Obama to host Middle East summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News September 22, 2009 - 12:00am In New York, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will be discussing the possibility of re-starting peace talks. But they have been blaming each other for blocking a US initiative. Israel has rejected US and Palestinian demands for a total freeze before a new round of talks can take place. 'Photo opportunity' President Obama is bringing Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas together for the first time since Mr Netanyahu came to office in March. » Read more

Israeli, Palestinian leaders anxious ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am A private session with President Barack Obama is a big diplomatic get — all the more so when it comes as world leaders are descending en masse on New York for the opening week of the United Nations General Assembly. But two foreign leaders seem apprehensive, to say the least, about their meeting with Obama on Tuesday: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Who's being unfair? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Richard Goldstone - (Opinion) September 21, 2009 - 12:00am The responses from the government of Israel to the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Gaza have been deeply disappointing. The mission's mandate enabled Israel to bring its concerns and facts relating to Operation Cast Lead publicly before a UN inquiry. It could have been used by Israel to encourage the UN and especially the Human Rights Council to move in a new direction beneficial to the interests of Israel. I repeatedly requested the government of Israel to do that, and to meet with me in Jerusalem to discuss how the Fact-Finding Mission should approach its mandate. » Read more

West Bank settlements become havens of Israeli surburbanites ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - September 20, 2009 - 12:00am Meet the Ovadiahs, the Allons, and the Cohens. They're new arrivals in Israeli neighborhoods where freshly laid red-tile roofs and toddler toys dotting green lawns are a picture of the Israeli equivalent of the American dream, minus the white picket fence. » Read more

Israel makes secret offer on settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Eli Lake - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am Ahead of the Obama administration's first U.S.-Palestinian-Israeli summit, Israel has agreed to a partial freeze of settlement construction for six to nine months but still wants to build more than 2,500 new housing units, said Israeli officials and an Israeli specialist familiar with the country's evolving policy. » Read more

A false equivalency of false equivalencies? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) September 17, 2009 - 12:00am I get a lot of interesting responses to the postings on the Ibishblog, but those regarding my last posting on the UN Goldstone commission of inquiry into the Gaza war were particularly revealing. Both Arab and Jewish partisans tend to become enraged by any suggestion of equivalency between Israel and any group of Palestinians, particularly when it comes to conflict, warfare and armed struggle. Indeed, both the Israeli government and Hamas condemned the Goldstone report for the sin of "false equivalency," among other things. » Read more

A false equivalency of false equivalencies? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) September 22, 2009 - 12:00am I get a lot of interesting responses to the postings on the Ibishblog, but those regarding my last posting on the UN Goldstone commission of inquiry into the Gaza war were particularly revealing. Both Arab and Jewish partisans tend to become enraged by any suggestion of equivalency between Israel and any group of Palestinians, particularly when it comes to conflict, warfare and armed struggle. Indeed, both the Israeli government and Hamas condemned the Goldstone report for the sin of "false equivalency," among other things. » Read more

Low expectations for 'symbolic' trilateral summit in NY ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roni Sofer - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the US overnight Tuesday ahead of his scheduled meeting with US President Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. White House officials said their expectations from the trilateral talks, which are set to begin at 6 pm (Israel time), were low. Sources in the PM's entourage said the meeting between Netanyahu, Abbas and Obama would likely be symbolic in nature, adding that they do not foresee any diplomatic achievements during the General Assembly's session. » Read more

PA: Gaza no excuse for stalling peace negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am "We expect (US President Barack) Obama to take advantage of the meeting with (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas to press Israel on the settlement issue," a senior Palestinian official told Ynet Tuesday, just hours before the Israeli, Palestinian and American leaders were scheduled to convene in New York. The official called on Obama to try and convince Israel to halt all settlement activity in the West Bank "so that his plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state within two years will not remain on paper alone." » Read more