Israel plans for more than 1,000 new housing units on disputed land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - December 18, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel's Housing Ministry announced Sunday that it would construct more than 1,000 housing units in the West Bank and Jerusalem area on land it seized during the 1967 Mideast war. The expansion includes 500 units in Har Homa, 348 in Beitar Ilit and 180 in Givat Zeev. “Some countries around the world may not be happy about this but they shouldn’t be surprised,” Housing Minister Ariel Atia told the Israeli news site Ynet. He said the move would lower home prices and increase supply, assisting young Israeli couples looking for affordable housing.

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Israeli lawmakers move to annex West Bank, one museum at a time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ben Lynfield - December 16, 2011 - 1:00am

As Rachel Slonim shows a visitor around the modest, unheated archeological museum in this West Bank settlement, she becomes animated when she reaches a display case with artifacts from the biblical Israelite period. ''The Israelite period was the most beautiful period in the history of Samaria,'' says Ms. Slonim, referring to the 600-year era that she says climaxed with the reign of King Omri, who built his capital near the area where she lives today. ''Settlement is very important in our eyes and the eyes of the Holy One Blessed Be He, who gave us this land.''

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Suspected Jewish extremists torch second Palestinian mosque, deface it with Hebrew graffiti
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
December 15, 2011 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Vandals set fire to a mosque in the West Bank on Thursday and defaced it with Hebrew graffiti a day after a similar arson attack on a Jerusalem mosque. Suspicion fell on Jewish extremists widely assumed to be behind stepped-up violence against Palestinians and the Israeli military. The governor of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Laila Ghanam, said arsonists doused the mosque in the village of Burqa with gasoline, then set it on fire.

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The Belated Awakening to Settler Extremism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Lara Friedman - (Blog) December 15, 2011 - 1:00am

Recent attacks on the IDF have led to an abrupt awakening in Israel and abroad. Suddenly people are realizing the danger posed to Israel by a generation of settlers who respect neither Israeli law, nor Israel's army, nor the Israeli state, and who are prepared to use violence against not only Palestinians (which has long been the case) but also against fellow Jews.

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Israel must enforce law on West Bank settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 14, 2011 - 1:00am

What happened on Monday night merely proves what has long since been obvious: In the West Bank, there is neither law nor judge as far as the settlers are concerned. They can run riot to their heart's content.

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Jewish rock-throwers are more equal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Eyal Gross - (Opinion) December 14, 2011 - 1:00am

It is easy to imagine what would have happened had Palestinians invaded an Israeli military base and vandalized vehicles, burned tires, thrown rocks at the brigade commander and injured his deputy. It would have ended in death, injury or arrest for many of them. But the perpetrators of this week's incident were Jews, not Palestinians, and they threw rocks at both soldiers and Palestinians.

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Israel right-wing activists clash with Jerusalem police following price tag attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Oz Rosenberg - December 14, 2011 - 1:00am

Dozens of right-wing activists clashed with police officers in Jerusalem on Wednesday, amid attempts to arrest suspects linked to recent so-called price tag attacks. The rioters, some of whom reside in the capital's Kiryat Moshe neighborhood after being forced to leave the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, slashed the tires and smashed the windows of several police cars. Six rioters were arrested and taken under custody.

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Israel Leader Sets Curbs on Settlers for Violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - December 14, 2011 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — After two days of settler violence that shocked much of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that some radical Israelis would be treated the same way as suspected Palestinian militants — detained for long periods without charge and tried in military courts.

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New York charity abets Israeli settler violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Salon.com
by Jared Malsin - December 14, 2011 - 1:00am

On the June 18, 2007, a nonprofit organization called the Hebron Fund held a fundraiser on a cruise ship in the Hudson River to support Israel settlers’ occupation of a Palestinian house in the West Bank city of Hebron. Some 250 people paid a minimum of $65 each for the “Cruise ‘n’ Schmooze.” The proceeds went to support the settler who had taken the property from the Rajabi family, who denied the settlers’ claims that they had legally purchased the home.

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Israel razing more Palestinian homes, wells-monitors
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - December 13, 2011 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Israel has stepped up its demolitions of Palestinian property in occupied land this year, razing double the number of homes and water wells from 2010, human rights groups said on Tuesday. The statement endorsed by 20 organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch further said Jewish settler violence against Palestinians had risen in 2011 and that Israel had sped up its expansion of settler enclaves.

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