Barely months into talks, will the freeze freeze a peace deal?
Media Mention of ATFP In Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

When the fat lady sings on Sept. 26, it may only be an intermission. That’s the word from an array of Mideast experts across the political spectrum. They are predicting that the seeming intractability between Israel and the Palestinians over whether Israel extends a settlement moratorium beyond its end date will not scuttle the peace talks. Instead, the observers say, the sides are likely employing the brinksmanship that has come to characterize Middle East peacemaking.

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Beyond optimism or pessimism: the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
In Print by Hussein Ibish - Common Ground News Service - September 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Washington, DC - While the build up to the renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations – the first direct talks in almost ten years to be brokered by the United States – was largely greeted with an excess of pessimism on the part of many observers, the fact that they have been resumed is, on its own, something of an achievement for US President Barack Obama and his administration. Indeed, it took almost a year of intensive diplomacy in order to get to these direct negotiations to get them going.

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Netanyahu’s subtle, insidious, unworkable demand
In Print by Hussein Ibish - NOW Lebanon (Opinion) - September 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently been reiterating the demand he has focused on since regaining power that Palestinians and other Arabs recognize Israel as not only a “Jewish state” but specifically as “the nation-state of the Jewish people.” This demand has been flatly rejected not only by the Palestinian leadership, but more recently by the Arab League.

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The UN says both Israel's and Hamas' accounts of the Gaza war are unacceptable. Sec. Clinton pressures Arab states to aid the PA. Controversy surrounds the assassination of a Hamas operative by Israel in the West Bank. At least one Palestinian is killed by Israelis in the Silwan area of occupied East Jerusalem. The PA announces a boycott against Israeli shops selling settlement goods. Israel's flotilla inquiry is wrapping up. Hamas' hunt for collaborators spreads panic in Gaza. Pres. Abbas hints at a compromise on settlements. Palestinians continue to work on Israeli settlement construction. A meeting between PM Fayyad and Deputy FM Ayalon reportedly ends badly. Aluf Benn says PM Netanyahu should freeze settlements. Settlers complain about the moratorium. The Israeli government is preparing for the aftermath of failed talks. Omar Rahman says it's unreasonable to ask Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Ali Ibrahim says Hamas has no credibility. Rami Khouri says the Palestinians need to regroup. Hussein Ibish analyzes Netanyahu's demand Palestinians recognize Israel as “the nation-state of the Jewish people.” Hussein Ibish analyzes Netanyahu's demand Palestinians recognize Israel as “the nation-state of the Jewish people,” and rejects both optimism and pessimism about the negotiations.

Netanyahu’s subtle, insidious, unworkable demand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently been reiterating the demand he has focused on since regaining power that Palestinians and other Arabs recognize Israel as not only a “Jewish state” but specifically as “the nation-state of the Jewish people.” This demand has been flatly rejected not only by the Palestinian leadership, but more recently by the Arab League.

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Time for the Palestinians to regroup
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

I was in Amman last week on the same day that US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton passed through for lunch with the king of Jordan and stressed how all the negotiators on the Palestinian-Israeli track were very serious about reaching an agreement. I was also in the Jordan Valley gazing across at some of the Israeli settlements as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged not to negotiate for a moment more if the Israelis continued building settlements after their partial freeze ended this month.

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Hamas and Dialogue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali Ibrahim - (Opinion) September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

It is not the first time that Hamas has announced its desire to begin dialogue with the United States. The only thing that is new this time is its' insistence. Hamas issued a statement confirming that it has sent a message to Barack Obama, via a US delegation that recently visited Gaza, inviting him to open direct dialogue with the group, and to remove what the group considers to be an American veto on Palestinian reconciliation.

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Israel's unreasonable demand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Omar Rahman - (Opinion) September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

"The Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state." This is the mantra of the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has been promoting this controversial idea as a condition of any peace deal. But is such recognition valid, necessary, or even appropriate? This question will certainly remain at the heart of negotiations with an Israeli leadership that views such recognition as imperative. Although this is not the first time Israel has sought some form of validation, it varies from the past in stark and troubling ways.

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Rumors of Collaboration Leave Gazans Uneasy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Miller - September 21, 2010 - 12:00am

The arrest of an unknown number of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and belligerent statements by Hamas officials have sparked rumors that many of the detainees could be charged with collaborating with Israel, a crime punishable by death. Human Rights activists and family members of some of the detained men told The Media Line that these detainees have virtually disappeared and haven’t been heard from in weeks.

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Gov’t prepares ‘contingency plans’ if direct talks blow up
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

With five days left until the settlement construction moratorium ends, talks are continuing in the US between Israeli, Palestinian Authority and American officials to find a “creative” solution to the issue, even as Jerusalem was preparing for the possibility the PA may indeed walk away from direct talks over the matter.

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