Fayyad: West Bank raids, settlement construction must end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 9, 2010 - 1:00am

Greeting the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Political Affairs Oscar Fernandes on Monday, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stressed the importance of the UN’s role in compelling Israel to abide by its roadmap obligations.

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Herziliya chairman: More Palestinians should participate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 8, 2010 - 1:00am

General (res) Danny Rothschild, chairman of the annual Herziliya conference on Israel's national security, believes more Palestinians should participate in the series. "No doubt Palestinians can benefit from the conference. Direct talks are what we [Israelis] miss. I hope more Palestinians will participate in the future," he said in an interview with Ma'an on Sunday.

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Israel bars Palestinian expert on settlements from travel abroad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - February 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Interior Minister Eli Yishai has banned Palestinian geographer Khalil Tufakji, a resident of Jerusalem, from traveling abroad for six months, citing unspecified security concerns. The ban was issued on the recommendation of the Shin Bet security service and is based on 1948 Emergency regulations. "Having been convinced that there is real concern that the exit of Mr. Khalil Tufakji from Israel may harm the security of the state, I order that he be banned from exiting the country until 2 August, 2010," the order reads.

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Distribution of Beit Yehonatan evacuation orders called off
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - February 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The handing out of evacuation and sealing orders to the Jewish residents of a building in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan has been called off. The Jerusalem Municipality said that it was operating according to police instructions. Inspectors were meant to arrive in the neighborhood on Monday to issue the orders to the residents of Beit Yehonatan, and the residents were meant to receive a seven-day warning before the actual evacuation.

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Bit of a Stir as Clinton Strays From Script on Mideast Peace
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The New York Times - February 4, 2010 - 1:00am

With an inadvertent bit of shorthand, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton set off a buzz in diplomatic circles on Wednesday, and may have offered a glimpse into how the Obama administration hopes to revive the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Answering a question at a news conference about how the talks might be revived, Mrs. Clinton said, “Of course, we believe that the 1967 borders, with swaps, should be the focus of the negotiations over borders.”

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What to Do With the Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Hillel Halkin - (Opinion) February 4, 2010 - 1:00am

There is one obvious solution for Israel's West Bank settlements that has been all but completely overlooked: Let the settlers continue living where they are, but in the state of Palestine. As a conception, it's stunningly simple. Its very obviousness has rendered it invisible, like something in one's field of vision that goes unnoticed because it has been there all the time. If over one million Palestinian Arabs can live as they do in towns and villages all over Israel, why cannot a few hundred thousand Israeli Jews live, symmetrically, in a West Bank Palestinian state?

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Netanyahu hopes for talks with Palestinians in weeks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he had reason to hope stalled peace talks with the Palestinians could resume within weeks. "I have a basis to hope, in a realistic way, that in the coming weeks we will renew the peace process with the Palestinians," Netanyahu said at a keynote national security conference in Herzilya, near Tel Aviv. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asked in Washington about the prospect of talks, said the United States hoped to relaunch talks as soon as possible.

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Barkat says will seal Beit Yehonatan, 200 Arab homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has informed State Prosecutor Moshe Lador that he plans to implement the sealing order for Beit Yehonatan in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, which was built without a permit in 2004 and which houses Jewish residents. However, Barkat added that he would also implement orders against 200 illegal structures built by Arabs in the area, so as not to act in a discriminatory manner.

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Raze Illegal Buildings - Unless They Are Jewish
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - (Opinion) February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

Some of the homes are well-faced with stone; the naked concrete of others gives off something of a temporary air. One block of flats stands out for its unusual seven-storey height in an area of the city where two or three storied buildings are the norm. And then there is the giant, blue-and-white Israeli national flag draped demonstratively over the front of the building, from the roof down to the ground.

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West Bank settlement growth slows as freeze starts to bite
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

The settlement freeze is having an impact, figures obtained by Haaretz reveal: In the second half of 2009, one third of all West Bank settlements experienced slower population growth than the average inside Israel - a larger proportion than during the first half.

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