to assist in preparations for the day of expulsion.

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Jerusalem home demolition leaves mother, four children homeless
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) July 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Dalal Rajabi, a mother of four children, came home Tuesday to find that her modest two-room house that has sheltered her family for two years had been razed. A team of Jerusalem municipal workers protected by a large police force came to the Rajabis' 200-square-foot home in Beit Hanina, an East Jerusalem Arab neighborhood, broke down the main door, took the furniture out and proceeded to demolish it. Dalal Rajabi was not home at the time. She had left the house to take her son to see a doctor when the workers and a bulldozer arrived.

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US criticises Jerusalem demolitions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli bulldozers have destroyed six buildings in occupied East Jerusalem, resuming the demolition of Palestinian property after a halt aimed at encouraging peace talks, provoking Palestinian anger and US "concern". Tuesday's demolitions were the first since a halt in October aimed at encouraging so-called peace talks, and Palestinians said they proved the Israeli government was not committed to the negotiations.

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Israeli bulldozers raze 6 east Jerusalem buildings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli bulldozers destroyed six buildings, including at least three homes, in contested east Jerusalem on Tuesday, resuming the demolition of Palestinian property after a halt aimed at encouraging peace talks. Jerusalem house demolitions are a volatile issue because of conflicting Israeli and Palestinian claims to the city's eastern sector. Israel sees it as part of its capital city, while Palestinians want it for their own future capital.

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