Erasing links to the land in the Negev ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Noga Malkin - (Blog) March 11, 2011 - 1:00am Hiding in the cemetery where her parents are buried, Hakma al-Turi, an Israeli citizen, has watched bulldozers demolish her village -- al-Araqib -- more than 20 times. The Israel Land Administration first demolished the 45 structures on this patch of land in the Negev desert eight months ago. When the 300 Israeli Bedouin who lived here defiantly rebuilt tarp-covered shacks, the Israel Land Administration demolished them again and again, the last time on March 7. » Read more

Palestinians Embarrassed, Not Proud, of Settlement Attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Miller - March 13, 2011 - 1:00am Far from gloating over a terrorist attack Friday night that left five Israeli family members dead in Itamar, a Jewish town located beyond Israel’s pre-1967 borders, Palestinians across the political spectrum reacted with embarrassment. Many preferred to put the blame for the attack on hidden Israeli hands than put the onus on any Palestinian group. » Read more

Jerusalem will never be divided, says Barkat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Melanie Lidman - March 13, 2011 - 1:00am Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat insisted that Jerusalem is not up for negotiation in a future peace process during a conversation with Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz on Saturday night at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem. “In [the peace negotiations] there are a lot of pink lines, but I have one red line: It’s called Jerusalem, don’t negotiate with Jerusalem,” the mayor told the crowd of 500, eliciting cheers. Noting that he considers the idea of a divided Jerusalem “dead on arrival,” the mayor added that “There is no good example of a split city that works.” » Read more

Lieberman: Hamas can take over West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - March 14, 2011 - 12:00am Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday that "the Foreign Ministry believes, in contrast with other authorities, that Hamas is currently stronger than Fatah in Judea and Samaria". "Hamas does not currently desire to take hold of power there," he told a debate at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "They are waiting for the day after Abbas and Fayyad extract the maximum they are able to get out of the international community, and then they will seize power." » Read more

Settlement attack could trigger terrorism by Jewish extremists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Blog) March 13, 2011 - 1:00am The horrific act perpetrated in Itamar late Friday night turns the clock back to a darker time in the West Bank. The two Palestinian terrorists who murdered five family members - a father, mother and their three children - provided a jolt whose impact is likely to be far-reaching. Its consequences will cast a pall over Israelis' and Palestinians' sense of security in the northern West Bank, the intelligence cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian security services, and perhaps the lofty goal of restarting the diplomatic process. » Read more

Palestinians honour highjack leader, defying Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - March 13, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinians from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction named a town square on Sunday after the leader of a 1978 bus hijacking in which 35 Israelis were killed. The ceremony, in Al-Bireh, a town near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, was held while Israelis mourned five members of a Jewish settler family knifed to death on Saturday in a West Bank settlement in an attack Israel blamed on Palestinians. Many Palestinians see Dalal al-Mughrabi, a member of the then-underground Fatah movement, as a heroine for her role in hijacking the bus on Israel's Haifa-Tel Aviv highway. » Read more

Hamas: No connection between Gaza groups and West Bank murdering ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 13, 2011 - 1:00am Hamas on Sunday denied any connection between the Gaza-based militant groups and the murdering of five Israelis in a West Bank settlement. Taher Al-Nounou, spokesman for Hamas' government that controls Gaza, said that Israel tries to implicate Gaza in the attack that happened in Itamar settlement "to justify an aggressive act against the Gaza Strip." Al-Nounou said that the killing might be a result of a criminal act, while some Israeli officials said there was a connection between Hamas and the attackers. » Read more

No major policy changes expected in Israel following deadly attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Adam Gonn - March 13, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli government on Saturday night responded to the murder of five settlers in Itamar neighborhood by allowing the construction of about 500 new homes in settlements across the West Bank. During Sunday's cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Palestinian National Authority's tolerance of "incitement" for the Itamar tragedy. "We expect much more unequivocal condemnation, but even more than that, we want to see unequivocal action by the Palestinian National Authority to stop allowing this incitement," Netanyahu said in a statement. » Read more

Abbas: PNA would have prevented deadly attack if it had early information ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 14, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority would have prevented a deadly attack on a Jewish settlement if it had information in advance, President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday. "If we had known, we would have prevented it using all our ways, " Abbas said in an interview with Israel Radio. "We want to know who committed the operation," Abbas added, referring to the stabbing of five Israeli settlers, members of one family, to death in the West Bank settlement of Itamar early Saturday. » Read more

Settlement killings inhuman, Abbas tells Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters March 14, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday the killing of a Jewish settler couple and three of their children was "inhuman", telling Israel he was determined to help catch those responsible. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had complained that Abbas's administration insufficiently condemned the attack and even encouraged such bloodshed through "incitement" in official Palestinian forums. "This was inhuman and immoral. We deplore this incident, without a doubt. It is an abomination," Abbas told Israel Radio. » Read more