Israel's evictions upset even its friends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - August 4, 2009 - 12:00am

It isn't necessary to be unduly cynical to wonder exactly what it takes for British diplomats to be "appalled" by anything. But that was the reaction to Israel's eviction of Palestinian families from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah – the ugly face of ethnic cleansing and the creation of new "facts on the ground" that make nonsense of hopes for any movement in the moribund peace process.

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U.S. condemns eviction of Arab families from East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson, Barak Ravid - August 3, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States and the United Nations sharply condemned the eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and their replacement with Jewish families on Sunday. Diplomats from the U.S. Embassy sent a protest letter to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, stressing the move went against the spirit of the road map. The diplomats said a high-level protest will be communicated to Israel later on Monday.

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Israel condemned over evictions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
August 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The US has led international condemnation of Israel after it evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem. Washington said the action was not in keeping with Israel's obligations under the so-called "road map" to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, a move not recognised by the world community. The removal of the 53 people was also condemned by the United Nations, the Palestinians and the UK government.

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Israel prepares 'defense brief' ahead of UN Gaza reports
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - July 27, 2009 - 12:00am

A group of legal experts from the Foreign Ministry is writing a defense brief for the government in advance of two harsh reports on Operation Cast Lead expected to be released soon. The ministry's defense brief is expected to be finished in a week or two, ahead of two United Nations reports that are expected to be highly critical of the extent of civilian injuries in the Gaza Strip during the operation. A draft of the two reports is expected to be given to Israel around the end of August, before they are officially presented to the Human Rights Council in mid-September.

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Israel circulates photo of Hitler greeting late Palestinian mufti
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has ordered diplomats to use an old photograph of a former Palestinian religious leader meeting Adolf Hitler to counter world criticism of a Jewish building plan for East Jerusalem. Israeli officials said on Wednesday that Lieberman told Israeli ambassadors to circulate the 1941 shot in Berlin of the Nazi leader seated next to Haj Amin al-Husseini, the late mufti or top Muslim religious leader in Jerusalem.

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Britain revokes 5 arms export licenses to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - July 13, 2009 - 12:00am

Britain has revoked several licenses granted to British companies to sell weapons parts to Israel because of concerns over their use in Israel's recent war in the Gaza Strip, British and Israeli officials said Monday.

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G8 calls for Israeli settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 26, 2009 - 12:00am

The Group of Eight (G8) powers called for a freeze in Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and urged all parties to "re-enter direct negotiations on all standing issues consistent with the Road Map," according to a final draft statement seen by Reuters on Friday. The G8 foreign ministers, who are meeting in Trieste, Italy, also deplored the post-electoral violence in Iran.

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Report highlights increasing Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory McCarthy - June 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli bulldozers arrived at the rust-coloured fields of Ras al-Ahmar early in the morning on the day when Barack Obama, a few hundred miles to the south in Cairo, gave his closely watched speech to the Muslim world. Within minutes, the bulldozers had demolished 15 shacks – the homes of Palestinian farmers and their families – as well as 30 animal pens and 18 traditional ovens, implementing eviction orders given by the Israeli military a week earlier.

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Israel must open Gaza, freeze settlements, says Ban
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 9, 2009 - 12:00am

Underscoring the need for a two-State solution and a durable peace in the region, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on Israel to allow fuel and building materials into Gaza, freeze settlements in the West Bank and make fundamental changes in its security practices and policies. In a message to the two-day meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Ban expressed his serious concern over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

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New West Bank roads jeopardizing chances for peace accord
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - May 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian interest in the intentions of the new Israeli government tends to focus on one small area in the West Bank, Ma'aleh Adumim and its environs, particularly the area known as E1 linking the settlement to East Jerusalem. Earlier this month Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad participated in mass Friday prayers against land expropriation in the area, and the Palestinian media was full of reports of Israeli settlement plans in Ma'aleh Adumim and E1.

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