Poll: Palestinians back negotiations with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 31, 2010 - 12:00am

Two-thirds of Palestinians are in favor of either direct or indirect negotiations with Israel, the results of a new poll released Monday finds. The Palestinian Center for Public Opinion surveyed over 1,000 Palestinians from the West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and Gaza earlier this month, ahead of the resumption of direct talks in Washington on 2 September. Around one-third (31.7 percent) of Palestinians were in favor of resuming direct negotiations, while 31.1 percent favored continuing indirect talks.

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Fayyad 'sorry' for response to anti-talks forum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 31, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad apologized Monday evening for the actions of Palestinian Authority security forces at a conference meant to protest the PLO's decision to return to direct peace talks. "As prime minister, I am fully responsible for what happened and I apologize," Fayyad said during a news conference celebrating the "home stretch to freedom" and the start of the second year of the Plan of the 13th Government. "As I feel sorry when I say that, I feel confident that it will never be repeated," he added calling "what happened on Wednesday ... obviously a big error."

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Time stands still in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) August 31, 2010 - 12:00am

Say what you will about the Arab world, it's hard to earn its gratitude. President Obama went to Egypt and not Israel. He demanded that Israel cease adding new settlements in the West Bank. He treated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with a chilling disdain. For all of that, though, Obama's approval rating in Arab countries has sunk. Unlike almost a fifth of Americans, the Arab world clearly knows Obama is no Muslim.

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New Chance for Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) August 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, will open talks on a two-state solution on Thursday in Washington. These will be the first direct negotiations between the two sides in 20 months, and there will be an early test of the two leaders’ seriousness of purpose.

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Outlines Emerge of Future State in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - August 30, 2010 - 12:00am

As preparations intensify for a Palestinian-Israeli summit meeting in Washington on Thursday, the crude outlines of a Palestinian state are emerging in the West Bank, with increasingly reliable security forces, a more disciplined government and a growing sense among ordinary citizens that they can count on basic services.

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August 30th

Obama goes out on a limb for Middle East peace talks
Media Mention of ATFP In The Los Angeles Times - August 30, 2010 - 12:00am

After 18 months of faltering efforts to launch Middle East peace negotiations, President Obama is dramatically increasing his personal stake and his own political risk by hosting direct talks this week. Obama personally helped coax Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to come to Washington to meet with him Wednesday and resume talks the next day.

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The settlement issue looms as an early obstacle in direct talks. Tensions are running high as negotiations approach. Gadi Taub says settlements threaten the Zionist project. Several commentaries note Pres. Obama is taking a significant risk for peace. The Detroit Free Press says Obama can earn his Nobel Peace Prize by securing an end to the conflict. Pres. Abbas says talks must be serious, cannot proceed alongside settlement activity, and Israel will be to blame if they fail. Palestinian merchants clear shelves of settlement products. PM Netanyahu says he never agreed to limit settlement activity after Sept. 26. The US condemns, and Netanyahu distances himself from, statements by a leading Israeli rabbi calling for death to Abbas and all the Palestinians. Tony Karon speculates that the US may be positioning to impose its own formula after talks fail. Relations between Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza are deteriorating, and Abdullah Iskandar says Hamas has shown it will brook no opposition.

The settlement issue looms as an early obstacle in direct talks. Tensions are running high as negotiations approach. Gadi Taub says settlements threaten the Zionist project. Several commentaries note Pres. Obama is taking a significant risk for peace. The Detroit Free Press says Obama can earn his Nobel Peace Prize by securing an end to the conflict. Pres. Abbas says talks must be serious, cannot proceed alongside settlement activity, and Israel will be to blame if they fail. Palestinian merchants clear shelves of settlement products. PM Netanyahu says he never agreed to limit settlement activity after Sept. 26. The US condemns, and Netanyahu distances himself from, statements by a leading Israeli rabbi calling for death to Abbas and all the Palestinians. Tony Karon speculates that the US may be positioning to impose its own formula after talks fail. Relations between Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza are deteriorating, and Abdullah Iskandar says Hamas has shown it will brook no opposition.

U.S.: Rabbi's 'offensive' remarks harm peace efforts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - August 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The United States on Sunday condemned remarks by the spiritual leader of Israel's leading ultra-Orthodox party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who said the Palestinians should "perish". "We regret and condemn the inflammatory statements by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley. "These remarks are not only deeply offensive, but incitement such as this hurts the cause of peace." "As we move forward to relaunch peace negotiations, it is important that actions by people on all sides help to advance our effort, not hinder it."

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The Strip Under Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Abdullah Iskandar - August 29, 2010 - 12:00am

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has been escalating its political discourse against the Palestinian Authority, on the occasion of the latter answering Washington’s call for direct negotiations with Israel. The debate over taking such a step will thus prevail over other issues with the nearing of the date for starting these negotiations on the 2nd of next month.

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