What is Left of Egypt's Mediation between the Palestinians?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) April 13, 2009 - 12:00am

If there was any hope for negotiations between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo to reach an agreement that would end the state of division between the Palestinians, such a hope has become less likely today as a result of the repercussions of the exchange of smear campaigns between the Egyptian government and Hezbollah, on the background of the cell arrested by the Egyptians, who claim that it had been planning activities that pose a threat to Egypt's security.

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Hope fades for accord between rival Palestinian factions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - April 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The Egyptian-mediated Palestinian reconciliation efforts are stuck and prospects for agreement appear distant, even if factions are scheduled to resume their negotiations in Cairo this month, according to sources close to the negotiations.

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Let's cooperate in the interest of Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Editorial) April 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The recent call by the US government urging Israel to honour the principle of the two-state solution to the Middle East conflict is encouraging. It is difficult, however, to see how the Obama administration can impose this position on Israel's newly-elected right-wing government.

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Popular Palestinian PM "not running for anything"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - April 7, 2009 - 12:00am

West Bank villagers killed a fatted calf Tuesday to welcome Salam Fayyad, the affable, and supposedly outgoing, prime minister who may currently be the most popular leader among the Palestinians. They added boiled mutton from two sheep to dozens of trays piled high with spiced rice and drenched with yoghurt, for the traditional welcoming dish of mansaf. There was also 30 kg of honey-dripping sweets from Nazareth as dessert.

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Obama plans to boost security aid to Abbas's forces
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am

The Obama administration plans to expand a programme to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security forces in the occupied West Bank as part of a push for statehood, officials said on Thursday. Israel has given tentative backing to the programme as a test of Abbas's ability to rein in militants, one of its main conditions in stalled U.S.-backed negotiations over establishing a Palestinian state.

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For Gaza’s sake this can’t be just another summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) March 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Another summit in Sharm el Sheikh to deal with the fallout of another violent episode in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That is one way to understand yesterday’s meeting between heads of state, foreign ministers and officials at the Egyptian resort. But given the magnitude of the human suffering in Gaza, this cannot be just another meeting.

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Arab Foreign Ministers on the Gaza Conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Sawsan Abu-Husain - March 3, 2009 - 1:00am

In statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem explained the importance of the positive atmosphere in the Arab arena, especially with regard to Arab and Palestinian reconciliation, and stressed that nothing disturbs [Arab] relations. Meanwhile the Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin-Ahmad Al Khalifa, said that the issue of the crisis with Iran has been put on the agenda of the Arab League Council of Ministers, because it is an issue that concerns all Arabs; but he insisted that Bahrain has been assured [by Iran] that the incident will not be repeated.

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An Atmosphere Suitable for Palestinian Reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

It is a sizeable and thorny issue with a difficult background of blood, prisoners, mutual accusations, and accusations of treason. Moreover, profound disagreements surround the peace process and the progress of negotiations with Israel, as well as perspectives on the map of Palestine and the borders of an independent state. Yet the step taken towards Palestinian agreement is a much better one than it had previously been. Indeed, the earlier state of affairs would have led the Palestinian national project to suicide.

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Editorial: On the road to reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

In the aftermath of the Gaza tragedy, two silver linings, one political, the other economic, have appeared on the Palestinian horizon. Leaders of the rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, now appear to be entering a new era of reconciliation after talks in Cairo, while today an international donors conference, also in the Egyptian capital, could come up with close to $3 billion in reconstruction aid badly needed by the Palestinians after Israel nearly totaled Gaza in January’s onslaught.

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Abbas: Palestinian unity government must support two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
February 28, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday said that a Palestinian unity government with Hamas must support a two-state solution. In a Ramallah speech, Abbas went on to say progress was being made toward establishing a Palestinian unity government "that will be committed to our values and will respect agreements previously signed by the Palestinian Authority," Israel Radio reported.

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