West Bank settlements: an impassable obstacle on the road to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - (Opinion) August 24, 2009 - 12:00am

On a ridge high above the West Bank town of Nablus, a cluster of red roofs and neat white concrete homes mark the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh, its security patrols on alert for attackers like the lone Palestinian gunman who mowed down four residents during the second intifada.

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Dr Erakat on plans to construct a new Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestine Liberation Organization
by Negotiations Affairs Department - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Dr Saeb Erakat, today said that plans to construct a new Israeli settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras al-Amud in occupied East Jerusalem provided yet another example of the obstacles Israel continues to place in the way of international efforts to restart negotiations. Submitted for approval to Israeli authorities, and reportedly to be called ‘Ma’aleh David’, plans for the new settlement include the construction of 104 new settlement units.

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Settlement issue looms over Netanyahu's Europe trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embarked on a four-day trip to Europe on Monday, during which he will meet in London with US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell to try to firm up an agreement for fast-tracking peace talks with the Palestinians.

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West Bank: slowly, determinedly, settlers bid to build new town
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory McCarthy - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Early in the morning, Nadia Matar drove to the hills south of Jerusalem, near the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour, and turned into a dusty, unmarked road. There she planted a sign which read "Welcome to Shdema". She drove on, stopping every few metres along the route to jam into the rocky ground a series of fluttering blue and white Israeli flags. Israeli soldiers let her pass unhindered as she drove up to the concrete ruins of what was until a few years ago the Israeli military base of Shdema.

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Pro-Israel group: Obama settlements policy backs 'ethnic cleansing' of Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gilad Halpern - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am

A pro-Israel lobby group in the U.S. has launched a project intent on shifting the focus of the Obama administration away from West Bank settlements, claiming they are not an obstacle to peace and that their evacuation would amount to "ethnic cleansing." A manual called Global Language Dictionary, circulated among supporters of the right-wing Israel Project group, seeks to develop a strategy to downplay the centrality of settlement freeze in the American efforts to press on with the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Group says Left 'distorting' east Jerusalem construction plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Claims that the Jerusalem Municipality has approved the construction of 104 housing units for Jews in the eastern neighborhood of Ras al-Amud continue to make waves. The Jerusalem Municipality has denied the claims made by the Ir Amim association, which says that the new project will be connected by a bridge to the Jewish neighborhood of Ma'aleh Hazeitim.

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Settlers taped attacking Palestinians evade arrest
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - August 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Despite the video footage and the international public outcry it generated, the Judea and Samaria police are closing the case of a severe beating of three Palestinians by masked settlers, without having managed to produce even a single suspect, according to the complete investigation file obtained by Haaretz.

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Not an impossible demand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) August 20, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel is still trying its very best to wriggle out of its obligation to enforce a complete freeze of settlement activity in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem. Tuesday, Israel’s housing minister, Ariel Atias, of the ultra-conservative Shas Party, announced that Israel would institute a “temporary” freeze on issuing new housing tenders for settlements. This is clearly an attempt at appeasing Washington, which has been pushing for Israel to abide by its obligations under the roadmap.

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Netanyahu struggles to reach deal over settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - August 20, 2009 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV // As prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu struggles to reach a compromise with the US on settlement expansion: he is increasingly facing a challenge from key political allies at home who are pushing for continued Jewish construction on territory Palestinians want for a future state. The hurdles Mr Netanyahu may face should he agree to any building limits were highlighted on Wednesday, when a top government minister and member of the premier’s own party called a left-wing, anti-settler group a “virus” and suggested Israel defy a US call for a settlement freeze.

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Despite rhetoric, Netanyahu has suspended Jewish settlement building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux - August 19, 2009 - 12:00am

Cameras were rolling, capturing the defiant Israeli mood over President Obama's stand on Jewish settlements. With three other Cabinet officials at his side, Interior Minister Eli Yishai toured a Jewish outpost in the West Bank on Monday and declared: "Israel must do what it believes is right, and the Americans will understand that there was no choice but to continue building" on Palestinian-claimed land.

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