'Israel using int'l climate to abandon two-state solution'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
April 5, 2011 - 12:00am

The PLO's Executive Committee on Tuesday accused Israel of exploiting the global climate to abandon the two-state solution, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA. A statement quoted in the report cited the Monday approval of 942 housing units in Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood as well as the approval of master plans for several West Bank settlements.

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PM green lights West Bank settlement expansion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yair Altman - April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, it what seems to be a move inspired by right-wing pressures, agreed Sunday on a new zoning plan for the West Bank settlement of Nofim. The rare move effectively enables further developments of the settlement. Meanwhile, President Shimon Peres is expected to meet with US president Barack Obama later this week in Washington. So far the defense minister and other senior officials have abstained from altering the sensitive status-quo surrounding the settlements.

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Settlers angry expansion plans exclude Itamar
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yair Altman - April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

The Jerusalem Municipality approved Monday the construction of 942 homes in the neighborhood of Gilo, ahead of a meeting between President Shimon Peres and US leaders. The announcement came after settler leaders expressed criticism of the government's new zoning plan for West Bank settlements, which doesn't include Itamar and other settlements. The plans will next have to be approved by the planning and construction committee. The neighborhood is by consensus considered within Israeli territory, but construction there has previously spurred US and international criticism.

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Barak to approve development plans for 4 West Bank settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak is set to sign off on four settlement development plans, Haaretz learned on Sunday, joining two plans Barak had earlier decided to approve. The plans are for the settlements of Rotem, Eshkolot-Sansana, Halamish-Neve Tzuf, Nofim, and Kiryat Netafim. All of the above settlements were founded following a government decision, and all of their lands are converted state lands. The plans set to be signed will in fact perpetuate the status quo in these settlements, disallowing any new legal construction, making the planned signing more of a symbolic achievement.

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In Sheikh Jarrah, Israelis and Palestinians Are Neighbors in Name Only
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Miller - April 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Sheikh Raed Salah stood up, wiping his hands from the earth that stuck to them after planting an olive sapling in the backyard of the Al-Kurd family in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Head of the Northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Salah had come to the neighborhood to show solidarity with the Al-Kurds, who have been forced to share their home with a group of eight Israeli Jews.

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Palestinian president calls for settlement freeze to resume talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called on Israel to stop Jewish settlement construction in order to resume peace talks. In a meeting with visiting Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, Abbas added that he was hopeful that "the independent Palestinian statehood with its capital in East Jerusalem would be created "very soon." The peace talks have stalled since September due to a dispute on the resumption of Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank.

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Israel police, settlers clash at West Bank outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli police arrested nine Jewish settlers in a violent scuffle at a West Bank outpost late Tuesday night, local media reported on Wednesday. Israeli police officers claimed to have been attacked at Givat Ronen, south of Nablus, when they attempted to carry out an arrest warrant issued against a resident. Some people hurled stones at the squad cars, breaking their windows and slashing tires, police said. In response, police fired tear gas to disperse the civilians.

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Israeli official: Decision next month on final approval for 1,500 east Jerusalem apartments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 29, 2011 - 12:00am

An Israeli official says the government will decide next month whether to give final approval for 1,500 new housing units in Jewish enclaves in disputed east Jerusalem. Roi Lachmanovich's announcement Tuesday draws new spotlight on the controversial issue. An approval would further distance prospects for restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Israeli construction in east Jerusalem is contentious because Palestinians want the area for their future capital. Israel annexed the territory after capturing it in 1967.

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Awarta residents DNA tested in Itamar case
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 29, 2011 - 12:00am

The deputy mayor of Awarta and two of his brothers were detained along with dozens of others Tuesday morning by Israeli forces. Officials say the detained men are being given DNA tests and questioned by soldiers. The detentions come as the investigation into the murders of five Israeli settlers - including two children and an infant - enters its third week. More than 40 had been detained from the village in the first week of the investigation, and foreign workers in the settlement were said to have been questioned.

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Report: Dozens of Palestinians arrested in connection to Itamar murders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
March 29, 2011 - 12:00am

Dozens of Palestinians were arrested and given DNA tests in the West Bank town of Awarta in connection to the recent murder of five family members in the nearby settlement of Itamar, Ma'an News Agency reported on Tuesday. Earlier this month, suspected terrorists entered the West Bank settlement of Itamar and murdered Udi and Ruth Fogel, along with three of their young children, including their three-month-old baby, before fleeing the scene. Ma'an reported that among those arrested was the deputy mayor of Awarta and two of his brothers.

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