'Voluntary Settler Return Law’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ami Ayalon - August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is impossible to defer any longer. Most importantly, we will soon be facing the end of the construction freeze imposed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last year, the convening of the Knesset’s winter session, the recent Arab League resolutions and the elections for the two houses of Congress in the United States. This quadrangle of political influence is a signal that we must act now.

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Stand against Israel's extremists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Washington Jewish Week
by Ori Nir - (Opinion) August 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli soldiers last week again had to chase lawless settlers on the hills of the West Bank. This time, it was settlers from Yitzhar and Bracha, near Nablus, who vandalized Palestinian property, blocked roads, torched fields, sabotaged Israel Defense Forces vehicles, punched, kicked Israeli police officers, cursed and harassed them and resisted arrest -- all in reaction to the demolition of two illegally built structures at an outpost near Yitzhar.

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Violence as Hebron outpost evacuated
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 5, 2010 - 12:00am

An illegal Israeli settlement outpost erected near the larger Kiyrat Arba settlement in Hebron was evacuated by Israeli forces on Thursday morning, sparking violence from squatters. The outpost, a collection of wood buildings and tents in Hebron's Al-Buwayra area, was taken down and more than a dozen settlers removed from the area, who proceeded to torch Palestinian lands, witnesses said.

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Israeli forces demolish rebuilt Area C structures
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 5, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's Civil Administration returned to the Jordan Valley on Thursday to demolish 23 structures recently rebuilt by residents and farmers in Al-Farisiya. The town, in the Tubas district located across the highway from the Nahal Rotem settlement, is part of the nearby Sdemot Mehola. The area has a total of five settlements, most engaged in farming, with more than half of the settlement-occupied land in the northern part of the Jordan Valley used for agriculture.

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517,774 Jewish settlers live in West Bank: report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Around 517,774 Jewish settlers live in settlements in the West Bank, according to a report published Tuesday by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). According to the report, settlements in the West Bank were distributed into four strips, namely the eastern strip including 28 settlements, mountain strip including 31 settlements, western hills strip including 48 settlements and the greater Jerusalem strip including 37 settlements.

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U.S. group launches campaign against West Bank settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - August 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Americans for Peace Now, a sister group to the dovish Israeli group Peace Now, has announced the launching a unique campaign on Monday, meant to sway public opinion against containing settlement construction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the construction freeze West Bank settlements, due to expire on September 26, in last November, after months of pressure from the Obama administration, and following a Palestinian refusal to begin talks without one.

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Israel approves new east Jerusalem apartments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
August 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli municipal officials have approved the building of 40 apartments in a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem's disputed eastern sector. The move could undermine efforts to restart direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. It comes as U.S. peace envoy David Hale is visiting the region. Municipality spokesman Stephen Miller confirmed the approval and said on Tuesday that construction would continue for residents of all faiths in Jerusalem.

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Fruitless talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Suddenly the mood music for a resumption of direct talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis has changed key and grown louder. The Arab League Thursday endorsed such negotiations subject to Palestinian judgment on timing. It would seem Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s speculation that direct talks could be under way by the middle of this month, was not merely diplomatic window-dressing.

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U.S. group launches campaign against West Bank settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Americans for Peace Now, a sister group to the dovish Israeli group Peace Now, has announced the launching a unique campaign on Monday, meant to sway public opinion against containing settlement construction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the construction freeze West Bank settlements, due to expire on September 26, in last November, after months of pressure from the Obama administration, and following a Palestinian refusal to begin talks without one.

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Israel believes Abbas will bide time on direct talks until settlement freeze nears end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff, Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Officials in Jerusalem believe that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attempt to delay at all cost the beginning of direct peace negotiations with Israel, even after the Arab League gave the green light for the process at a special session on Thursday. A senior source in Jerusalem said that Abbas will likely wait until September, when Israel's temporary settlement freeze expires, before declaring his own decision on the matter.

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