Palestinians, Israelis dispute size of land swap
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by David Harris - May 23, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinians and Israelis have agreed to the principle of swapping land in any peace deal, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Ramallah on Saturday. This is the one concrete advance made public following the launch of indirect peace talks between the two neighbors that took place last week. U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is heading the proximity talks, which at this stage are between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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PA minister promises employment for settlement workers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - May 23, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Social Affairs Minister Majida al-Masri said Sunday that her ministry has begun preparations to absorb 6,000 female Palestinian workers currently employed in the settlements as the ban on Israeli settlement produce progresses. Al-Masri invited the workers to fill out forms in branches of the Social Affairs Ministry in order to find new jobs inside Palestinian Authority territory.

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Borders key to peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Houston Chronicle
by EDWARD P. DJEREJIAN - May 22, 2010 - 12:00am

As U.S. Middle East peace special envoy George Mitchell holds proximity talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, he will have to immediately address two of the timeliest issues in the conflict: the future borders of Israel and a Palestinian state and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The settlements — which are illegal under international law — have been described by both Republican and Democratic administrations as an obstacle to peace.

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3 wounded during West Bank weekly anti-wall demonstration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Three Palestinians were injured and five others detained during the weekly protests against the separation wall that Israel is building in the West Bank, witnesses and medical sources said Friday. The witnesses said that the Israeli army dispersed by rubber bullets and tear gas canisters a demonstration near the village of Bel'ein, west of Ramallah, in the West Bank.

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A state within temporary borders plus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shaul Mishal - May 21, 2010 - 12:00am

The latest American and Palestinian steps to promote a diplomatic agreement between Israel and the Palestinians confronts Israel with two bad alternatives. The first is conducting negotiations à la U.S. President Barack Obama, which repeats the model for a final-status solution and an end to the conflict that failed in the past decade. The second is Palestinian sovereignty that would be promoted by both Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.

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Hundreds protest new PA city
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
May 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Hundreds participated in a march on Friday to protest the ongoing construction of a new Palestinian city – Rawabi, by the Palestinian Authority, on land slated by the government for nearby settlements, north-east of Ramallah. The protesters, mostly settlers from the Binyamin region, stressed that their protest was directed at government policy. "This is not a local problem, this is about the tacit agreement and acquiescence of the Israeli government to the laying of foundations for a Palestinian state," the demonstration organizers from the Binyamin Citizens' Committee said.

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Proximity talks off to rocky start
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - May 21, 2010 - 12:00am

US envoy George Mitchell left Israel on Thursday afternoon, ending the second round of proximity talks, with each side claiming their contacts with the American mediator focused on something completely different. Following a three-hour meeting with Mitchell, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying the second part of their meeting focused on water issues, while the first part of the talks dealt with a number of issues, including gestures Israel might make to the Palestinians.

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Israel is shooting itself in the foot - and the back
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Jonathan Power - May 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Too many Jews in Israel don’t want a settlement with the Palestinians. At every turn, whatever the compromising rhetoric of those at the top of the pyramid of power, there are enough hardliners with enormous influence that are determined to undermine such a deal. This became abundantly clear when, in 1995, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, in the process of reaching out to the Palestinians, was murdered by an extremist Jewish militant. Although there was an outpouring of grief, there were a good 30 to 40 per cent who thought, and even said, “good riddance”.

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Palestinians Offer Wider Concessions on Land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Charles Levinson - May 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian negotiators have surprised Washington with a bold opening offer to White House peace envoy George Mitchell that includes concessions on territory beyond those offered in past Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, according to officials briefed on the current negotiations.

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Water may not be big hurdle to Palestinian-Israeli peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by David Harris - May 20, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday, two days after he held talks in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. No details of the sessions have been made public other than the Israelis' desire to move as soon as possible from indirect to face- to-face meetings and the fact that the talks are initially concentrating on the issues of borders and security.

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