Israel's settlement policy could trigger a third intifada, experts warn Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amir Oren - June 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Mideast experts warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week that construction policies in the settlements or the burning of a major mosque by extremists could help trigger a violent uprising in the West Bank. The meeting with Netanyahu, which lasted about 90 minutes, took place Tuesday evening.

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Israel to decide on settlement university
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Diaa Hadid - June 9, 2012 - 12:00am

In the fraught atmosphere of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an approaching decision on whether to award coveted university status to a college has taken on powerful political overtones. For critics of Israel's policy of settling Jews in the West Bank, the upgrade of the "Ariel University Center of Samaria" into a permanent university would be a strong signal of what they say is creeping annexation of the hilly territory.

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UN envoy: All settlements contrary to international law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 8, 2012 - 12:00am

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process on Thursday reiterated the international community's view that settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegitimate. In a statement, Robert Serry said that Israel's settlements were contrary to international law "whether on private Palestinian land or elsewhere in occupied Palestinian territory."

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1967 has been bad for Palestinians and Israelis alike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill
by Hanan Ashrawi - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am

Forty-five years ago this week, catastrophe befell the Palestinian people for the second time in as many decades, when Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip during the 1967 War. Nearly half a century later, the catastrophe continues, as millions of Palestinians still live under Israeli military rule, denied the most basic civil and political rights, while their land is relentlessly colonized with illegal, Jewish-only settlements that are destroying their hopes for the future.

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UN envoy: All settlements contrary to international law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 8, 2012 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process on Thursday reiterated the international community's view that settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegitimate. In a statement, Robert Serry said that Israel's settlements were contrary to international law "whether on private Palestinian land or elsewhere in occupied Palestinian territory."

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'Celebrations' that miss the point
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am

The idea of demolishing the houses in Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood reminds me of a Jewish joke about the "wisdom" of the people of Chelm. Early in the morning the sexton used to walk through the streets of Chelm to remind people that it was time for the Shaharit morning prayer. One day the weatherman announced that snow was expected the following day. The locals didn't want the sexton's footprints to spoil the beauty of the blanket of snow, so the city's wise men convened for an urgent meeting to find a solution.

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Netanyahu 1, settlers 0
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Sima Kadmon - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in the vote on the settlement regularization bill is not just a numerical win. It was also a moral win, because he taught the settlers an important lesson on the limits of power.

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Facing the Lords of the Land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Yael Paz-Melamed - (Opinion) June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

A young committed man brimming with public courage stands today almost alone against the settlers, mainly those who reside on private Palestinian lands in illegal settlement outposts. His name is Yariv Oppenheimer, and he drives the settlers mad because he has succeeded time and again in placing a few boundaries for this band of people, who are certain that the entire area beyond the Green Line is their private domain, and they can do with it as they please without interference.

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When Will the Six-Day War End?
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The Atlantic - June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

This week marks the 45th anniversary of the Six-Day War. It was a war of necessity for Israel -- Egypt and Syria, in particular, had manifested themselves as existential threats to the then-19-year-old Jewish state (Jordan less so) -- and it was a war whose first phase ended in unambiguous victory.

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Israel to build 850 homes in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - June 7, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel's plans to build hundreds of new homes in Jewish West Bank settlements have put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at odds again with Washington and the Palestinians, without appeasing settlers furious over the government's plan to dismantle an illegally built enclave.

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