Mideast political conundrum: Settlement expansion is a threat to peace negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) January 6, 2009 - 1:00am


The renewed violence between Israel and Hamas, in which 1.5 million innocent Palestinians are caught, is yet another definitive demonstration that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel will not be able to secure its future, normalize its relations with the region and live in peace without an agreement with the Palestinians; Palestinians will not achieve liberation and independence without an agreement with Israel.


Mideast political conundrum: Settlement expansion is a threat to peace negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) January 6, 2009 - 1:00am


The renewed violence between Israel and Hamas, in which 1.5 million innocent Palestinians are caught, is yet another definitive demonstration that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel will not be able to secure its future, normalize its relations with the region and live in peace without an agreement with the Palestinians; Palestinians will not achieve liberation and independence without an agreement with Israel.


If Obama Is Serious, He should get tough with Israel.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Newsweek
by Aaron David Miller - January 4, 2009 - 1:00am


Jews worry for a living; their tragic history compels them to do so. In the next few years, there will be plenty to worry about, particularly when it comes to Israel. The current operation in Gaza won't do much to ease these worries or to address Israel's longer-term security needs. The potential for a nuclear Iran, combined with the growing accuracy and lethality of Hamas and Hizbullah rockets, will create tremendous concern. Anxiety may also be provoked by something else: an Obama administration determined to repair America's image and credibility and to reach a deal in the Middle East.


Israel's Attacks On Gaza Deepen Palestinian Rift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Griff Witte - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am


Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip has exacerbated the deep divisions between Palestinians who want to make peace with Israel and those who support Hamas's militant struggle against the Jewish state. The fractures are stark in the West Bank, where sympathy for Hamas appears to be rising in the streets even as the territory's leaders suppress pro-Hamas demonstrations and blame the Islamist movement for the breakdown of a six-month truce with Israel.


Gaza humanitarian plight 'disastrous,' U.N. official says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
December 28, 2008 - 1:00am


(CNN) -- Israeli airstrikes pounding Gaza are deepening the humanitarian crisis in an area that was already in deep distress, according to a United Nations aid official. "The situation is absolutely disastrous," U.N. official Christopher Gunness told CNN on Sunday, as a second day of aerial attacks brought the death toll in Gaza close to 300. Hundreds more people have been injured.


Palestinian PM Fayyad says West Bank settlement must end for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am


Settlement activity in the occupied West Bank must stop at once if there is to be any prospect of reaching a two-state peace agreement with Israel, the Palestinian prime minister has warned in a Guardian interview. Salam Fayyad said he found it "devastating" that Israelis were not even debating the settlement issue in their election campaign. He warned that Palestinian support for his policy of reform and negotiation would collapse if prospects for a workable deal faded away. Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad talks to Ian Black Link to this audio


Top US diplomat on the Middle East David Welch Urges Effective Diplomacy on Iran and Continuity on the Peace Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Joyce Karam - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am


With less than five weeks left for the Bush administration in office, the top U.S. diplomat to the Middle East, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, speaks to Al-Hayat in an exclusive interview discussing the long journey that Washington has taken in the region over the last eight years. The U.S. official who brokered the U.S.-Libyan comprehensive claims settlement agreement, calls for an effective diplomacy in the face of the increasing Iranian threat, and sees urgency in continuing the peace process and pursuing a two state solution:


Palestinian Charity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from WBUR
by Robin Young - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am


American Charities for Palestine founder Dr. Ziad Asali was interviewed by host Robin Young on WBUR’s “Here and Now” program, December 15, 2008.


Business can help unlock Palestine’s potential
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Salam Fayyad - (Opinion) December 14, 2008 - 1:00am


A full year after the Annapolis process began and with only two weeks before the end of 2008 – the target date for reaching a comprehensive Palestinian-Israeli agreement – one cannot but be disappointed that Palestinians and Israelis have yet to reach their shared goal of lasting peace. We Palestinians had also hoped that we would have had more to show on the ground for our commitment to the peace process.


PA Prime Minister Fayyad Interviewed on Economy, Debt Payments, Future Projects
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam
by Ja'far Sadaqah - November 11, 2008 - 8:00pm


[Sadaqah] In a few hours, the Palestinian Authority [PA] will have finished paying all its debts to the employees and others. What does it mean to get rid of a legacy that has been bothering it for 16 months, and what does this mean to you?



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