70 W. Bank settlements on national priority list
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - January 29, 2012 - 1:00am

Around 70 West Bank settlements were on the list of communities eligible for housing and development grants that the cabinet approved on Sunday. Most of them – 57 – are settlements located outside the boundary of the security barrier’s planned route. Israel has promised the international community that it would not provide special incentives for settlement development and construction. Still, the settlements were included in the list of 557 “national priority” communities published by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday.

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No compromise on Migron outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) January 25, 2012 - 1:00am

Strong, choking nausea wells up in face of the "compromise proposal" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered the trespassers in Migron. It is hard to identify exactly what is causing this. Is it the fact that the prime minister has once again surrendered to the settlers? Is it the realization of the weakness of the Israel Defense Forces - the army that apparently can attack Iran but can't manage to impose its sovereignty over a handful of settlers? Or could it be that the nausea is a symptom of a fatal disease that has been going on for decades and has been treated only with aspirin?

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Israeli settlers reject Netanyahu's request to evacuate largest outpost in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson, Barak Ravid - January 23, 2012 - 1:00am

The ongoing controversy about the evacuation of the Migron outpost hit a new high Sunday, as settlers angrily rejected a compromise proposal offered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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PM, settlers reach compromise on Migron
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yair Altman - January 23, 2012 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a compromise with Migron residents over the removal of the illegal West Bank outpost, a source close to the talks told Ynet on Monday. The agreement would require Migron residents to vacate the outpost and move into buildings that will be constructed nearby. Meanwhile, the outpost's structures will be converted into a farm instead of being razed. The settlers' new homes are to be built approximately two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the outpost, on Israeli land.

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Into an Unsettled New Year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mya Guarnieri - (Opinion) January 22, 2012 - 1:00am

HEBRON, Jan 22, 2012 (IPS) - An elderly Palestinian woman spent last week on hunger strike to protest violent attacks by Israeli settlers. Hana Abu Heikel went on the hunger strike on behalf of her family after settlers burned the family car during the previous weekend. Since Israeli settlers moved into the houses surrounding the Abu Heikel family home in Hebron in 1984, the Abu Heikels have seen eight cars burned. Six vehicles were also smashed by settlers.

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Israeli forces demolish illegal settler outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 19, 2012 - 1:00am

TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli military forces evicted settlers from an outpost early Thursday leading to clashes between residents and the army, Israeli media reported. Hundreds of security force personnel arrived at the Mitzpeh Yeriho settlement east of Jerusalem early Thursday, Haaretz quoted army radio reports as saying. Six houses were demolished and three Israeli police officers wounded as violent clashes broke out, the Israeli daily said. Last week, Israeli forces dismantled the illegal settler outpost of Mitzpe Avichai, near Hebron.

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UN Security Council to meet on Jewish settlements next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 19, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council will hold an open session next week to discuss Israeli settlement activities in occupied Palestinian territories, a Palestinian envoy said Thursday. The council's member states will present their stances regarding the settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Riad Mansour, Palestinian UN observer, told Voice of Palestine Radio.

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EU Report: Israel Policy in West Bank Endangers Two-State Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

The European Union will direct its activities towards supporting the West Bank’s Palestinian population, a report by the European Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah said on Thursday, over what the survey said was Israeli efforts to muscle out Palestinians from Area C.

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Settlers Vandalize Mosques: Attempt to Burn Vehicles
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 11, 2012 - 1:00am

NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Settlers vandalized a mosque in a Salfit village on Wednesday and attempted to set fire to several vehicles,a Palestinian Authority official said. PA settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas told Ma'an that residents in the village of Deir Istiya had seen settlers fleeing the scene after throwing flammable material on three vehicles.

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Israel Subsidizes West Bank Housing, Breaking Promise to U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - January 11, 2012 - 1:00am

Despite the government's promise to Washington to stop giving financial incentives for construction in West Bank settlements, the Housing Ministry recently published a tender for 213 new housing units in Efrat under a program that offers substantial discounts on the land.

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