East Jerusalem | The American Task Force on Palestine

Let’s get serious about our future
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Sarah Kreimer - (Opinion) January 19, 2012 - 12:00am

In the Biblical narrative, when Jacob went out to reach a reconciliation with Esau, he sent flocks of goats and sheep and camels ahead of him – as a sign of good faith, and to appease his brother. He also took defensive action, dividing his camp into two groups, not knowing whether Esau would attack in revenge for Jacob’s having taken his birthright years before. In the end, the brothers reconciled, agreeing to live separately in the Land.

East Jerusalem Parks Plan ‘Fences in Palestinians’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - January 12, 2012 - 12:00am

It is littered with rubbish thrown there by the residents of the two Palestinian neighbourhoods that bookend the 75-hectare slope, and it is besieged by the din of cars and lorries rumbling down the nearby road that connects central Jerusalem with the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim.

230 more colonist homes to be built in occupied Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Nasouh Nazzal - January 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Ramallah: Israeli authorities announced the construction of 230 new colonist homes in occupied East Jerusalem. 117 homes will be built in Gabal Abu Ghunaim area close to Al Aqsa compound and the second tender of 113 homes will be built in two colonies of Gosh Etzion south of Occupied East Jerusalem. The building of more illegal Jewish homes are expected to be announced in the coming weeks which will be expanding the colonies of Gifat Hazat and Har Adar.

Jerusalem mayor intends to contour city border along security barrier
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
December 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is considering a number of plans that would largely shift the city's meandering eastern municipal boundary to more closely follow the security barrier abutting largely Palestinian-populated areas, the city said on Thursday. A statement sent to Xinhua said the plan would limit municipal services to areas west of the security barrier, and leave areas on the eastern side to be dealt with by the Civil Administration (CA), an army entity that sees to the daily needs of the Palestinian population in the West Bank.

Israel court rules against evicting two East Jerusalem Palestinian families
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - December 19, 2011 - 12:00am

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court has rejected two separate lawsuits seeking the eviction of two Palestinian families from homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. In both cases, the plaintiff said the homes had been sold to new owners who wanted the Palestinian families out. Two judges rejected those claims Thursday. The lawsuits were filed by two groups closely linked to Elad, an organization supporting Jewish settlement in the area, and to Elad chairman David Be'eri, who is also the Israel representative of one of the groups seeking the eviction.

Israel razing more Palestinian homes, wells-monitors
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - December 13, 2011 - 12:00am

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.

Israel OKs new settler homes in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 8, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel has approved construction of a new Jewish enclave in the heart of a Palestinian neighborhood of annexed East Jerusalem, state-owned Channel One TV reported Wednesday. The channel said the 14-home project, to be named Maale David, was approved late Wednesday by the Jerusalem city council's planning committee and was likely to spark fresh international condemnation of Israel's settlements policy. It is to be sited in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, near an existing Jewish settlement of 1,000 people, the report said.

US 'disappointed' by new Israeli settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Google News
December 8, 2011 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON — The United States expressed disappointment Thursday over Israeli settlement activity after the approval of construction of a new Jewish enclave in annexed east Jerusalem. However, the US State Department also said that it opposed a call by the Palestinians to take the issue to the UN Security Council, where Washington vetoed in February a resolution condemning Israeli settlements.

Jerusalem orders ramp to Temple Mount and Al Aqsa Mosque closed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - December 8, 2011 - 12:00am

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- Jerusalem officials have ordered a ramp leading from the Western Wall plaza up to Temple Mount and Al Aqsa mosque closed immediately, a controversial move in an area of competing religious and political claims. The Mughrabi Ramp, which is used mostly by tourists and Israeli security personnel, is a temporary structure built after the previous bridge partially collapsed during the stormy winter of 2004.

Without peace talks, Israel must leave East Jerusalem alone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 7, 2011 - 12:00am

As the diplomatic process has sunk deeper into hibernation, acts whose sole purpose is to tighten Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem have multiplied. Thus even as the Palestinians have given the Quartet a proposal on security arrangements and permanent borders in the West Bank, Israel is advancing proposals to change the master plans of neighborhoods over the Green Line.