Settlements | The American Task Force on Palestine

Migron Is Symbol of Broken Promise
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - (Opinion) March 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Jerusalem — To almost every country in the world, all of Israel’s settlements on the occupied West Bank are officially illegal. Israel rejects this view but does consider one group of settlements illegal under its own laws. Yet, less than a handful of these unauthorized outposts have been evacuated since June 2004, when then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised President George W. Bush to remove them. Of those that were evacuated, most were repopulated within days.

Study: Israeli 'state land' illegally taken from West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 15, 2012 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel has designated some 900,000 dunams of the occupied West Bank as Israeli state land, using procedures that break local and international laws, an Israeli human rights group said Wednesday. "Large swaths of land have been classified state land and designated for use by settlements, despite the fact that they belong to Palestinian individuals or communities," according to a new report by B'Tselem. The study says Palestinian land "was taken from their lawful owners by legal manipulation and in breach of local law and international law alike."

Israel 'must end imputiny of violence by settlers'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - March 14, 2012 - 12:00am

EU governments, including Britain, have secretly been urged by their top diplomats in Jerusalem and the West Bank to press Israel to enforce laws against Jewish settlers responsible for an "alarming" rise in violence against Palestinians and their property.

West Bank Jewish settlers agree to relocate from Migron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
March 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Settlers at the Migron outpost will be moved to a nearby hill and the current site will be put under Israeli military control, Israel radio said. The Israeli Supreme Court had ordered the Migron outpost, north of Jerusalem, to be demolished by the end of March. Campaigners against Jewish settlements said the relocation was "a disgrace". The deal follows months of talks between settlers and Benny Begin, a minister without portfolio in the Israeli government. He said the agreement would avoid further clashes between settlers and Israeli security forces.

Israel deepens hold in West Bank heartland, quietly legalizes unsanctioned settler enclave
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 1, 2012 - 1:00am

SHVUT RACHEL, West Bank — Israel has legalized one of the oldest and largest of the unsanctioned settler enclaves dotting the West Bank, a step denounced by the Palestinians and Israeli activists as a show of bad faith ahead of talks next week between the Israeli leader and President Barack Obama.

Israeli FM Says Military, Civilians Must Stay in Jordan Valley
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 1, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that upheavals in the Arab world prove the need for Israel to retain a military and civilian presence in the Jordan Valley, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. "I am looking at what is happening in Syria and the whole region," Lieberman said, adding that "We can not secure the state of Israel without maintaining control of the Jordan Valley." The Jordan Valley has been under Israeli military and civilian control according to the 1993 Oslo Accords.

The hallucinations of the Israeli government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) February 29, 2012 - 1:00am

Now that the medical efficacy of marijuana is proven fact, the time has come to examine the potency of the hallucinogenic drug LSD as a solution to strategic problems. Preliminary tests indicate that this drug exceeds all expectations. Tests are currently being carried out in Israel - a pioneering country when it comes to medical developments. The first experiment was initiated seven years ago, and it will conclude in March. It has won the name "the Migron Experiment."

Palestinian Leadership Lobbies for UN Resolution Against Jewish Settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 29, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership has started lobbying for a United Nations resolution against the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a Palestinian official said Wednesday. "The regional and international efforts aim at mustering as much as possible support to the draft resolution," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian peace negotiator.

Israel urges settlers in West Bank outpost of Migron to relocate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - February 28, 2012 - 1:00am

Reporting from Jerusalem— With negotiations apparently at an impasse, the Israeli government launched a last-ditch effort Monday to avoid a confrontation over the court-ordered evacuation of Jewish settlers living in the West Bank outpost of Migron. Lawmaker Benny Begin, who has been leading government efforts to resolve the issue, held a news conference to urge the families to accept an offer to relocate them.

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