Talks go on despite W. Bank construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon, Hilary Leila Krieger - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am


Despite angry statements from the Palestinians and the Arab world, and condemnations from the US and the EU, Israel's announcement Monday of new housing starts in the settlements did not derail the diplomatic process; US envoy George Mitchell is expected here Saturday night, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to Egypt for talks on Sunday. "The settlements aren't the be-all, end-all" of American policy efforts, one State Department official told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. "Our ultimate goal [is] to create the conditions for negotiations."


Hamas, Fatah set to reconcile by 2010
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am


Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal's recent visit to Egypt has brought the Islamist movement and Fatah closer to ending their differences, sources close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip revealed on Tuesday. In another sign of rapprochement between the two parties, Hamas has welcomed plans by senior Fatah officials to visit the Gaza Strip for talks aimed at resolving the crisis. The Fatah officials who are expected to visit the Strip include Nabil Sha'ath, Jibril Rajoub, Mahmoud al-Aloul and Fakhri Bsaiso.


B'Tselem: 773 of Palestinians killed in Cast Lead were civilians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 9, 2009 - 12:00am


How many Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead? Eight months after the operation, it seems as though the differences between the two sides' figures are only getting bigger.


Former Gaza strongman Dahlan appointed to Fatah information post
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 9, 2009 - 12:00am


Fatah’s newly-elected Central Committee appointed controversial former Gaza strongman Muhammad Dahlan to be charge of information on Tuesday night. The committee, which was reconstituted at the party’s convention in Bethlehem in August, held a meeting on Tuesday in the security compound (Al-Muqata’a) in Ramallah and Central committee member Jamal Muheisin told Ma’an that Ahmad (Abu Mahir) Ghneim was appointed Deputy Chair and Secretary of Fatah movement.


Erekat to US, UN, Greece: Settlements and peace two separate tracks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 9, 2009 - 12:00am


The Israeli government chose the path of settlements instead of peace, Head of the Negotiations Affairs Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat said Wednesday. Erekat called the Israeli government’s insistence on creating “facts on the ground” only intensifies the deception when its leaders claim they want peace, he told UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robery Serry and US Consul General Daniel Rubenstein in a meeting alongside Greek Consul General Soterios Athanasius.


Abed Rabbo: Israel killing peace process before it begins
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 9, 2009 - 12:00am


Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank is intended to terminate the peace process before it even starts, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Wednesday. Abed Rabbo told the Russia Today TV network, “They know quite well that such steps will provoke the Palestinians and the Arabs, and even the international community who agreed that settlements must stop as a major part in the Road Map plan. Thus, the Israeli government’s aim is to thwart the political efforts that will eventually lead to the two-state solution.”


Israel picks contractors for new settlement homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
September 9, 2009 - 12:00am


Israel has picked contractors for 486 new homes in a settlement in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, officials said on Wednesday, days after approving hundreds of new homes in the West Bank. "We published the winner of the bids," a spokesman for the Israel Lands Authority said. He was clarifying an earlier statement that said the tendering process had been reopened. Tenders were first invited in October 2008 but authorities rejected all the bids because of pricing disagreements. Authorities last month reversed the decision following an appeal by companies that had tendered.


Israel pushes ahead with East Jerusalem building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Jonathan Adams - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am


Israel announced building plans in contested East Jerusalem today in a move likely to complicate US-Israel talks over a freeze on Israeli settlements in disputed territories. The reports came days after Israel announced other plans to build new settlements in the West Bank (see a map of the settlements here). The Obama administration has pressed Israel for a freeze on all settlement activity as a condition for a return to peace talks with the Palestinians. Israel has shrugged off that demand.


Taking Exception: A Genuine Effort for Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jimmy Carter - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am


I notice that Elliott Abrams has contradicted some points in my Sept. 6 op-ed "The Elders' View of the Middle East" (though my suggested title, "What Next for the Holy Land," would have been a better headline).



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