Legalising land theft
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Adel Safty - (Analysis) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

One of the thorniest issues facing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiators is undoubtedly the question of Israeli colonies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israeli leaders have maintained that they were entitled to build colonies in the territories which they designate by their biblical name (Judea and Samaria), invoking a historic right over the land which they describe as disputed, not occupied.

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EU diplomats concerned by Hebron village demolition threat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

European Union diplomats on Friday visited a village in the south Hebron hills under threat of demolition by Israeli authorities. The envoys toured Susiya to "show their concerns over the humanitarian impact and political implications of the recent demolition orders," an EU statement said.

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A perfect metaphor for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Global Post
by Noga Tarnopolsky - (Analysis) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

In a metaphor its opponents may relish, the Israeli settlement movement finds itself mired in a sewer. For 30 years, the settlement of Ofra, located about 40 minutes north of Jerusalem and about 15 minutes from Ramallah, has disposed of its raw sewage in the local valley, soiling pristine streams and damaging the nearby mountain aquifer.

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The Siren Call of Israeli Unilateralism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

With Israeli-Palestinian efforts at an impasse and immediate-term hopes for progress toward any agreement fading, the appeal of new ideas is understandable. This is no doubt why discussion of Israeli unilateral options—generally in terms of unilateral “withdrawals” from the West Bank—is in the air.

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Jewish settlers won't go quietly as eviction looms
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Maayan Lubell - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am

The clock is ticking for 30 Jewish settler families in the occupied West Bank. Israel's Supreme Court has said their homes sit on privately-owned Palestinian land and as an eviction deadline draws near, they say they will not go quietly. "They will have to drag me out of here," said Yoel Fattal, 28, who lives with his wife and three young children in one of the five apartment blocs the government must tear down by July 1, on the Ulpana hill in the settlement of Beit El.

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Chronicle of a West Bank murder: Transcripts of the reenactment of Itamar murder revealed for first time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - June 15, 2012 - 12:00am

A year and three months have passed since the murder of the Fogel family in the Itamar settlement near Nablus. Haaretz has obtained the transcripts of both the interrogation of those who were eventually convicted and their reenactment of the murder. On Friday night, March 11, 2011, at about 9 P.M., Amjad and Hakim Awad (the two are not related ) left their West Bank village of Awarta in the direction of nearby Itamar. They passed the settlement fence, broke into two empty houses, and afterward continued to the adjacent house, where the Fogels lived.

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Quartet envoys meet amid Palestinian criticism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
June 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Envoys from the Middle East Quartet met in Brussels on Friday amid calls from the Palestinians to step up action to halt continuing Israeli settlement activity. Officials from the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia gathered "to consult as they routinely do over the phone as well", said a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

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Can the EU save the two-state solution?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from EurActiv.com
by Dimitris Bouris, Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am

"It has become clear that the window of opportunity for solving the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is closing. The reasons behind this are several and have to do with both internal and external dynamics.

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The Real Cost of Israel's Settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Yedioth Ahronoth
by Yael Gvirtz - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am

The only difference between the hate crime perpetrated at Neve Shalom ("Oasis of Peace," a cooperative village jointly established by Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel as a model of coexistence) and others is that the target this time around was an Israeli village.

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Israeli forces order Hebron village demolished after settler case
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Israeli forces on Tuesday handed a southern West Bank village demolition orders for each of its 50 buildings, a week after Israeli authorities agreed to halt all construction in the area in response to a petition filed by a settler group. Susiya village, in the south Hebron hills, has three days to appeal the decision before their village is demolished, resident Nasser Nawaja told Ma'an. The community's lawyer Quamar Mishirqi said she will file an objection to Israel's High Court.

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