US shifting stance on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
by Mark Levine - August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

The US has long seen itself as playing a crucial role in bringing about Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yet, US policy toward Israeli actions in and around Jerusalem has shifted over time. Initially, the Johnson administration took a strong line, with UN representative Arthur Goldberg explaining a week after the 1967 war ended that "the United States does not accept or recognise these measures as altering the status of Jerusalem."

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Evicted Palestinians camp by home taken by settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jihan Abdalla - August 25, 2009 - 12:00am

Fresh dates and chicken soup were served up at dusk on the sidewalk in the well-heeled suburb of Sheik Jarrah this week, as the evicted Palestinian al-Ghawi family spent another night camped outside their former home. Their stone house in Arab east Jerusalem, in a district of consulates and trendy restaurants, is now home to Jewish settlers, who moved in as they were being kicked out on Aug 2. The furniture and belongings of the seven-member family were tossed on the street. Their neighbor offered shelter.

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Why Israel will thwart Obama on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Walter Rodgers - August 25, 2009 - 12:00am

The idea that the Obama administration can advance the Middle East peace process by having Israel freeze its construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank stretches credulity. Does any serious observer of the region believe that Israel's appetite for land – owned and occupied for generations by Palestinians – is going to abate? The Israeli land grab has continued for four decades, in defiance of international law and most US presidents. US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has been trying to secure a halt, but his efforts follow a well-worn path that typically ends in charade.

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Netanyahu to tell Mitchell: Israel won't accept limits on Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson, Barak Ravid - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to tell the special U.S. Mideast envoy on Monday that Israel will not accept any limitations on its sovereignty over Jerusalem, and will allow settlers to continue to live in the West Bank. Netanyahu traveled to London on Monday, where he will meet with the U.S. envoy, George Mitchell, in order to continue the discussion on the Obama administration's demands for confidence-building measures between Israel and the Arab world.

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Mixed reactions to plan for new e. J'lem homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Abe Selig - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am

News that the Jerusalem Municipality was reviewing plans for the construction of 104 housing units in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud was met with mixed reaction by residents there on Sunday, as the streets of the predominately Palestinian neighborhood were quiet due to the onset of Ramadan.

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Dr Erakat on plans to construct a new Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestine Liberation Organization
by Negotiations Affairs Department - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Dr Saeb Erakat, today said that plans to construct a new Israeli settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras al-Amud in occupied East Jerusalem provided yet another example of the obstacles Israel continues to place in the way of international efforts to restart negotiations. Submitted for approval to Israeli authorities, and reportedly to be called ‘Ma’aleh David’, plans for the new settlement include the construction of 104 new settlement units.

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Group says Left 'distorting' east Jerusalem construction plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Claims that the Jerusalem Municipality has approved the construction of 104 housing units for Jews in the eastern neighborhood of Ras al-Amud continue to make waves. The Jerusalem Municipality has denied the claims made by the Ir Amim association, which says that the new project will be connected by a bridge to the Jewish neighborhood of Ma'aleh Hazeitim.

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More E. Jerusalem evictions likely
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Mohammed Mar’i - August 19, 2009 - 12:00am

The Jewish-dominated Jerusalem municipality is planning to seize more Palestinian homes and real estate in East Jerusalem even as Israel has quietly stopped approving new West Bank projects in an attempt to heal a rift with the United States , Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

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Sheikh Jarrah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Nermeen Murad - (Opinion) August 18, 2009 - 12:00am

I went to Jerusalem for the first time in my life in the early 1970s, and I retain many memories from that first trip. The West Bank was under complete Israeli occupation and the only way in was through the King Hussein Bridge. The crossing was arduous, long, hot and dirty. Flies buzzed over children’s heads and the whole atmosphere was tense.

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U.S. group invests tax-free millions in East Jerusalem land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Uri Blau - August 17, 2009 - 12:00am

American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, a nonprofit organization that sends millions of shekels worth of donations to Israel every year for clearly political purposes, such as buying Arab properties in East Jerusalem, is registered in the United States as an organization that funds educational institutes in Israel.

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