Netanyahu's weakness for Jewish heritage costs lives
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - February 23, 2010 - 1:00am

In an interview with Ari Shavit published Monday in Haaretz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported there are signs negotiations with the Palestinians would start in the foreseeable future. According to Jordanian sources, the talks between Israel and the Palestinians, mediated by the United States, are scheduled to open on March 12 and continue for three months. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) announced on Sunday in Tripoli that he received answers to the 10 questions of clarification he presented to the Americans regarding the talks.

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Palestinian Prime Minister to Israeli Leaders: We are Building a State While Under Occupation to End the Occupation
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Huffington Post (Opinion) - February 23, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad forthrightly brought his case for building a Palestinian state to Israeli political and military leaders, and they applauded. The new Palestinian attitude towards how to end the occupation that began in 1967 was on full display during Fayyad's speech at the Herzliya conference in Israel earlier this month, and it has had a considerable impact on its Israeli audience. With reports that "proximity talks" between Israelis and Palestinians will begin soon, attention must be paid to Fayyad's remarks and their reception.

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France's Sarkozy backs 'viable' Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 22, 2010 - 1:00am

French President Nicolas Sarkozy backed the creation of a "viable" Palestinian state on Monday but was cautious about repeating his foreign minister's support for possible recognition of a state before its borders were set. Speaking at a news conference in Paris with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Sarkozy repeated France's support for statehood for Palestinians but added: "We have always said a viable Palestinian state."

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Deibes: PA will include Area C in plans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority plans to include Area C in it strategic planning in an effort to lay the groundwork for a future state, Tourism Minister Khouloud Deibes said on Thursday. Deibes made this remark following a meeting in Jericho with a visiting delegation from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also said her ministry is committed to attracting private sector investment to tourism-related projects in the West bank, particularly north of the Dead Sea, and also attract more tourists to the area.

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UN envoy: Quartet to back PA autonomy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Robert Serry, the UN special envoy to the Middle East peace process, hinted on Thursday that the international community would pressure Israel to cede parts of the occupied West Bank to Palestinian Authority control. Serry said the International Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, US and Russia, will express support for PA demands on the Israeli government to transfer Areas B and of the West Bank C into A, under full Palestinian control, on the road to establishing statehood.

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Palestinians guilty again?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Abir Kopty - (Opinion) February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

For many years Israel and members of the International community have claimed that Palestinians “do not take responsibility for themselves. All they do is whine, accuse Israel of everything and make suicide bombings.” That's what we have heard. Now, when those false claims have expired, Israel’s arsenal of claims is replaced quickly.

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Fayyad tells US Jewish leaders: IDF incursions undermine us
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Haviv Rettig - February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told visiting American Jewish leaders on Thursday that IDF incursions into Palestinian population centers “need to stop.” While “there is interest on both sides” in promoting Palestinian development and progressing toward statehood, Israel’s military operations in PA-controlled areas “not only run operational risks, but they undermine our credibility and standing. We need actions taken by the Israelis to be consistent with the notion of a state in evolution,” Fayyad said.

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ATFP Senior Fellow delivers Fares Lecture Series Address at Tufts
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish delivered a Fares Lecture Series address at Tufts University on February 10, 2010.


Mideast peacemaking efforts at "very critical stage": Jordanian king
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Jordanian King Abdullah II Monday urged coordinated and intensified international action to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as peacemaking efforts are going through a "very critical stage", the state-run Petra news agency reported. The king made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation from J Street, which is an American-Jewish entity that supports the two-state solution and is against Israeli settlement activities. At the meeting, the king said resolving the conflicts should be in line with the two-state solution and within comprehensive peace in the region.

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A day in the life of the Palestinian Ben-Gurion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - February 13, 2010 - 1:00am

There are tens of millions of people in the world who glory in the title "public servant," but Dr. Salam Fayyad is apparently the only one who wakes up in the morning and goes to work to build a state for his people. Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, is not calling for peace talks, for violent resistance to the occupation or even for civil disobedience. That's the department of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The most violent protest in which Fayyad participated was a ceremonial bonfire of goods produced in Jewish West Bank settlements.

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