Clashes in Jerusalem as Talks Snag
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Isabel Kershner - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — With Israel’s construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank scheduled to end this weekend, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were seeking an elusive formula on Wednesday to keep their peace talks going while both sides warned that if the talks ended, violence could erupt.

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Hamas: We told U.S. in the past that we would accept Palestinian state along 1967 borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 20, 2010 - 12:00am

The Hamas militant group announced Monday that it had previously told the United States it would accept the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, according to Israel Radio. Citing the organization's semi-annual report, Israel Radio said that Hamas had also asked the U.S. administration to open dialogue. The militant group said in its report that it had passed that message along via American academics and politicians visiting the Gaza Strip.

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Hamas: Fatah protecting enemy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas threatened the Palestinian Authority Thursday after members of the organization were arrested in relation to terror attacks that killed four and injured two in the West Bank. "This criminal campaign has crossed all red lines and constitutes direct cooperation with the enemy, in the clear light of day," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. On Tuesday the Palestinian Authority announced it had arrested the six terrorists who carried out the attacks one week earlier – four shooters and two accomplices.

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PA committed 'treason' in W.Bank terror suspects' arrests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority of "direct cooperation with the enemy" after it arrested Hamas members in conjunction with recent West Bank terrorist attacks that left four Israelis dead and two others injured last week, Army Radio reported Thursday. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum likened the arrests to "treason" and warned the Fatah run authority not to hand the men over to Israel. "The continuation of this criminal campaign crosses all red lines and is direct cooperation with the enemy in the clear light of day," Barhum continued.

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This time in Washington, honest brokerage is not going to be enough
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Avi Shlaim - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The pope, according to a no doubt apocryphal story, maintains that there are two possible solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict – the realistic and the miraculous. The realistic solution involves divine intervention; the miraculous solution involves a voluntary agreement between the parties themselves. The American-sponsored peace talks that got under way in Washington last week may be viewed in this light. It will take nothing less than a miracle to produce a peaceful settlement of the century-old conflict between Jews and Arabs over the Holy Land.

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Abbas vs. Ahmadinejad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Benjamin Joffe-Walt - September 5, 2010 - 12:00am

The Mahmouds... For years they’ve appeared publicly to be allies. When resources were low, one rushed to the rescue of the other. When one of their rhetorical wheels would run dry, the other would pipe-in with eloquent axioms. But now, the truth about the Mahmouds has been revealed and these two former buddies have fallen out in a public barrage of invective. In the one corner we have disputed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the self-proclaimed champion of the Palestinian cause and supporter of Palestinian militant movements.

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At Mideast peace talk, a lopsided table
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley - September 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Israelis and Palestinians will be sitting at the same table on Thursday, but much more separates them than the gulf between their substantive positions. Staggering asymmetries between the two sides could seriously imperil the talks.

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A Peace Plan Within Our Grasp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Hosni Mubarak - (Opinion) August 31, 2010 - 12:00am

IT’S been 10 long years since the Palestinians and Israelis last came close to establishing a permanent peace, in January 2001 at Taba in Egypt. During my career in the Egyptian Air Force, I saw the tragic toll of war between the Arabs and Israel. As president of Egypt, I have endured many ups and downs in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Egypt’s decision to be the first Arab state to make peace with Israel claimed the life of my predecessor, Anwar el-Sadat.

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Abbas needs to be backed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Ahmad Majdoubeh - (Opinion) August 27, 2010 - 12:00am

In the Arab world, most people who talk or write about the envisaged involvement of Palestinians in direct negotiations with Israel without preconditions or a clear roadmap express either much fear or much scepticism. While these are justified to a degree, they should not prevent the Arabs from backing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fully, since go he will.

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A state of Palestine in the making
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Kenneth Chasen - (Opinion) August 25, 2010 - 12:00am

The short drive from Jerusalem to Ramallah begins as you'd expect. The pristine setting of the old-new holy city slowly morphs into a more disordered vista on the outskirts of town — small Arab villages, humbly built of stone, displaying signs of economic decay. The streets are nearly empty.

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