Parties bargain ahead of peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Like its predecessors in trying to solve the vexing riddle of Middle East peace, the Obama administration has sought to manage expectations for progress. But despite the best efforts of Washington, parties on all sides of the conflict now anticipate an early moment of truth for the young administration: the possibility that President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will announce an agreement next week, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting, to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

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Optimism over Mitchell's Middle East peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Irish Times
by Michael Jansen - September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

PALESTINIAN CABINET ministers in the West Bank yesterday expressed public optimism about United States envoy George Mitchell’s efforts to start peace talks with Israel, despite yawning differences between the two sides. In separate meetings today with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Mr Mitchell will seek to persuade the two men to meet in New York on the fringes of next week’s UN General Assembly.

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PA Cabinet maintains hope for Obama peace efforts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

In their Monday meeting the West Bank cabinet ministers expressed positive sentiments around current US efforts to halt settlement construction and limit Israeli incursions into Palestinian areas. In a statement summing up the proceedings of the meetings, ministers expressed their hope around the visit to the region of US Special Middle East envoy George Mitchell this week. The cabinet said the visit indicates the serious of the US administration around re-launching the peace process.

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The peace process needs some new facts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Opinion) September 14, 2009 - 12:00am

If all goes according to Barack Obama’s plan, there will be a Palestinian state within two years. Relative to the 60 years of Palestinian suffering, that is an extremely short period of time. Despite this, there has been little enthusiasm shown for the plan from either Palestinians, Israelis or the Arab world. This is hardly surprising.

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Rattling the Cage: The mother of all missed opportunities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

So there's a stalemate in the peace process, so what else is new? Actually, there is something new. What's new is that the Palestinians in the West Bank are doing what we've dreamed the Palestinians would do for more than a century - and we refuse to see it. They've effectively stopped terrorism. They're building up their economy. They're enforcing the law. They're being trained by the Americans and they're cooperating with Israeli military and intelligence. They're arresting Islamic militants by the thousands, and they're not hesitating to shoot it out with them.

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Growing ties between Israeli, PA police
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Lappin - September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Away from the media spotlight on efforts to kick-start diplomatic talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the two parties' police forces together with the IDF's civil administration are increasing their cooperation, and have implemented a series of confidence-building measures over the past two years. The cooperation has taken a number of surprising forms.

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Towards a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Ziad Asali - September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s blueprint for what he called “de facto Palestinian statehood” offers a new and important element to the quest for peace in the Middle East.

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Build Palestine, and they will come
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s blueprint for what he has called “de facto Palestinian statehood” offers a new and important element to the quest for peace in the Middle East. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians hinges on recognition and security for Israel and freedom and independence for a Palestinian state. Fayyad’s model emphasizes the importance of the reality of the Palestinian state as a functioning entity, irrespective of international recognition and grand diplomatic gestures.

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Not as horrible as it was
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
September 10, 2009 - 12:00am

A COUPLE of brown sheep squeal and squirm as they are dragged into the backyard of the Alian family’s house in the Jalazun refugee camp, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah. A man slits their throats, spraying the wall with blood. Once the sheep are motionless, women silently start cutting the meat into neat portions to be distributed to the camp’s poorest families in honour of the family’s “martyr”, 15-year-old Muhammad, who was recently killed by Israeli soldiers.

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Is It a Resolution or Dissolution?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Reema I. Ali - September 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinians refer to initiatives for a peaceful resolution of their conflict with Israel as “dissolution and not a resolution.” It is referred to as another attempt to dissolve their national identity and pride and not to resolve the conflict. This outcry is not without basis. The path to peace has complicated their lives and their voice is far too often lost in the corridors of politics for the sake of expediency.

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