Erekat says settlement move cancelled talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Indirect talks with Israel will cease to go forward unless Israeli plans to construct 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem are axed, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday. The statement followed one by Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who announced Wednesday that "The Palestinian president decided he will not enter into those negotiations now ... the Palestinian side is not ready to negotiate under the present circumstances." Moussa later told reporters that "The talks have already stopped."

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Abbas: Arabs must intervene in peace debacle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas called on Arab representative bodies "to act swiftly, and to take steps... commensurate with this deadly work," referring to Israel's announced plans to build 1,600 new settlement homes in Jerusalem. Abbas' remarks were in a Palestinian Authority Information Ministry statement released Wednesday, slamming Israel's announcement, calling the move is part of Israel's "entrenched system of extremism."

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Israel planning 50,000 housing units in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Some 50,000 new housing units in Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the Green Line are in various stages of planning and approval, planning officials told Haaretz. They said Jerusalem's construction plans for the next few years, even decades, are expected to focus on East Jerusalem.

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The U.S. will no longer turn a blind eye to Israeli settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Even Mahmoud Abbas would have been hard put to dream up a greater victory for Palestinian diplomacy than the one handed to him Tuesday on a silver platter by the Israeli Interior Ministry. The condemnations have been pouring in since the plan to build 1,600 homes in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood was announced. Not only from U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, but from the United Nations, the European Union and world leaders, all of them slamming the decision.

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Construction bids issued in West Bank settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shmulik Grossman - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

On the backdrop of the US-prompted construction moratorium imposed on West Bank settlements and the recent embarrassment over construction in east Jerusalem during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit, the Elkana Local Council issued a tender on Thursday for the building of new residential neighborhoods in the West Bank settlement. According to the council-issued tenders, proposals are sought by entrepreneurs interested in erecting new residential neighborhoods. The local council will leave arranging all the necessary political and planning permits up to whoever makes the winning bid.

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Israel shows what it really thinks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
(Opinion) March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel apologised for the embarrassment it had caused its most important ally by announcing it would build 1,600 new homes in disputed East Jerusalem at the very moment the US vice-president, Joe Biden, was in the country for a visit. But no apology – nor the implausible explanation that the announcement was a "procedural" matter of which Benjamin Netanyahu had not been informed in advance – can obscure the truth that this episode has revealed.

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The problem with illegal settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

The embarrassment the US vice president faced this week when, during his visit to Israel, the creation of a new settlement was announced should not have surprised him. The list of Israeli slaps in the face of US officials is endless. The situation has become such that many believe calls for a freeze of settlement activities should stop because they resulted in a frenzy to build even more Jewish settlements.

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Biden's rebuke on new housing comes as Israel seeks to reaffirm U.S. relations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Janine Zacharia - March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Two years ago, Israel announced plans to build new homes in east Jerusalem just as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was preparing to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, prompting Rice's spokesman to characterize the move as "not helpful."

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Israel provokes and damages push for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) March 10, 2010 - 1:00am

During the Middle Ages, intellectuals endlessly debated the question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? To this we add a contemporary version: How often will Israel kick Washington in the teeth before it says “Enough!” Our question, of course, is occasioned by the visit of the US vice president, Joe Biden, to Jerusalem and Ramallah this week. Mr Biden was dispatched by the White House to assure Israelis of America’s commitment to their security.

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Israel's Challenege to the U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
March 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was unpleasantly surprised in Israel on Tuesday when the country’s Interior Ministry declared that it would expand housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem. Mr. Biden, who earlier that day had expressed American support on Israel’s security needs, condemned the announcement, which had been made without the knowledge of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What did the incident reflect about the state of the Obama administration’s relations with Israel and the future of talks with the Palestinians? Aaron David Miller -

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