Talks the only way forward for Mideast peace: Clinton
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ottawa Times
by Andrew Quinn - October 20, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Israel and the Palestinians on Wednesday there was no "magic formula" to break an impasse over peace talks, but said hard work could still yield a deal. Clinton, speaking to a Palestinian advocacy group that supports a peaceful end to the conflict, said both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remained committed to a two-state solution despite a standoff that threatens to torpedo the U.S.-brokered peace talks less than two months after they were launched.

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A Search for Plan ‘B’ as Hopes Fade for Direct Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - October 20, 2010 - 12:00am

As Israelis and Palestinians continue to reject compromise on the extension of a Jewish settlements freeze on the West Bank, all eyes are turning to Washington to see what happens next. With each side digging in on its demands regarding the settlements before they will agree to resume direct negotiations, diplomats and analysts are increasingly discussing the possibility of the Obama administration issuing its own “terms of reference” for such talks. It is an act that would mark a new phase in American involvement, but would still fall short of a full-fledged Obama peace plan.

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Palestinians Shift Focus in Strategy for Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - October 20, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership, near despair about attaining a negotiated agreement with Israel on a two-state solution, is increasingly focusing on how to get international bodies and courts to declare a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

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Palestinians mull alternatives to peace talks, including UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 20, 2010 - 12:00am

With Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in limbo over a dispute regarding settlement expansion, Palestinians are starting to think out loud about possible alternatives to peace talks. After investing all of his political capital in talks with Israel, what would President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) do if he concludes there's no chance for a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?

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Palestinians plan UN resolution calling for settlement evacuation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - October 19, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership, in conjunction with Arab states, plans to submit a resolution to the UN Security Council stating that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal and must be evacuated, Haaretz has learned. This initiative comes in place of an earlier idea of seeking Security Council recognition for a Palestinian state within pre-1967 lines.

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Israel pushes Palestinians to acknowledge its Jewish character
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - October 19, 2010 - 12:00am

It sounds at first like a familiar Mideast tussle: Israel demands recognition, Arabs refuse to give it. But Israel's recent push to be recognized as a "Jewish" state is actually a new twist on an old struggle, and one that is rapidly turning into the latest stumbling block to faltering peace talks. Israel defines itself as a Jewish state in its declaration of independence. U.S. Presidents Obama and George W. Bush have embraced the term, which was used in the 1947 U.N. resolution calling for the establishment of two states, one Jewish and the other Palestinian Arab.

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Abbas: Netanyahu fears govt collapse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 18, 2010 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu told him he could not extend the settlement moratorium "because he fears his government might collapse." In an interview with Israel's Channel 1, Abbas further said "the government isn't more valuable than peace, neither is it more valuable than the future of both peoples."

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Israeli official: Moroccan king won't meet Peres
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Amy Teibel - October 18, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The king of Morocco has rejected a request to meet with Israel's president because of the impasse in Mideast peacemaking, an aide to the Israeli statesman said Monday in a new diplomatic fallout from the deadlocked peace talks. President Shimon Peres had asked to meet with King Mohammed VI on the sidelines of an upcoming international conference in Marrakech. But the monarch — citing the stalled talks — said the timing wasn't right, the aide said.

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Building to destroy the peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
(Opinion) October 18, 2010 - 12:00am

Why did the Israeli government see fit to approve, at this particular juncture, the construction of 240 housing units in Jerusalem neighborhoods east of the Green Line? The only explanation is an attempt to sabotage the efforts to renew direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

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INTERVIEW-Israel might extend settlements freeze-ambassador
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Louis Charbonneau, Patrick Worsnip - October 18, 2010 - 12:00am

[-] Text [+] | Subscribe | Email | Print | RSS INTERVIEW-Israel might extend settlements freeze-ambassador 18 Oct 2010 23:19:18 GMT Source: Reuters * Israel govt "looking into possibilities" - Israel envoy * Peace talks with Palestinians not dead, Reuben says By Patrick Worsnip and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Israel might renew a moratorium on building Jewish settlements in the West Bank after its end last month abruptly froze peace talks with the Palestinians, Israel's new U.N. ambassador said on Monday.

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