http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/08/27/1007497/dont-believe-what-you-read

By Eric Fingerhut · August 27, 2009

Lara Friedman at Americans for Peace Now blasts a Haaretz report today that the United States has dropped its demand for a settlement freeze in eastern Jerusalem. She notes that the writer of the story, Barak Ravid, "has repeatedly reported rumor and spin as news (including his reporting, not once but twice, that the Israeli Ambassador in Washington was 'summoned' to the State Department, when both times this is not what happened, as confirmed by other journalists)":

Peace Now says court's intervention required before buildings become 'another testament to demise of rule of law as it applies to Israeli population in West Bank'

READ Articles from Ynet & The Jerusalem Post

Today's Haaretz features an article headlined "U.S. drops demand for Israel building freeze in East Jerusalem."  A surprisingly authoritative-sounding headline, given the leak-free approach of the Mitchell team thus far. 

Savvy consumers of the news - including members of the peace camp who may be fearful that the Obama Administration, like so many US administrations that have gone before it, will eventually give in to Israel on these key issues - would do well to remember that in this kind of high-stakes political poker, a lot of what we hear in the press is spin (and bluffing). And we would all do well to wait and see what is actually agreed before passing judgment. If the agreement is good - however it is framed - then we will praise it.  If it is bad, there will be plenty of opportunity to criticize it at that time.

"Israel says it is nearing agreement with the US on settlement building in the occupied West Bank, after its PM held talks with a US envoy in London."

Aug. 26, 2009

by Shimon Shiffer et al.

In the course of his meeting with Brown, Netanyahu said that he would keep his promise to allow normal life to continue for the settlers. In other words, construction would continue to expand current settlements as well as public facilities -- but no new settlements would be created.

by Hagit Ofran, Peace Now Settlement Watch Director

Posted: August 26, 2009 04:00 PM

Following the meeting between US Senator Mitchell and Israeli PM Netanyahu, it seems that Israel and the US are getting close to some kind of agreement or understanding about a settlement freeze.

A settlement freeze is one of the key factors in order to enable a resumption of peace talks.

Unfortunately, I doubt I have to begin to look for another job. Settlement activity will always be one of the most important issues on the political agenda of our region.

8/25/09

Walla.co.il (online service) by Yehoshua Breier -- On the eve of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's meeting with special US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, in which the two men will discuss a settlement construction freeze, among other issues, today the Binyamin Regional Council has scheduled a tour for construction contractors in the settlement Neriya.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1110003.html

08/25/2009

By Chaim Levinson, Haaretz Correspondent

Defense Minister Ehud Barak intends to evacuate all unauthorized West Bank outposts within weeks.

"The defense minister has declared a number of times that the evacuation of illegal outposts is our obligation as a democratic state," Barak's office said in a statement released Tuesday. "This is a process which will be implemented in weeks, not years."

Ynet: "MKs, leftists tour West Bank outposts" followed by JTA: "Left-wing Israeli lawmakers visit outposts" & Ha'aretz: "Left-wing activists and MKs tour outposts, call for them to come down By Chaim Levinson, Haarez Correspondent"

Christian Friends of Israeli Communities (CFOIC) - a US non-profit organization dedicated to supporting settlements, and especially settlements in the West Bank heartland - is raising funds these days using a very simple message: help us block the two-state solution.  And we are not talking small money here: according to CFOIC's tax filings, in 2008 the group sent $1.1 million in cash support for West Bank settlers (as well as for settlers removed from Gaza).

CFOIC's latest fundraising pitch (click here to view/download a copy), sent out in an email this morning, ends with the following exhortation:

"Today even many who support Israel's right to exist and to have safe and secure borders have adopted the two-state solution concept.  But even if the whole world should choose this as the answer, as all major governments have, God's children must never compromise. Our only real choice is to stand firm on the word of God!  I choose to stand with the residents of Judea and Samaria. Will you join me? Even in these tough economic times, by making a generous contribution to support the people of Judea and Samaria, the people who are standing on God's word by living on His land, you, too, are choosing to stand on His word and to be blessed!Stand with Israel and Donate Now..."

For more fun from CFOIC, check out their "Save Israel" video...

ARTICLES from Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, AP, and Ynet appear below viedoes

VIDEOS

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1496937.php/Peace-unlikely-even-in-16-years-Israeli-Foreign-Minister-Roundup
 
Aug 23, 2009

Jerusalem - Israel and the Palestinians have been unable to reach a peace deal in the 16 years since the signing of the Oslo interim peace accords, and it is likely they will be not do so in the next 16 years, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday.

8/23/09

Ynet: "Minister Landau: Ya'alon was right - look at the Swedes"

by Roni Sofer

Government ministers slam Swedish organ harvesting report, while Yisrael Beiteinu's Landau lashes out at 'heavy damage caused to the State of Israel by Peace Now, the elites and the media.' Interior minister says won't grant work permits to Swedish newspaper's reporters
 
Ynet: "Peace Now: Landau inciting against Israel's Left"
 
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said in response to the minister of national infrastructure that "Uzi Landau is continuing a dangerous incitement campaign against Israel's Left and encouraging an atmosphere of violence".

Read articles from Ynet, Ha'aretz, Yedioth Achronoth, Jerusalem Post, JTA, and Reuters, Ynet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hagit-ofran/partial-freeze-on-israeli_b_264132.html

Posted: August 20, 2009 03:17 PM

President Obama, following his meeting with President Mubarak, said yesterday: "There has been movement in the right direction" referring to the reports in the Israeli media that the government of Israel agreed to freeze construction in the settlements and not to issue new construction-tenders until the end of 2009. On one hand, we should be happy, because such a freeze proves that even an extreme right wing government cannot ignore the White House and run wild and build in the territories without limits. But on the other hand, the tenders which the government is freezing, are only a small part of the construction in the territories. On the ground there are several projects under construction in the settlements.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gu040uEqBseQOYD0qpM5tCIElsPQ

By Ron Bousso (AFP) - 8/20/09

JERUSALEM -- Israel's hawkish premier on Tuesday agreed to curtail construction in the occupied West Bank in a gesture to Washington that critics said fell far short of US demands for a settlement freeze.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias agreed no new tenders for settlement construction in the West Bank should be issued until early 2010.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108779.html

08/20/2009

By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent

Why has ex-IDF chief Ya'alon allied himself to a far-rightist who Netanyahu called 'cancer' within Likud?

Had we not seen it, we would not have believed it: The vice prime minister, a senior Likud member and close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a member of the six-member diplomatic-security forum, hanging around with the man whom Netanyahu tried with all his might to oust from Likud, the man Netanyahu defines as "a cancer at the
heart of the movement."

http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN20533284

Thu Aug 20, 2009

Obama urges Israel, Palestinians and Arab states to act

* Obama call follows conversation with Jordan's king

* Israel, Arabs disagree on who should make first move (Adds details and quotes)

By Matt Spetalnick

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-settlements19-2009aug19,0,717563.story

Israel's prime minister has defended such projects in the West Bank. But officials say he is also quietly seeking a compromise that would facilitate a revival of peace talks with Palestinians.

By Richard Boudreaux
August 19, 2009

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1917389,00.html

By Matthew Kalman / Har Bracha Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009

Har Bracha -- the Mount of Blessing -- is a windswept hilltop settlement of Jews overlooking the Palestinian city of Nablus. According to biblical tradition, it is where Joshua and the children of Israel first entered the Holy Land. And, on Aug. 18, Mike Huckabee -- a Baptist preacher, two-time governor of Arkansas and once and perhaps future Republican presidential candidate -- received a heartfelt blessing from the local Orthodox Jewish minister.

Last month, members of the largest pro-Israel lobbying organization in the country gathered in Washington, DC. And no, I'm not talking about AIPAC. 4,000 evangelical Christians participated in Christians United for Israel's (CUFI) 4^th annual Washington Summit on July 20-22, hearing from speakers such as Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA), and spending a day lobbying on Capitol Hill.

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/08/18/1007314/israeli-officials-reportedly-agree-to-building-freeze

August 18, 2009

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli officials reportedly have agreed to freeze construction in the West Bank until the beginning of 2010.

JTA first reported the unofficial freeze on July 6.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias have agreed to a moratorium on building in the settlements in order to give the peace process a chance to move forward, several news outlets reported this week.

http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE57H2B920090818

Tue Aug 18, 2009

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refrained from initiating new housing projects in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, hoping to reach common ground with Washington, a government minister said on Tuesday.

"Since the government was established five months ago, no tenders have been issued for Judea and Samaria," Housing Minister Ariel Atias said, referring to government invitations for bids for new construction in West Bank settlements.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD9A581EO0 (link has expired)

By MATTI FRIEDMAN (AP) - 8/18/09

JERUSALEM -- Israel has quietly stopped approving new building projects in the West Bank while publicly still refusing U.S. demands for an official settlement freeze, government officials said Tuesday.

President Barack Obama's administration has pushed Israel to shelve all settlement construction to allow peace talks to go forward, a demand Israel has said it cannot accept. The issue has grown into a rare public disagreement between the two close allies.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3763339,00.html
 

08.17.09

US Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee's visit to disputed east Jerusalem building site at Shepherd Hotel met with demonstrations from both sides of political spectrum as some 150 right- and left-wing protestors gather outside site. MK Uri Ariel: We are building and will continue to build in Jerusalem. Peace Now: Part of larger plan to commandeer east Jerusalem
 
by Ronen Medzini

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418620948&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Aug. 16, 2009
Abe Selig , THE JERUSALEM POST

A Monday reception featuring former US presidential hopeful and leading Republican politician Mike Huckabee at the Shepherd Hotel in east Jerusalem has turned into a hotly contested venue for protests both for and against Israeli policy in the area.

Two groups - Peace Now and Im Tirtzu - have called for a protest and counter-protest, respectively, on Monday evening, to coincide with the former Arkansas governor's planned appearance at the disputed east Jerusalem landmark. The groups represent either side of the growing debate over Jewish building rights in the annexed parts of the capital.

Jo-Ann Mort, CEO of ChangeCommunications, is an Executive Committee Member of Americans for Peace Now and often writes about Israel and Palestinian issues

14TH AUGUST 2009 -- ISSUE 161

Palestine's warring leaders have long kept their own people under siege--but as Hamas's popularity wanes, there is fresh hope for the peace process

By all accounts the Fatah Party Congress earlier this month--the first in 20 years--was a big success. It showed democracy in action, the type that the White House would no doubt like to see throughout the Arab world, with real debate and clean elections. But it was as much about who was not in the meetings room in Bethlehem on 4th-6th August as it was about those in attendance. And those who were not in attendance are as critical to Fatah's success--and that of the Palestinian nationalist camp that Fatah represents--as those who were.

Jo-Ann Mort, CEO of ChangeCommunications, is an Executive Committee Member of Americans for Peace Now and often writes about Israel and Palestinian issues

August 14, 2009

Despite being imprisoned in Israel, Marwan Barghouti proved his popularity at the Fatah party congress. Here's why the politician holds promise for his party and Hamas -- as well as Palestine and Israel in general.

By all accounts, the Fatah party congress held in Bethlehem from Aug. 4 to 11 -- the first in 20 years for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' party -- was a success.

From Opinion.jpost.com

It is sitting right in front of me. A three-page cable from Boston to Jerusalem sent by consul-general Nadav Tamir expressing concern for Israel's international image following recent clashes with the US administration. I have read secret diplomatic cables for 30 years and I can testify that this is the kind of report professional diplomacy was created for.

Without seeing the current diplomatic correspondence (as I am no longer a government official), I can say that this is one of the most important cables sent by an Israeli diplomat this year - or maybe even this decade.

From Washington Jewish Weekly
By Ori Nir

Israelis were recently appalled by reports of sadistic hazing in the Israel Defense Forces' tank corps. Israeli newspapers uncovered routine patterns of beating, lashing, severe humiliation and other forms of brutal behavior toward new recruits.

But it seems that few were truly surprised. In the eyes of many, the story was depicted as one more expression of the growing brutalization of the IDF and of Israeli society. Hardly a day goes by without a murder, a road-rage related stabbing, a heartbreaking case of domestic violence, a Mafia-style drive-by shooting or an incident of teen violence.

Aug. 12, 2009
Tovah Lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST

The Civil Administration has issued stop-work orders on 12 modular homes that it claims have been illegally placed at the edge of a street on a hilltop within the Kochav Ya'acov settlement.

Rumors swirled on Wednesday that the Civil Administration had issued demolition orders on the homes, of which at least two are already inhabited by newly arrived French immigrants. The Civil Administration said it had not yet done so, but planned to pursue the matter of the illegal homes.

The leaked cable that Israel's Consul General in Boston, Nadav Tamir, sent to his superiors in Jerusalem last week is still reverberating in Israel and the U.S.In the confidential cable, which was leaked to the Israeli media, Tamir harshly criticized the Israeli government for escalating its disagreements with Washington's regional peace initiative.

I sat down to write how troubling I found the reaction of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Lieberman to the leaked cable sent by Israel's Consul General in Boston, Nadav Tamir.

I was going to write about the objectionable "kill the messenger" syndrome (see the case of the Israeli government's efforts to silence "Breaking the Silence"), about the danger to Israeli democracy and the damage to the professionalism of Israeli representatives abroad (Tamir is an outstanding professional).

Some of the large Jewish groups were quick to cry "gevalt" at Fatah's General Assembly in Bethlehem even before the conference ended. Granted, there were inflammatory speeches and some disturbing displays of anti-Israeli sentiment.

Last month, the Jerusalem Post reprinted an article by APN's president and CEO, Debra DeLee, in which she explained why the Obama administration is so keen on an Israeli settlement freeze and recommended that Israel's government work with President Obama to advance peace. 

The article prompted a frothing-at-the-mouth reaction by Martin Sherman, whose tagline is the "academic director of the Jerusalem Summit and lectures in security studies at Tel Aviv University."

8/7/09

Fatah's sixth convention in Bethlehem has attracted considerable
attention, due to internal battles among its factions and members of the
movement's leadership. But these battles have focused on taking control
of key positions within the movement and on constitutional issues. They
skipped almost completely over Fatah's approach to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/oppenheimer/entry/hope_from_bethlehem_posted_by

Thursday Aug 06, 2009 
 
At its convention in Bethlehem this week, Fatah refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or adopt Hebrew as its official language, and didn't conclude with a rendition of HaTikva (Israel's national anthem). What a disappointment, what a blow to the champions of peace.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh tells APN that he supports "sequential, reciprocal, concurent" measures to be taken by Israel and the Arab world in support of credible negotiations of a regional peace deal, but comments that no "unilateral action" should be taken, which might undermine peace efforts.

On August 4, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published a full page ad in the New York Times challenging President Barack Obama's approach to bringing peace to Israel.

The ad urged the Obama administration to stop pressuring Israel over settlements. "The settlements are not the impediment," it claimed.

Abe Foxman is a smart person, a responsible person, an honorable person with a strong moral core. I have known him for years and I respect him.

August 4, 2009

Broad condemnation of the eviction of Palestinians in east Jerusalem reflects growing international anger over settlements

by Ian Black

It isn't necessary to be unduly cynical to wonder exactly what it takes for British diplomats to be "appalled" by anything. But that was the reaction to Israel's eviction of Palestinian families from the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah - the ugly face of ethnic cleansing and the creation of new "facts on the ground" that make nonsense of hopes for any movement in the moribund peace process.

Aug 4, 2009

by Roi Sharon -- Clear air, a desert view, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi and an ecological environment. This is not a moshav in the Arava, not even an hotel on the Dead Sea--but rather an outpost beyond the Green Line, in eastern Binyamin. After the settlements realized that they could also make money from tourism, recently even the illegal outposts have begun to offer B&Bs. In the outpost of Mitzpe Hagit in the Judean Desert, and also a few kilometers north of there in the Keda outpost, two guest cabins were put up that overlook the Jordan Valley.

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said Israel's evictions of Palestinian families from east Jerusalem are "deeply regrettable" and urged the close US ally to refrain from such "provocative" actions.

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst, co-founder and co-editor of the Israeli-Palestinian internet dialogue bitterlemons.org and Middle East roundtable bitterlemons-international.org. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, and a former senior official with the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency. His views do not necessarily reflect those of Americans for Peace Now or Peace Now.

Secretary Gates' trip to Israel; a plan for US sanctions on Iran; Arab reluctance to offer normalization measures to Israel; potential revival of Israel-Lebanon peace talks

by Leonard Fein

In the course of what was likely intended as a critique of the Obama administration's Middle East policies -- specifically, its pressure on Israel regarding West Bank settlements -- Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, last week made an astonishing admission. 

As many of his colleagues at the helm of major American Jewish organizations, Foxman has over the years by and large been a conventional apologist for Israel. Now and then, he has staked out a somewhat independent course, but last week brought a full-throated, if inadvertent, reversal.

Jo-Ann Mort, CEO of ChangeCommunications, is an Executive Committee Member of Americans for Peace Now and often writes about Israel and Palestinian issues

The mantra of many in the Jewish community, and especially of the current Israeli government, that Jerusalem is the eternal, undivided capital of the Jewish people, does nothing to resolve the current stalemate over the city's status. Nor does saying those words make Jerusalem truly undivided. Most Jews - including those who live there - never experience the full breadth and depth of Jerusalem. Rather, they stop at the imaginary line where a wall once divided west from east before 1967, as if it were still a divided city.

Peace Now claims that the entire outpost is built on private Palestinian land. The larger petition against the outpost, which has 17 permanent homes and 15 caravans, was filed by eight Palestinian farmers from the village of El Khader, together with Peace Now.

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Yariv Oppenheimer, the secretary general of Peace Now, is not optimistic about a peace breakthrough. If the regional settlement sought by Obama was to be attained, Oppenheimer said, Israel needed a "big leader" such as Ariel Sharon.