PA pushing for short e. Jerusalem freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - January 20, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority is pushing Israel to agree to a total construction freeze, in both the settlements and east Jerusalem, of between three to six months, something senior Israeli officials said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will not agree to, The Jerusalem Post has learned. This is one idea that US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is expected to raise during talks with Netanyahu on Thursday. Mitchell, who has not been to the region since early November, is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday and stay through Saturday.

»

Palestinians host first East Jerusalem meet since 2001
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - January 19, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority on Monday held its official meeting with a foreign diplomat in East Jerusalem since the closing of its headquarters there more than eight years ago. The Palestinian representatives met with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store at an orphanage near the Mount of Olives, not far from the Orient House, which was closed by Israel in 2001. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier Monday held his own meeting with Store in Ramallah.

»

Staking claim underneath east Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Jane Corbin - (Analysis) January 18, 2010 - 1:00am

It has been called the 'volcanic core' of the conflict and if there is ever to be peace between Palestinians and Israelis it will have to be made in the alleyways of this ancient city - holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Jerusalem was first divided into east and west in 1948 when the state of Israel was created and then the east of the city was annexed by the Israelis in 1967 following war with its Arab neighbours.

»

West Bank land sales by Church spur uproar
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - January 13, 2010 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH // The Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem is once again being rocked by controversy over alleged land sales to Israeli investors in the West Bank. So incensed is the local Palestinian orthodox community that Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, had to be accompanied by security guards in full riot gear when he arrived in Bethlehem last week to celebrate Christmas.

»

Netanyahu: Israel will never share Jerusalem with Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that Israel would never cede control of united Jerusalem nor retreat to the 1967 borders, according to a bureau statement. The statement came after Egypt's foreign minister said in Cairo last week that Netanyahu was ready to discuss making "Arab Jerusalem" the capital of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority could abandon its demand for a freeze on construction in East Jerusalem in exchange for an easing of the siege on Gaza and a halt to Israeli assassinations in the West Bank.

»

Gov't opposes 'borders first' approach
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - January 5, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel's top decision-makers are against discussing the border issue first in future negotiations with the Palestinians, The Jerusalem Post has learned. PM prepared to start immediate talks with PA without preconditions Separating final borders from other core issues would allow negotiators to avoid the thorny settlement construction dispute.

»

Yeshiva in Mount of Olives to get 24 more housing units
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - (Analysis) January 5, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel continues with east Jerusalem construction despite international censures. Jerusalem's Planning and Construction Committee decided Monday to authorize the establishment of a new Jewish neighborhood in the a-Tur area as an extension of the Beit Orot yeshiva which includes several caravans. According to the plan, four residential buildings are to be built on the site and accommodate 24 Jewish families.

»

How Israel is implementing the settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Marcy Oster - January 4, 2010 - 1:00am

While an Israeli magician sat in an ice cube in Tel Aviv for 64 hours in a bid to shatter a world record, settler leaders in Jerusalem prepared to smash an ice cube of a very different sort this week opposite the prime minister’s residence.

»

Jerusalem should be at the center of peace efforts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Daoud Kuttab - January 4, 2010 - 1:00am

The first decade of the twenty-first century has been a disastrous one for Palestinians. Negotiations efforts were dealt a dramatic blow, historic leaders and potential leaders were killed, assassinated or imprisoned and, worst of all, the scourge of internal strife returned to Palestinians in the form of the destructive Hamas-Fateh division.

»

White House decries Israel's plan to build homes in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - December 29, 2009 - 1:00am

An Israeli government plan to build nearly 700 homes for Jewish families in Palestinian-dominated East Jerusalem drew fire Monday from the Obama administration, which called the plan a hindrance to relaunching peace talks. "The United States opposes new Israeli construction in East Jerusalem," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, calling on Israelis and Palestinians to return to U.S.-brokered talks. "Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally preempt, or appear to preempt, negotiations."

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017