Palestinian Political Party Gears Up for Rare Meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Rachelle Kliger - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am Fatah members will be gathering in Bethlehem in August for what will be the party’s first conference in 20 years. The general congress of the most prominent Palestinian political party has drawn a great deal of interest, as more than 1,500 delegates will be discussing the future of the movement that shaped Palestinian history, and electing a new leadership. » Read more

Britain backs call for Israeli settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters July 16, 2009 - 12:00am A freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank could help restart the peace process in the region, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday. "The deadlock has to be broken in some way," Brown told a committee of MPs. "I feel that if the Israelis were prepared to freeze settlement construction, there would be a response in the Arab world. And I think that is a way that you can see that movement forward could happen." » Read more

Foreign Policy Address at the Council on Foreign Relations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm Thank you very much, Richard, and I am delighted to be here in these new headquarters. I have been often to, I guess, the mother ship in New York City, but it’s good to have an outpost of the Council right here down the street from the State Department. We get a lot of advice from the Council, so this will mean I won’t have as far to go to be told what we should be doing and how we should think about the future. » Read more

Palestinians suspend Al Jazeera in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm The Palestinian government shut down the West Bank operations of the Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera yesterday, a day after a guest on the station accused the Palestinian president of involvement in Yasser Arafat’s death. For the feisty news station – the Arab world’s most popular – the closure represents the latest clash with a Middle Eastern government. Israel often criticises it, Iraq has expelled it and Saudi Arabia only let it resume work recently after a long ban. » Read more

Shock of the new media ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Brian Whitaker - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am Whether true or not, the idea that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader who died rather mysteriously in 2004, had been deliberately poisoned continues to fascinate people. It's one of those stories that just won't go away – like the "murder" of Princess Diana and the various Kennedy assassination plots. » Read more

Ex-U.S. Diplomat Talks With Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler, Howard Schneider - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am To Hamas officials Bassem Naim and Mahmoud al-Zahar, a recent meeting in Switzerland with a former senior U.S. diplomat represented an opening in relations with the Obama administration, and a path to easing the Islamist group's isolation. "I hope it will be the beginning of addressing some of the mistakes of the last three years," Naim said of his talks with Thomas R. Pickering, a former undersecretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "This was a first meeting to investigate the positions in general terms of both parties without any commitment on any side." » Read more

Jewish Leaders Give Obama No Push-Back on Settlement Freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - July 15, 2009 - 12:00am Forty-five minutes at the White House was all it took to crystallize the new paradigm defining the relations among the Obama administration, the Jewish community and Israel. As Jewish leaders left their July 13 meeting with President Obama — “glowing,” according to one of the participants — it became clear that despite some misgivings regarding the tone Obama has used toward Israel, the bulk of the organized Jewish community is in full support of his peace efforts, including his demand for a complete freeze of Jewish settlements on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. » Read more

Blair: Improved PA security opens many doors ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli and Palestinian officials continue to meet at a technical and expert level to move economic projects forward, even though there are currently no high-level political negotiations, Quartet envoy Tony Blair told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. » Read more

World may back Iran op as part of deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post July 16, 2009 - 12:00am A deal taking shape between Israel and Western leaders will facilitate international support for an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities in exchange for concessions in peace negotiations with the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, The Times reported Thursday. According to one British official quoted by the paper, such an understanding could allow an Israeli attack "within the year." » Read more

Don't escape reality ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Dana Golan - (Opinion) July 16, 2009 - 12:00am The easiest thing is to claim that the testimonies of soldiers who took part in Operation Cast Lead are based on rumors, represent “rotten apples,” and were possibly even elicited from people posing as soldiers. Such response requires no more than recycling the previous reactions to such testimonials, which reflect the slippery slope our military establishment finds itself in. » Read more