Stopping Extremist Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Daniel Byman, Natan Sachs - (Opinion) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Late this past June, a group of Israeli settlers in the West Bank defaced and burned a mosque in the small West Bank village of Jabaa. Graffiti sprayed by the vandals warned of a “war” over the planned evacuation, ordered by the Israeli Supreme Court, of a handful of houses illegally built on private Palestinian land near the settlement of Beit El.

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The price of settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

On Sunday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a request by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to hold a cabinet meeting on the political stalemate with the Palestinians, to discuss ways of advancing peace negotiations for a final agreement. On Monday Haaretz reported Barak as saying in private talks that a thaw in relations is in Israel's strategic interest and that the country is "living on borrowed time." On Tuesday the European Union demonstrated the price of neglecting this political channel, combined with the race to expand settlements.

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Defying AG, ministers decide to hand Hebron market stores over to Israeli settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

A panel of ministers has decided to instruct the army to transfer possession of a Hebron building that Jewish settlers were living in illegally to the city's Jewish community, after first evicting the squatters. However, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein believes there may be legal obstacles to the position of the Ministerial Committee for Settlement Affairs, which was created in June and consists mainly of Likud cabinet ministers. Weinstein is trying to formulate a new position on the matter.

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Canada's United Church affirms settlements boycott
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Members of the United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, voted on Wednesday to affirm a controversial motion supporting a boycott of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The boycott has has outraged many Jewish groups, including the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which expressed it's anger by "the decision to single out Israeli communities for boycott."

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Secular Israelis Gentrify West Bank Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth
by Ofer Petersburg - August 16, 2012 - 12:00am

It's rather in doubt whether this is the solution that the leaders of the social justice protest [that swept Israel in the summer of 2011] wished for when they took to the streets to demonstrate against the exorbitant cost of housing in Israel.

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Netanyahu set to bury Levy report on legalizing illegal West Bank outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - August 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to bury the Levy Report, which recommends legalizing most unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank and making it easier for existing settlements to expand, a senior politician who spoke with the premier about the issue told Haaretz yesterday.

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Contesting history: A tale of two Tekoas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Brandon Davis - (Opinion) August 15, 2012 - 12:00am

The Gush Herodion Development Corporation has big plans for Tekoa. Already boasting a pizza parlor, a swimming pool and a horse ranch, this idyllic "Jewish village" of approximately 1,600 will soon add six new buildings with eight "spacious" apartments each, designed by the architect Jacques Gabay.

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Palestinians Fear New Israeli Moves In West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro - August 14, 2012 - 12:00am

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen for almost two years. But Palestinians say that doesn't mean events aren't happening on the ground. Recently, the Israeli military issued orders calling for evacuation and demolition of nearly a dozen Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians see this as evidence of Israeli plans to annex the territory, though Israel denies this.

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The Rise of Settler Terrorism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Affairs
by Daniel Byman, Natan Sachs - (Opinion) August 14, 2012 - 12:00am

Late this past June, a group of Israeli settlers in the West Bank defaced and burned a mosque in the small West Bank village of Jabaa. Graffiti sprayed by the vandals warned of a "war" over the planned evacuation, ordered by the Israeli Supreme Court, of a handful of houses illegally built on private Palestinian land near the Israeli settlement of Beit El.

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Palestinians face losing their home on the (firing) range
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Andreas Heckl - August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Khalid Jabareen's tone was frantic as he discussed the future of his village and family, even though he thought the moment he dreaded – when they would be expelled from their homes – was months away. 

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