Settlements | The American Task Force on Palestine

Inside Out: Why Netanyahu won’t endorse the Levy Report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

The settlers and their supporters erupted in jubilation Monday after a committee headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy presented its report on the issue of settlements and outposts in the West Bank. Likud MK Danny Danon was quoted on Tuesday by Ma’ariv as describing the publication of the report a “day of celebration for settlement.”

Rights groups: Spike in Israeli settler violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Human rights groups and U.N. agencies say Israeli settlers in the West Bank have sharply stepped up attacks on Palestinians in a climate of impunity created by lacking law enforcement. The groups said Wednesday that the number of attacks causing injury or damage rose from 168 in 2009 to 411 in 2011. They say 154 attacks occurred in the first half of 2012.

There. It's finally done. Israel has ended the occupation. Tick. Tick. Tick.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

I thought the occupation would end differently. I thought that when the occupation finally ended, Palestinians would flood into the streets in delight and relief and weeping at their newfound freedom, a sudden intoxication of rights, their lifelong hopes for independence made concrete. I thought the end of occupation would be deafening and terrifying and liberating and wholly new. I thought that when the occupation ended, we would know.

Netanyahu to discuss legal status of West Bank settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he will discuss a recent report stating that settlements in the West Bank are not illegal. "This report, in my opinion, discusses the question of the legality and legitimacy of the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria on the basis of the facts and claims that merit serious examination," said a statement sent by the prime minister's office. "I will submit this report to the Ministerial Committee on Settlement Affairs I established and we will discuss it and make a decision," Netanyahu said.

US displeased with Levy Report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The American Administration vehemently disagrees with the findings of the Levy Report, which states that the Israeli government must promote the legitimization of all West Bank settlements and outposts. Speaking at a press briefing on Monday evening, State Department Spokesman Patrick Ventrell said that, "The US position on settlements is clear.

If there are no Palestinians, there's no Israeli occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Eyal Gross - (Analysis) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits occupying powers from settling their own populations in occupied lands. But that's not a problem for Israel, according to the committee set up by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to examine construction in the West Bank, because Israel is not a "military occupier" in the territories.

Walls Of Palestinian Homes Come Tumbling Down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro - July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel has dramatically increased its demolitions of unauthorized Palestinian homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a recent United Nations report. Last year, 1,100 Palestinians — more than half of them children — were displaced, an 80 percent increase from the previous year. And demolitions this year continue at a high rate. For Sami Idriss, the Israeli bulldozers came while the 26-year-old Palestinian was at work.

Wrong Time for New Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian hopes for an independent state are growing dimmer all the time. Israel is pushing ahead with new settlements in the West Bank and asserting control over new sections of East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their capital. Meanwhile, peace talks — the best guarantee of a durable solution — are going nowhere.

Israel’s Occupational Hazard
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
(Editorial) July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might have gotten what he wanted from the committee he named to explore ways to legalize unauthorized Jewish settlements in the West Bank. After all, its chairman, retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy, had previously made clear that he rejects the term “occupied territory” to describe the West Bank’s status.

Settlements could endanger Israel's Jewish majority: Israeli president
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday said he believes that legalizing all settlements in the West Bank would threaten Israel's Jewish majority. Peres' comments came on the heels of a recent report recommending the government to legalize all Jewish settlements in the West Bank. "Israeli settlements in territories densely populated by an Arab population could bring about a threatening demographic change, that is, it could endanger the Jewish majority in Israel," Peres said during a ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl cemetery.

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