Israeli police investigating settlement land deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Associated Press - July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Police are investigating whether residents of a rogue West Bank settlement used forged land deal documents in an effort to thwart their upcoming court-ordered eviction, an Israeli anti-settlement group charged Monday. Under a Supreme Court order, Israel's government must dismantle the Migron outpost by Aug. 1 because it was built on private Palestinian land. On Sunday, the government asked the Supreme Court to delay the evacuation by a month, its latest attempt to put off a potential clash with extremist settlers. The court has yet to rule.

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Wait until Ariel is part of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tal Harris - (Opinion) July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Let it be that the settlement of Ariel becomes part of Israel’s sovereign lands. Let it be no longer considered illegal and subjected to international boycotts. Let it be that its 18,000 residents don’t have to move out in the future. Let it be that it prosper and even become a highly desired tourist attraction. The Ariel of today, however, cannot be any of these things.

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Levy Report Tests American Consensus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Paul Berger - July 20, 2012 - 12:00am

The American Jewish Committee, a centrist pillar of America’s organized Jewish community, is breaking with the long-standing establishment consensus that settlements on the Israeli-occupied West Bank pose no impediment to peace. The committee, in a press release issued on July 12, affirmed the legality of settlements throughout the West Bank and rejected the notion that the territory was under legal occupation.

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Summer Camp at Israeli Outpost Trains Girls to Become Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Amichai Atali - July 19, 2012 - 12:00am

You won’t find a shower here, and don’t even think about a mobile phone. Nor are any of these girls dreaming of amusement parks. Welcome to a summer camp for the daughters of the outposts: three days of Krav Maga (a martial art and eclectic self-defense system developed in Israel), whitewashing of unauthorized buildings and tree-planting.

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State will not oppose Migron petition to High Court
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - July 18, 2012 - 12:00am

The state does not plan to oppose a High Court of Justice petition by the residents of the West Bank Migron outpost to remain in their homes. Last summer, the High Court of Justice issued a binding order mandating the state to evacuate the outpost by August 1, because it was built without proper permits on land classified by the state as belonging to private Palestinians. But early this month, outpost residents announced that they had purchased 2.5 out of 5 hectares on which the outpost is located from its Palestinian landowners.

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West Bank settlements threaten peace in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune
by Marilyn Katz - (Opinion) July 18, 2012 - 12:00am

For most Americans, the word "settlement" conjures up images of the Old West, of a small outpost with a post office, general store and a saloon. A dot on the map. A threat to no one.

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Defense Ministry hires architect to resume construction of illegal West Bank outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

The government is stepping up construction in the West Bank settlements and acting to legitimize at least one illegal outpost it has pledged to demolish, Haaretz has learned. The Defense Ministry recently contracted an architect to resume construction of the Givat Sal'it outpost in the Jordan Valley, in what is seen as a step toward legitimizing the outpost. Givat Sal'it is one of 26 communities the Sharon government had promised the United States it would tear down nearly 10 years ago.

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West Bank: Israel Authorizes University in Jewish Settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

An Israeli education committee voted Tuesday to grant full university status to an academic center in Ariel, a large Jewish settlement, making it the first Israeli university in the West Bank. Most of the world views the areas that Israal conquered from Jordan in the 1967 war, and where the Palestinians want to establish a future state, as occupied territory, and the Israeli settlements there as a violation of international law. Critics denounced the decision as a political move aimed at bolstering the settlement project.

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Israel to grant settlement subsidy, despite pledge
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israeli government has quietly agreed to grant subsidies to build more than 500 new homes in the West Bank, backtracking from a promise earlier this year to deny these incentives to the settlements, The Associated Press has learned. The planned construction, at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to shore up support among settlers, has enraged the Palestinians and could cloud a visit starting Sunday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as she tries to re-energize moribund Mideast peace efforts.

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BDS supporters can’t decide on what the endgame is
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Mira Sucharov - (Opinion) July 13, 2012 - 12:00am

On the heels of new semantic murkiness about what is and is not Israeli occupation, one could be forgiven for being a tad confused about how to oppose whatever-it-is-we-should-now-call-it.

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