July 21st

Most Arabs can't buy most homes in West Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed this week that Jerusalem is an "open city" that permits all its inhabitants, Jewish and Palestinian, to purchase homes in both its eastern and western parts. "Our policy is that Jerusalem residents can purchase apartments anywhere in the city. There is no ban on Arabs buying apartments in the west of the city, and there is no ban on Jews building or buying in the city's east," Netanyahu said in response to the U.S. request to halt a Jewish construction project in East Jerusalem.

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Israel's war with itself
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) July 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Afew years ago, while walking through Mea Shearim, the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem, I came across a strange poster. It pictured the Second Temple, the center of the world before the world was smashed in AD 70 by Rome, over a Hebrew phrase that means something like, "Jews! Watch what you say! For The Holy of Holies was destroyed not by Roman soldiers, nor by the Divine will, but by the gossip of the people."

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Israel weighs confiscation of more Palestinian land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am

The government is considering confiscating privately-owned Palestinian land near the West Bank settlement of Ofra, contrary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge during his Bar-Ilan speech not to take such actions. This announcement was made by the state prosecutor, in response to a High Court petition filed by a resident of the West Bank town Ein Yabrud and the human rights association Yesh Din. The parties were seeking the demolition of a sewage treatment plant built illegally on the town's land by the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council.

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IDF: No plans for lightning evacuation of outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Hilla Medalia - July 21, 2009 - 12:00am

The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that it had received no orders from the political echelons for a lightning evacuation of West Bank outposts, and denied having begun preparatory operations for such a move. Amid the increased tension between the United States and Israel surrounding construction in the settlements, Haaretz learned that the Israel Defense Forces was drafting a plan to evacuate 23 illegal outposts in one day.

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July 20th

The US-Israel dispute about settlement activities has now focused on planned construction in Jerusalem (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 17). This ongoing controversy continues to fuel speculation about PM Netanyahu's relations with the Obama administration and future as Israeli head of government (1, 7, 8, 10, 11). Meanwhile, settlement-freeze talks continue (12). The PA re-opens the office of al-Jazeera in the West Bank (15), but talks between Fateh and Hamas are postponed (16).

'Limits on settlement freeze being set'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am

Jerusalem's decision to leak to the media US displeasure with a plan to build a small housing complex in east Jerusalem was designed to clarify to the Americans that construction in the capital should not be lumped together with any limitations Israel may agree to on building in the settlements, senior diplomatic officials told The Jerusalem Post Sunday. Moskowitz's critics: building in sensitive areas is a strategy to undermine the peace process

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Israel presses on with settlement plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM // Israel yesterday refused to halt a settlement project in East Jerusalem, rejecting US pressure to include such construction in the eastern part of the city as part of a general freeze on settlement building in occupied territory. Washington’s public challenge to Israel on settlement construction in East Jerusalem has set the two sides firmly at opposite poles, and analysts describe the issue as a crucial test of the Obama administration’s intentions vis-à-vis the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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Hamas, Fatah delay unity talks again
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by HIsham Abu Taha - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am

GAZA/RAMALLAH:Egyptian-mediated Palestinian reconciliation talks between rivals Fatah and Hamas set for next Saturday have been delayed for a month. A senior Fatah official on Saturday said that his movement and Hamas decided to postpone the talks until Aug. 25.

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West Bank lifts ban on al-Jazeera
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
July 19, 2009 - 12:00am

Arabic satellite news TV al-Jazeera has resumed its broadcasts in the West Bank, after a ban on it was lifted by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Last week's ban came after a guest on the station accused Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of collaborating with Israel to have Yasser Arafat killed. The PA had accused the broadcaster of spreading lies and inciting viewers against the West Bank authorities. Al-Jazeera has been told it still faces legal action over the accusations.

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Checkpoints eased: Nablus journeys
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel said they were necessary security measures to prevent attacks on its civilians, but many Palestinians viewed them as collective punishment. The northern city of Nablus, previously a stronghold of Palestinian militant groups, has been surrounded by six checkpoints since the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, which began in 2000. For the first time in about nine years, its residents can now drive their cars out of the city. Journey times around the West Bank have been cut significantly.

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