If there are no Palestinians, there's no Israeli occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Eyal Gross - (Analysis) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits occupying powers from settling their own populations in occupied lands. But that's not a problem for Israel, according to the committee set up by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to examine construction in the West Bank, because Israel is not a "military occupier" in the territories.

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Wrong Time for New Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian hopes for an independent state are growing dimmer all the time. Israel is pushing ahead with new settlements in the West Bank and asserting control over new sections of East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their capital. Meanwhile, peace talks — the best guarantee of a durable solution — are going nowhere.

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Israel’s Occupational Hazard
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
(Editorial) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might have gotten what he wanted from the committee he named to explore ways to legalize unauthorized Jewish settlements in the West Bank. After all, its chairman, retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy, had previously made clear that he rejects the term “occupied territory” to describe the West Bank’s status.

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Settlements could endanger Israel's Jewish majority: Israeli president
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday said he believes that legalizing all settlements in the West Bank would threaten Israel's Jewish majority. Peres' comments came on the heels of a recent report recommending the government to legalize all Jewish settlements in the West Bank. "Israeli settlements in territories densely populated by an Arab population could bring about a threatening demographic change, that is, it could endanger the Jewish majority in Israel," Peres said during a ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl cemetery.

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The Anti-Balfour Declaration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Wonder what it feels like to have inadvertently put yourself between a rock and a hard place? Just ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Monday the Levy Committee, which he appointed last January, issued its report that was supposed to examine the question of Israeli “state lands” in the occupied Palestinian territories, but has far exceeded its mandate. The most significant aspect of the report is its blunt assertion that Israel is not “the occupying power” in the occupied territories.

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The Anti-Balfour Declaration
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Daily Beast (Opinion) - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Wonder what it feels like to have inadvertently put yourself between a rock and a hard place? Just ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Monday the Levy Committee, which he appointed last January, issued its report that was supposed to examine the question of Israeli “state lands” in the occupied Palestinian territories, but has far exceeded its mandate. The most significant aspect of the report is its blunt assertion that Israel is not “the occupying power” in the occupied territories.

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There. It's finally done. Israel has ended the occupation. Tick. Tick. Tick.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

I thought the occupation would end differently. I thought that when the occupation finally ended, Palestinians would flood into the streets in delight and relief and weeping at their newfound freedom, a sudden intoxication of rights, their lifelong hopes for independence made concrete. I thought the end of occupation would be deafening and terrifying and liberating and wholly new. I thought that when the occupation ended, we would know.

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Occupation no more
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Michael Sfard - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Every lawyer is familiar with that embarrassing situation. A friend or acquaintance asks you an everyday legal question they came across. While you get carried away explaining different legal schools of thought and indications that could lead one way or another, you see in the questioner’s eyes that they were expecting a yes or no answer.

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Will Olmert return to politics?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The dramatic decision of the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday morning to acquit former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of charges pertaining to the Rishon Tours and Talansky affairs, will shock not only Israeli law enforcement, but will also send shockwaves through Israeli politics and the international arena.

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Israeli settler population surges under Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

Since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elected more than three years ago, the Jewish population in the West Bank has ballooned by 18 percent, drawing tens of thousands of Israelis to the territory the Palestinians claim as the heartland of a future state, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press.

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