September 22nd

Barely months into talks, will the freeze freeze a peace deal? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Analysis) September 21, 2010 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- 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. » Read more

Beyond optimism or pessimism: the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service by Hussein Ibish - (Analysis) 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. » Read more

Clinton presses Arab nations to bolster aid to Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) September 22, 2010 - 12:00am UNITED NATIONS - On the sidelines of a U.N. anti-poverty meeting, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pressed Arab officials Tuesday to bolster their financial contributions to the Palestinian Authority and to support the nascent peace talks more visibly. » Read more

September 21st

Gazans Want Justice Over Torched Water Park ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Omar Ghraieb - September 20, 2010 - 12:00am [Gaza City] Gaza is abuzz over the torching on Sunday of the beleaguered strip’s sole water park on Sunday. What would in many other parts of the world be an unnoticed incident of vandalism, the attack on the Crazy Water Park has stirred a media frenzy, driving every local and international human rights organization in Gaza to make statements, followed later by responses from representatives of every Palestinian political faction. According to local police and witnesses, an estimated 25-masked gunman pulled up to The Crazy Water Park on Jeeps at 3 a.m. » Read more

The Murder Midrash ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Kamoun Ben-Shimon - September 19, 2010 - 12:00am ON A DAY IN LATE AUGUST, Rabbi Ya'akov Meidan, head of the Gush Etzion Yeshiva in Alon Shvut, a settlement south of Bethlehem in the West Bank, the most prestigious yeshiva of the moderate Zionist religious movement, began his daily lecture with a different lesson than the usual one on Jewish law. He held up a copy of “Torat Hamelekh” (“The King’s Torah”), a book with a marblepatterned cover and embossed gilt letters, to his students. “This is a challenging book, written by learned men,” he said to the assembly of students. » Read more

Chief negotiators to meet soon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews September 20, 2010 - 12:00am The heads of the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams, Yitzhak Molcho and Saeb Erekat, are scheduled to meet sometime during the next 48 hours, Palestinian sources told Ynet on Monday. The sources say the two will meet in order to prepare for another round of direct talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which has not been scheduled yet. Meanwhile, In New York Erekat is currently on a visit to New York, while Molcho is in Washington meeting with US officials. Netanyahu's office refused to comment on the report. » Read more

Interior Minister Yishai: Direct peace talks are completely pointless ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz September 21, 2010 - 12:00am Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Tuesday that he sees "absolutely no point" in holding direct peace negotiations with the Palestinians. In an interview with the Shas newsletter Day to Day, the party chairman said that "as long as there is no significant change on the Palestinian side, there should be no advancement in talks." "I do not in any way believe that these talks should be held, point-blank," said Yishai. Another summit, another conference, another meeting, from the Madrid conference to the Sharm conference, and nothing has come out of this." » Read more

Israeli Arabs pawns in a sham 'peace' gameli ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Linda Heard - September 20, 2010 - 12:00am On Sunday, Israel’s unsavory Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened Palestinian negotiators that if they refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Arab Israelis could have their rights to citizenship withdrawn. This “needs to be one of the central issues on the negotiating table in light of the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state,” he told his Cabinet colleagues. » Read more

U.S. concerned peace talks will soon collapse over settlement construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - September 21, 2010 - 12:00am The United States is concerned that the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians could collapse in the coming days over the dead end in the talks on the settlement building freeze. America's ambassador to Israel, James Cunningham, on Monday told European Union envoys in a briefing that the Obama administration's worry stems from the fact that both sides are holding steadfast to their positions. » Read more

Hamas trying to replace PLO's role: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua (Analysis) September 20, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian official on Monday accused the Hamas movement of trying to introduce itself to the international community as an alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Member of the PLO Executive Committee, Hanan Ashrawi, told Voice of Palestine radio that Hamas "is trying to open dialogue with the United States and European countries by several means in order to gain legitimacy and the recognition of the United States. " » Read more