'Egypt trying to convince Abbas to resume peace talks with Israel'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Egypt's top diplomat and the head of its intelligence branch were in Ramallah on Thursday in an effort to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume direct negotiations with Israel. The Palestinian Authority has refused to continue its direct peace negotiations with Israel, launched recently in Washington, until Israel agrees to halt settlement construction. Israel enforced a 10-month moratorium on West Bank construction, but that freeze ended in late September.

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The Israeli-Palestinian settlement impasse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Saeb Erakat - (Opinion) October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

It comes as little surprise that Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are at an impasse. The lesson after nearly two decades of bilateral negotiations is that direct talks alone are not enough to guarantee peace. A principled, unshakable commitment to international law is also required. International law sets the benchmark for a just peace and helps ensure that Palestinians and Israelis are treated equally. It also maps a path toward lasting reconciliation rooted in a culture of rights and mutual respect.

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No breakthrough in Mid-East peace talks - Egypt envoy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Ahmed Aboul Gheit reiterated Arab support for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's demand that Israeli settlement building be frozen ahead of new talks. Israel has refused to renew the freeze despite pressure from Washington. Mr Abbas said he was still mulling an appeal to the UN, but said his first choice would be to return to talks. "We have discussed our options... but our first option is to return to direct negotiations if Israel halts all settlement activity," Mr Abbas said.

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Ross warns Israel failed talks could imperil its security
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

A top White House advisor warned Monday night that the progress Palestinians have made on security in the West Bank could be jeopardized if peace talks don’t move forward. Dennis Ross, a senior White House Middle East advisor, pointed to improvements the Palestinians have made in security and coordination with Israel over the past two years in a speech before American Israel Public Affairs Committee activists in Florida.

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Credit to Obama for sticking with the Middle East. But it's gone very wrong
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jonathan Freedland - (Opinion) October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

The august ranks of those who form the conventional wisdom in American politics are as one: Barack Obama's Democrats are going to take a hammering in next Tuesday's midterm elections. One of the few elements of the Obama record not blamed is also, paradoxically, one of those areas that need to change on 3 November. It is the administration's handling of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

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Palestinian gambit for statehood puts Israel against wall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - (Analysis) October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

With talks at a stalemate and no agreement from the Israelis to reinstate a settlement freeze, the Palestinians are playing a new card: an end game to statehood through an appeal to the international community. The card hasn’t actually been played, but the mere threat that the Palestinians would push for international recognition of a state from the United Nations has been enough to push the Israeli government to reconsider options to return to the negotiating table.

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The end of Oslo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

What fate would have befell the Oslo Accords if Yitzhak Rabin had not been assassinated in a Tel Aviv square on the night of November 4, 1995? Would he have succeeded in overcoming opposition at home and kept his promise to reach a final-status deal before the dawn of the new millennium? Would nothing have changed his position regarding the division of Jerusalem, just as he changed his position on the issue of conducting negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization? Would the Palestinians have succeeded in adopting a realistic solution to the refugee problem?

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Pope: Mideast peace is possible, urgently needed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called for greater religious freedom in the Middle East and said that peace there is possible, urgently needed and the best remedy to the exodus of Christians from the region. Benedict celebrated Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday to mark the end of a two-week meeting of Mideast bishops, called to discuss the future of embattled Christians in the largely Muslim region. He called freedom of religion "one of the fundamental human rights, which each state should always respect" and said the issue should be the subject of dialogue with Muslims.

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A 'Jewish and democratic' state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Gwynne Dyer - (Opinion) October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

"With this law Israel buys an exit ticket from the family of nations," wrote Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea last week in the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. “The proposed loyalty law... is really racist. It obliges non-Jews to declare that they would be loyal to the Jewish state but exempts Jews from this obligation.” But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed new law is not racist, just shortsighted and nasty.

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Why Israeli settlement construction must stop
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Nabeel Shaath - (Opinion) October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Ramallah, West Bank — After more than two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, we are at a turning point in the history of the region. As a Palestinian negotiator for over 20 years, I see that tough decisions have to be made. The stakes are too high – not just for the Palestinian people, but for the entire region’s stability.

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