Palestinian leadership questions Israeli PM's pullout plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 12, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership on Tuesday questioned the possibility of further Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank. Reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering withdrawing troops from the West Bank "were no more than plays," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee. "Don't believe what the Israeli media said... these are trial balloons and plays by the Israeli governments to avoid their international obligations," Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio.

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Settler council: Netanyahu's West Bank pullout plan radiates panic
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - April 12, 2011 - 12:00am

The Yesha Council of Settlers reacted angrily Tuesday to a Haaretz report detailing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan for a West Bank withdrawal as part of a diplomatic initiative to counter an impending unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood. Netanyahu is weighing a withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces troops from the West Bank and a series of other measures to block the "diplomatic tsunami" that may follow international recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

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Homes, roads taken down near Tubas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Witnesses said six bulldozers and hundreds of soldiers were deployed throughout the Jordan Valley village of Aqrava on Thursday morning, when two homes and road entrances were taken down by Israeli forces. Sami Sadeq, head of the village council, said two streets leading out of the village were torn up, effectively rendering them useless for travel, forcing residents to take long detours and exit via the main entrance of the village.

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Israel uneasy over Syrian unrest in Golan Heights
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Bethany Bell - April 6, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel is watching the unrest in its northern neighbour Syria with concern. Syria has fought several wars with Israel and has close ties with Iran, and the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas. The occupied Golan Heights are now seeing ripples from the protest wave sweeping the Arab world and many people are wondering what the uprising could mean for Israel. Recently around 1,000 Syrian Druze, who live under Israeli occupation, took to the streets in the village of Boqata. But they were not calling for change in Syria. They were out to back the Syrian president.

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UN: Israel's demolitions of Palestinian homes hit record high
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel's demolitions of Palestinian homes and buildings reached a record high in March for the third consecutive month, according to figures from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The UN Relief and Works Agency recorded 76 demolitions of Palestinian buildings in March, forcibly displacing 158 Palestinians including 64 children. So far this year, Israel has demolished the homes of 333 Palestinians, including 175 children, UNRWA reported. Meanwhile, Israel has built a record number of Jewish-only homes on occupied Palestinian land, in contravention of international law.

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UN: Massive increase in home demolitions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 21, 2011 - 12:00am

The latest numbers from the United Nations show a two-fold increase in the number of Palestinian homes and agricultural buildings destroyed by Israel order this year, causing concern among officials. The UN Relief and Works Agency recorded 70 demolitions since the start of 2011, displacing 105 Palestinians, of whom 43 were under the age of 18. The demolitions were carried out across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and ordered by Israeli police, municipal officials and by mandate of the Civil Administration.

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Israel builds fence around village of Ghajar
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
March 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel erected up to 200 meters of barbed wire fencing and several observation posts around the occupied village of Ghajar Sunday, according to reports from the south. “Israeli soldiers of occupation pursued their laying of barbed wires around the occupied village of Ghajar in south Lebanon with the apparent purpose of strengthening their hold on the occupied section of the village,” the state-run National News Agency reported.

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A Two State Peace: Defining the Border
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - March 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Ghaith al-Omari Carnegie Endowment for International Peace A Two State Peace: Defining the Border March 11, 2011 - 1:00am On March 11, 2011, ATFP Advocacy Director Ghaith Al-Omari participated in a panel on “A Two State Peace: Defining the Border” along with Geoffrey Aronson. The event was organized by the American Task Force on Palestine, Foundation for Middle East Peace, the Middle East Institute and Churches for Middle East Peace and held at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.


Israeli PM: Military must remain in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Daniel Estrin - March 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel's prime minister declared Tuesday that his country must retain a strategic section of the West Bank under any future peace deal — a position unlikely to win Palestinians over to his reported plan to offer them a temporary state. In a rare visit to the occupied territory, Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that Israel's security depends on maintaining a military presence in the Jordan Valley — a strip of West Bank land along the border with Jordan. Without troops there, Israel fears militants could smuggle weapons into the West Bank.

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All's quiet on the Israel-Lebanon front
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - March 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Something unusual is happening along Israel's border with Lebanon: nothing. The 49-mile stretch, one of the Mideast's most volatile areas, has been uncommonly quiet since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Even as both sides continue to build up arms and make war plans, it's been one of the longest lulls in fighting since Israel's founding. Not even a brief gunfire exchange last summer or the recent restructuring of Lebanon's government by Hezbollah have substantially raised border tension, as might have occurred a decade ago.

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