State supports Kiryat Netafim houses built without permits
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Dan Izenberg, Tovah Lazaroff - December 31, 2009 - 1:00am

The state on Wednesday asked the High Court of Justice to reject a petition filed by Peace Now against construction of 15 houses in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Netafim and said it would complete detailed planning which would pave the way for the authorities to grant building permits for the homes. The state's support of the 15-home project comes in the midst of a 10-month moratorium on new settlement construction.

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Q&A: ''Israeli Settlements Killing Two-Nation Solution''
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - (Interview) December 30, 2009 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Dec 30 (IPS) - In the absence of any progress towards peace between Israelis and Palestinians, leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) are adopting a reasonable approach as a way of building up international pressure on Israel to get it back to the negotiating table.

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Israel approves new building plan for West Bank settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
December 30, 2009 - 1:00am

In an unusual step, the state announced on Tuesday its plan to promote planning and construction in the northern West Bank settlement of Kiryat Netafim, Army Radio reported Wednesday. Left wing human rights group Peace Now petitioned the High Court of Justice recently against the construction of 14 structures that were illegally built, some of them on Palestinian land without any authorization, according to the petition. In response to the petition, the Defense Ministry approved the Kiryat Netafim construction plans, to legalize the construction of the 14 structures in question.

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Editorial: Israeli settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) December 30, 2009 - 1:00am

So Israel is to build a further 692 new houses in East Jerusalem, over and above the developments that Premier Benjamin Netanyahu insisted were simply “in-filling” and not brand new constructions as such. Given that a complete halt to all new settlement activity is the key condition for the resumption of Palestinian peace talks, the Israelis know perfectly well that even the plans for this new construction constitute a mighty barrier thrown across the path of any negotiated settlement.

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Israel's Right in the 'Disputed' Territories
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Danny Ayalon - December 30, 2009 - 1:00am

The recent statements by the European Union's new foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton criticizing Israel have once again brought international attention to Jerusalem and the settlements. However, little appears to be truly understood about Israel's rights to what are generally called the "occupied territories" but what really are "disputed territories."

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For American Teens, Lessons in Hebrew Immersion and Settler Ideology
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - December 30, 2009 - 1:00am

For participants in the Yeshiva University schools’ newest exchange program, the last month has been one of slumber parties, shopping trips, Hebrew-language immersion and settler ideology. In early December the Queens, N.Y.-based Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls became the first American girls’ school on record to immerse its students in West Bank-based programming.

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White House decries Israel's plan to build homes in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - December 29, 2009 - 1:00am

An Israeli government plan to build nearly 700 homes for Jewish families in Palestinian-dominated East Jerusalem drew fire Monday from the Obama administration, which called the plan a hindrance to relaunching peace talks. "The United States opposes new Israeli construction in East Jerusalem," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, calling on Israelis and Palestinians to return to U.S.-brokered talks. "Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally preempt, or appear to preempt, negotiations."

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2 types of Zionism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Gadi Taub - (Opinion) December 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Based on recent reports, it appears that the IDF is preparing to enforce the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria as if it was dealing with a strike against Iran’s nuclear sites.

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Israel teenagers pledge 'no settlement evacuation'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
December 24, 2009 - 1:00am

About 200 Israeli teenagers have pledged to disobey any orders to evacuate Jewish settlements during their military service. The letter sent to Defence Minister Ehud Barak was signed by young people about to be drafted into the Israeli Defence Force. Jewish law as written in the Torah forbids the dismantling of Jewish-built homes, the letter said. The government has ordered a 10-month lull in building in the West Bank. "We consider utilizing the army for political ends and for warfare against Jews an existential danger and a destruction of the military," the letter said.

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Building by not building in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
(Editorial) December 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton fumbled in Jerusalem last month when she hailed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to temporarily freeze West Bank settlement construction as "unprecedented," thereby suggesting it was somehow optimal. The 10-month freeze is far from ideal, because it allows completion of nearly 3,000 housing units and 28 public buildings already underway in the West Bank, and it doesn't include development in contested East Jerusalem.

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