Report: Abbas drops demand for settlement freeze under US pressure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Two key Israeli officials are headed to Washington on Wednesday for continued talks leading up to renewed peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attorney Yitzhak Molcho, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's chief of staff, Michael Herzog will attend the talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and senior White House officials, according to the newspaper Haaretz.

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Israel, U.S. working on bridging issues to restart PA talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel and the U.S. will continue their talks in Washington tomorrow on bridging the open issues between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that are delaying the reopening of peace negotiations. Formulating the framework for the negotiations and the "terms of reference" are the focus of the talks in Washington. At the same time the sides will continuing negotiating over the length of the settlement construction freeze.

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Israel envoys head to U.S. for talks on relaunching peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel and the U.S. will continue their talks in Washington on Wednesday on bridging the open issues between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that are delaying the relaunching of peace negotiations. Formulating the framework for the negotiations and the "terms of reference," or the opening conditions, are the focus of the talks in Washington. At the same time the sides will continue negotiating the terms of the settlement construction freeze.

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Egypt plans Fatah-Hamas 'reconciliation' parley
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Egypt has decided to invite representatives of all Palestinian factions to a "national unity dialogue" conference that would take place in Cairo next month and would lead to the signing of a reconciliation accord between Hamas and Fatah, Palestinian officials in Ramallah said on Tuesday. They said the decision to convene the conference in Cairo follows the breakthrough achieved in the past few weeks in efforts to end the rift between Hamas and Fatah.

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PM's emissaries to meet Mitchell in DC
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Mike Herzog and Attorney Yitzhak Molcho, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emissaries on the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, will leave for Washington Tuesday, to meet with the US' special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell. The three are expected to discuss ways to reignite the stalled peace process . The meeting follows Netanyahu's meeting with US President Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the UN General Assembly in New York last week. Obama demanded Israel and the Palestinian Authority make some serious headway by mid October.

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Good news
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

News coming out of Cairo recently suggests that the Egyptian mediation efforts may have reached a breakthrough in reconciling the differences between Fateh and Hamas. It appears that the two Palestinian factions are now ready to settle their differences and reach a viable compromise. The attempts to bring the two Palestinian movements closer seem to have succeeded in convincing Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal, who recently visited Cairo, of the wisdom of such move; now he is expected to give his approval to the Egyptian ideas, at least in principle.

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Settlers: a Jewish minority in Palestine?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Bill Glucroft - September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

If we are to believe the pundits and partisans, relations between Israel and the United States have never been worse. US President Barack Obama’s administration appears to be taking the toughest tone of any in recent memory. Obama’s Cairo speech didn’t help, leaving an already vulnerable-feeling Israel with the sense that it was getting thrown under the bus.

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The drama and the farce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) September 28, 2009 - 12:00am

No point denying it: In the first round of the match between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu, Obama was beaten. Obama had demanded a freeze of all settlement activity, including East Jerusalem, as a condition for convening a tripartite summit meeting, in the wake of which accelerated peace negotiations were to start, leading to peace between two states — Israel and Palestine. In the words of the ancient proverb, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Netanyahu has tripped Obama on his first step. The president of the United States has stumbled.

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Yearning for the Golan Heights: why Syria wants it back
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Julien Barnes-Dacey - September 28, 2009 - 12:00am

The US demonstrated its commitment to reengage Syria as a partner for Middle East peace Monday, advancing a process that some Arab countries had declared dead in recent weeks. At Washington's invitation – the first one extended to a high-ranking Syrian official in five years – Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad came to town to meet US officials.

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Palestinians 'close to agreement'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Christian Fraser - September 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal says all Palestinian factions are drawing close to agreement on Egypt's proposals for Palestinian reconciliation. Mr Meshaal has met the head of Egyptian intelligence, Omar Suleiman, to give his answer to the proposals. He said Hamas have given some thoughts on how the draft might be adjusted - but in principle will return by the end of October to sign a final draft. Fatah and Hamas have been divided since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

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