Time to consider building Palestine from the bottom up
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Shlomo Avineri - (Opinion) May 13, 2009 - 12:00am

As President Barack Obama's special Middle East envoy, former United States Senator George Mitchell, learned during his visit to the region, America's efforts at Israeli-Palestinian peace-making are running up against three major obstacles. They will, no doubt, also arise in Obama's upcoming meetings with the region's leaders.

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Hamas's Double Statements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali Ibrahim - (Analysis) May 13, 2009 - 12:00am

It has become almost a habit: When some politicians in the region give interviews to the Western media they say things thinking that they would not be reported elsewhere, as if the Western media in question were on another planet, and that they would not be quoted by the news agencies and the information media of the region. Then, when the interviewees feel that what they have said is different from what they say to their own public - usually a fiery, ardent discourse - they resort to clarifications, corrections and denials.

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Obama to push Israelis, Palestinians on peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
May 12, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama will urge Palestinian, Israeli and Egyptian leaders to take the steps necessary to achieve peace in the Middle East when they visit Washington this month, the White House said on Tuesday. The White House said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would visit on May 18, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on May 26 and President Mahmoud Abbas on May 28.

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Peres to pope: We may achieve peace this year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - May 11, 2009 - 12:00am

"This year, the year of your visit here, may reveal an opportunity for us and our neighbors to attain peace," President Shimon Peres said as he welcomed Pope Benedict XVI at his official residence in Jerusalem Monday afternoon. "While many political clouds still darken the horizon, and the voices of incitement obscure the sound of peace, and much violence converged on the crossroads of our lives, most peoples in this region yearn for peace," the president said.

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Barack Obama’s promising push for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) May 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Quietly, momentum has been building in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian peace process. You could be forgiven for missing it amid the diplomatic flurry that defined Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office. But given the signs, Mr Obama appears to be planning a major push to get peace efforts back onto a productive path. The most encouraging development is that after seven years, the Saudi-authored Arab Peace Initiative appears to be gaining traction in Washington.

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U.S. incorporating Livni's ideas into peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States has adopted some of former foreign minister Tzipi Livni's recommendations about enlisting the Arab world into the peace process and have incorporated them into its Middle East policy, American and Israeli officials have told Haaretz. Livni's recommendations, which she passed on to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell during his visit to Israel a few days before she left her post, deal with enlisting the Arab world to take part in the peace process and to advance gradual normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel as part of a regional process.

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Netanyahu can be a peacemaker, says Quartet emissary Blair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by David Horovitz - May 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Quartet emissary Tony Blair on Thursday offered a strong endorsement of Binyamin Netanyahu's capacity to achieve peace, backing the prime minister's focus on fostering West Bank economic growth and bolstering the Palestinians' security capacity. Netanyahu "most certainly can play the role of peacemaker," Blair told The Jerusalem Post in an interview, adding that there was now "a moment of opportunity" that required both negotiation from the "top down" and improving the economy and security realities from the "bottom up."

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The West Bank Archipelago
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Robert Mackey - (Blog) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am

This week, leading Israeli, Palestinian and American officials have agreed that the creation of a Palestinian state on territory in the West Bank and Gaza is essential to peace in the Middle East. But spend any time looking at a map of the West Bank as it is today, or with any of the many different proposals for how that map might be redrawn to accommodate the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians, and it becomes clear why any sensible mapmaker might choose to steer well clear of the challenge of drawing up that state.

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Arabs work for unified approach
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
May 7, 2009 - 12:00am

Arab foreign ministers are meeting in Cairo to formulate a united approach on the Middle East peace process. The meeting is the first since the election of the right-wing Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It comes ahead of a flurry of diplomatic activity in the coming weeks, focussing on the Middle East. The ministers are also to discuss a report on alleged crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza strip last January. The Arab foreign ministers will be discussing how to restart "serious and direct negotiations" between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

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Nation building for Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am

Not everything is bad. True: The situation in Pakistan is deteriorating from day to day. True: Iran is continuing to gallop toward nuclearization. True: The new U.S. administration has yet to find its strategic path. True: Benjamin Netanyahu is still holed up in a bunker, outside of which bizarre coalition partners wait in ambush. But there is good news in the diplomatic world surrounding Israel.

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