Ground broken for 600 J'lem settler homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 21, 2010 - 12:00am


Israeli construction vehicles and bulldozers began digging in Jerusalem on Monday morning, in what is believed to be ground work for the building of some 600 new settlement units. The homes were announced in late February, and are set to be built near the illegal Pisgat Ze'ev settlement and the Palestinian neighborhood of Shu'fat. The number was reduced from 1,100 to 600, when it was revealed that much of the land was owned privately by Palestinians, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported at the time.


East Jerusalem Building Plan Advances
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 21, 2010 - 12:00am


Jerusalem’s city hall advanced rezoning and development plans on Monday for a hotly contested area of East Jerusalem, another example of an awkwardly timed, seemingly bureaucratic Israeli maneuver that could upset fragile peace efforts.


Jerusalem revives plan to raze Palestinian homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Amy Teibel - June 21, 2010 - 12:00am


A Jerusalem planning body on Monday approved a plan to raze 22 Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem to make room for an Israeli tourist center, a decision that could raise tensions in the divided city and deepen the conflict with the Obama adminstration. Back in March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pressured Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to hold up the plan so authorities could consult with Palestinians who would lose their homes — a delay that appeared to be aimed at fending off criticism from the U.S.


Settlers 'building in West Bank despite freeze'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Google News
June 18, 2010 - 12:00am


Israeli settlers are continuing to build in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on new projects that expires later this year, the Peace Now settlement watchdog said Thursday. Authorities do not appear to have issued any new construction permits since the start of the year, but the group said it had documented dozens of instances in which settlers have begun building new structures in violation of the ban. "Peace Now in the past few months has recorded a significant slowdown in building starts, but not a complete cessation," it said in a statement.


Settlers 'building in West Bank despite freeze'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Google News
June 18, 2010 - 12:00am


Israeli settlers are continuing to build in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on new projects that expires later this year, the Peace Now settlement watchdog said Thursday. Authorities do not appear to have issued any new construction permits since the start of the year, but the group said it had documented dozens of instances in which settlers have begun building new structures in violation of the ban. "Peace Now in the past few months has recorded a significant slowdown in building starts, but not a complete cessation," it said in a statement.


Palestinian minister urges settler business to relocate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ron Friedman - June 16, 2010 - 12:00am


Palestinian Authority National Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libda defended his government’s decision to boycott goods produced in the settlements, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. Abu Libda said the move was in accordance with international law and necessary for Palestinian self-preservation. In May, the PA announced that it would be enforcing a complete boycott of all goods made in the West Bank settlements, an announcement that was accompanied by a door-to-door enlistment campaign and a public burning of settlement-made goods.


Ramat Shlomo building plan receives ‘technical’ nod
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ron Friedman, Abe Selig - June 16, 2010 - 12:00am


The Interior Ministry’s Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee on Tuesday ratified an existing plan to build 1,600 housing units in the city’s northeastern Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. When the plans were disclosed in March during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden, they sparked a major row with the US regarding building rights in sections of the capital that are located over the Green Line. They were also seen as destabilizing the proximity talks now taking place between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.


Fayyad condemns attack on Israeli police
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 15, 2010 - 12:00am


Prime Minister Salam Fayyad condemned Monday's shooting incident south of Hebron that left one Israeli police officer dead and two others injured. The police had been operating in Hebron and the nearby illegal settlements and were reportedly en route to Beersheba when they were ambushed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who said in a statement that the attack came as retribution for the shooting deaths of nine Turkish nationals aboard an aid ship bound for Gaza.


Meridor: Israel should refrain from building in areas that will be annexed to PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - June 15, 2010 - 12:00am


Cabinet Minister Dan Meridor said Tuesday that Israel should refrain from building in areas that will be annexed to the Palestinian Authority in the future, even after a 10-month settlement construction freeze is over in September. Meridor made the comments during a tour of the West Bank settlements Efrat. "The freeze will be over in three months, and from then on we will not be committed to it; it's a matter of where it is wise and logical for us to build," Meridor said.


Where is Israel taking its occupation?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Hussein Ibish - June 11, 2010 - 12:00am


While world attention has been heavily focused on efforts to break the siege of Gaza, Palestinians in the West Bank are pursuing a series of new, nonviolent, strategies challenging the Israeli occupation. What they are primarily seeking, and what the Israeli government is desperately trying to avoid, is clarity about the status of the Occupied Territories.



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