Settlements | The American Task Force on Palestine

Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Mike McIntire, Jim Rutenberg - July 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Twice a year, American evangelicals show up at a winery in this Jewish settlement in the hills of ancient Samaria to play a direct role in biblical prophecy, picking grapes and pruning vines. Believing that Christian help for Jewish winemakers here in the occupied West Bank foretells Christ’s second coming, they are recruited by a Tennessee-based charity called HaYovel that invites volunteers “to labor side by side with the people of Israel” and “to share with them a passion for the soon coming jubilee in Yeshua, messiah.”

Settlements are a blockade to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) July 6, 2010 - 12:00am

There are plenty of thorns in the side of the peace process, but none as sharp and intractable as Israel's settlement programme. For decades, successive Israeli governments have persisted in their obstinate policies in the West Bank to the detriment of civilians on both sides, despite knowing full well that no lasting peace deal can ever be reached without an end to the settlement enterprise.

Op-Ed: Overcome denial in Israel advocacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Jeremy Benami, Debra DeLee - (Opinion) July 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Some people see the world not as it is but as they would like it to be. Psychologists have a term for this: They call it living in denial. Sadly, denial colors the way too many leaders of established institutions in the American Jewish community look at Israel when it comes to matters of peace and security. Decades of telling and retelling a comfortable narrative in which Israel is always extending its hand in peace, only to have it rejected by the Palestinians, understandably makes it hard to accept when the facts show otherwise.

Methodists vote for settlements boycott
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Karen Burke - July 2, 2010 - 12:00am

The Methodist Church voted on Wednesday to boycott products from Israeli settlements recognised as illegal under international law at its annual Conference in Portsmouth. It took the decision following a call from a group of Palestinian Christians, a number of Jewish organisations, both within Israel and worldwide, and the World Council of Churches.

The Two Sides of a Barbed-Wire Fence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Nicholas D. Kristof - (Opinion) July 1, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli occupation of the West Bank is widely acknowledged to be unsustainable and costly to the country’s image. But one more blunt truth must be acknowledged: the occupation is morally repugnant.

One West Bank Town's "Unarmed Courage"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Ellen Massey - July 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Morrar is the central figure in the recently released film "Budrus", about the people of the Palestinian village of Budrus in the West Bank who persistently, and peacefully, resisted the encroachment of Israel's "security" wall on their historical lands.

Settlers launch 'aggressive' campaign against Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shmulik Grossman - June 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Settlement leaders on Tuesday launched an "aggressive and direct" campaign on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, lest he "again betrays his voters," they said. They noted that the struggle till now has been directed at Defense Minister Ehud Barak and they have avoided attacking Netanyahu directly. "If Netanyahu returns from the US with another commitment to a (construction) freeze, he will encounter an unprecedented response of settlers who will hound him no matter where he goes," the campaign organizers promised.

Palestinian boycott of Israeli settlement goods starts to bite
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli factories based in settlements on the West Bank have been forced to cut back production as a growing Palestinian boycott movement begins to take effect. The boycott, endorsed by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was given further momentum this week when a campaign to clear supermarket shelves of produce originating in settlements was rolled out in Ramallah.

10 Jordan Valley families given 24 hours to leave
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

Ten families in the Jordan Valley were handed home demolition orders on Sunday and given 24 hours to evacuate their lands. Most of the homes to be demolished belong to the Daraghmah and Al-Makahmreh families, who say they have documents proving their ownership of the land filed with Israel's Land Registry. The families said they had been issued demolition orders before, however this was the first time they had been given a 24-hour notice.

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