Palestinian Statehood | The American Task Force on Palestine

PM: Settlement freeze issue on hold
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - November 1, 2010 - 12:00am

There is no concrete American proposal regarding the renewal of a settlement construction freeze in the West Bank and the issue is on hold for the time being, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Likud faction meeting on Monday. Asked by Knesset Member Tzipi Hotovely about the possibility that the Palestinian Authority would declare statehood without Israel's consent, Netanyahu said such a unilateral measure would "exact a price from both sides" and would not advance a solution to the conflict.

Egyptian officials to meet Abbas in Ramallah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit and Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman will meet President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday in efforts to revive stalled peace negotiations. The Egyptian officials will try to convince Abbas to accept a partial freeze on construction in settlements, excluding settlements that Israel intends to annex in a peace agreement, the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA said.

Abbas: Resuming negotiations remains first option
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Resuming direct peace negotiations will remain the first option of the Palestinian leadership, Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday. "We are ready to go back to the negotiations as soon as Israel stops settlement activities," Abbas told a news conference in Ramallah after meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Abbas said he has "seven options" to respond to Israel's expansion of Jewish settlement in the West Bank which caused the U. S.-brokered negotiations to halt after nearly three weeks since it restarted.

Credit to Obama for sticking with the Middle East. But it's gone very wrong
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jonathan Freedland - (Opinion) October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

The august ranks of those who form the conventional wisdom in American politics are as one: Barack Obama's Democrats are going to take a hammering in next Tuesday's midterm elections. One of the few elements of the Obama record not blamed is also, paradoxically, one of those areas that need to change on 3 November. It is the administration's handling of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

UN rep. backs declaration of Palestinian state in next year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

United Nations Special Middle East Peace Negotiator Robert H. Serry told Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday that the UN will a support the declaration of an independent Palestinian state. Serry spoke to Fayyad while the two picked olives together near the West Bank village of Turmus'ayyeh, close to the Israeli settlement of Shiloh.

Palestinians renew threat to seek UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK — The Palestinian president said Monday that Israel has been taking unilateral steps for decades by building settlements, so the Palestinians might take one of their own — asking the United Nations to recognize their independent state. President Mahmoud Abbas was replying to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the only path to peace is negotiations. The threat of unilateral action indicates the depth of the crisis over peace talks restarted just last month by President Barack Obama.

Israel tells Palestinians talks only option
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Amy Teibel - October 24, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister on Sunday urged the Palestinians to avoid unilateral action and resume peace talks, a reflection of growing concern that the Palestinian leadership may be inching toward a "Plan B" in which they seek international recognition of an independent state without Israeli agreement.

Wrong path
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Opinion) October 24, 2010 - 12:00am

It is high time Israel and Jews realized that the path they continue to tread is not calculated to achieve a Middle East settlement that is just and durable. Though the world community, the peace brokers and the parties involved have repeatedly called on Israel to be more flexible and settle for an acceptable and just peace in the region, the Jewish state’s intransigence and unbridled quest to change the demographics of the region with new settlements dashes all hopes for peace.

Clinton: Talks absolutely necessary for Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians are "absolutely necessary" to achieve Middle East peace. Clinton made the remarks as she addressed a pro-Palestinian group, the American Task force on Palestine, in Washington. "Negotiations are not easy, but they are absolutely necessary. It is always easier to defer decisions than it is to make them," Clinton said. She admitted that there is no "magic formula" to break the current impasse of the talks regarding the settlement issue.

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