August 2nd

Palestinian Prime Minister: Unilateral Declaration of Statehood a Pipedream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Felice Friedson, Benjamin Joffe-Walt - August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Faya’d has ruled out any unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood. “There is not going to be a unilateral declaration of statehood,” Faya’d told The Media Line during a private meeting in his office. “What’s the point? We did that in 1988, and what did it get us?” The statement was a public rejection of increasing calls from minority Palestinian factions to recalibrate the Palestinian struggle away from a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and towards a shared, bi-national, secular and democratic state.

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Ramallah building boom symbolizes West Bank growth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

The din of earth-movers leveling the hilly terrain of Ramallah for construction is unremitting as modern buildings shoot up all over the West Bank city. Once a mere village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Ramallah has seen its population double in the last 10 years and land prices surge, in part due to the fact it falls within the 40 percent of the West Bank where Palestinians can build without Israeli permission.

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Abbas wants a trilateral meeting between aides before direct talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration is attempting to win Israel's agreement to a Palestinian effort to hold a trilateral meeting next week to set the terms of reference, agenda and timetable for direct negotiations with the Palestinians. The Palestinians also want to discuss the future of Israel's freeze on settlement construction, which is scheduled to expire on September 26. If Israel agrees to the meeting, it will be the first significant direct talks with the Palestinian Authority since Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister last year.

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July 30th

The Arab League approves direct negotiations, but analysts believe Pres. Abbas will wait until September to initiate them. Jeffrey Robbins says some of Israel's critics are being unfair. UN officials criticize the seizure of Palestinian residential building in occupied East Jerusalem by settlers and police as “provocative.” A UN committee tells Israel to end the blockade of Gaza. A rocket fired from Gaza hits southern Israel. Palestinian security forces have created a new climate in the West Bank. Yossi Sarid says Palestinians have fulfilled most of their roadmap obligations but Israel hasn't. Daniel Seidemann says Palestinians in Jerusalem are a barely tolerated minority. UN summer camps in Gaza compete with those of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Financial Times interviews PM Fayyad. Ahmad Majdoubeh says security is essential for peace. George Giacaman doubts direct negotiations will change much.

Playing politics: summer camp for Gaza's children
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The boys sitting in the shade of an awning erected on a Gaza beach are only half listening to the man addressing them through a megaphone. After all, school's out for the summer and there is football to be played and the sea to be swum in. Some of the 100 or so boys whisper among themselves, others are busy burying their own or a friend's legs in the hot sand. But when the man asks, "What is our slogan?" they snap to attention, responding in unison: "Resistance!"

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Israeli settlers evict Palestinian family from their home of 70 years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli settlers took over a Palestinian home in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem's Old City today, evicting about 45 members of an extended family which has occupied the building for more than 70 years. The settlers claimed to have documentation to prove they had purchased the building from the owners. The Palestinian tenants, who have been fighting attempts to evict them for many years, were challenging the takeover in court. A police spokesman said the Israelis had entered the home "based on documents claiming that they owned the property".

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'Abbas to give negotiations green light by September'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Even though the Arab League agreed in principle to direct negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to insist on conditions and guarantees before concluding the phase of indirect proximity talks. However, Western diplomats estimate that he will change his stance by the beginning of September. Western diplomatic sources quoted by British Telegraph newspaper on Thursday said Abbas would not withstand the pressure for a very long time, and "is preparing the ground for what could be the gamble of his political career."

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Sincerity a must for Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Ahmad Majdoubeh - (Opinion) July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Recent high-level meetings in Washington and the region, and talk about the need for direct negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis on final status issues, indicate that something is in the offing. Peace advocates in the region and abroad always find it positive when the parties to the conflict are moving in the direction of peace, or, at least, exchanging views on how to jump-start the process. Apathy and stalemate are extremely harmful to both peace and the parties involved. As long as the momentum of peace efforts is kept, there is always hope. And hope is essential.

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A barely tolerated minority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Daniel Seidemann - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas-affiliated Palestinian parliament member Mohammed Abu Tir - renowned for his bright orange beard - is my neighbor in Jerusalem. We live about a mile apart. I've never met him, nor do I care to. I have no illusions about Hamas. Abu Tir has just been released after spending four years in Israeli jail in because of his membership of the Change and Reform Party, which is associated with Hamas (and which both Israel and the Palestinian Authority allowed to participate in the 2006 legislative elections ). He is now facing exile. Not new charges, not a new indictment, not a trial.

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Is there really a difference?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by George Giacaman - (Opinion) July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Syria and Israel negotiated directly in the US in 2000 and indirectly in 2008. The PLO and Israel negotiated indirectly first in the late 1980s and directly since the start of the Oslo process. Negotiations so far have not led to a comprehensive peace on either track. What moral can be drawn about the modus operandi, direct or indirect? None. The problem lies elsewhere.

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