Peace Negotiations | The American Task Force on Palestine

Arab Peace Initiative to hold urgent session
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 2, 2010 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Arab Peace Initiative will hold an urgent meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Friday in Sirtre, Libya over direct negotiations before meeting for an extraordinary Arab League summit, the deputy Arab League chief said. Ahmad Bin Hali told reporters Saturday that President Mahmoud Abbas will address the committee and updated officials on US efforts to save talks from collapse in light of Israel's decision not to extend its settlement freeze in the West Bank.

Years of rage
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - (Opinion) October 1, 2010 - 12:00am

If anyone needed a reminder, it came 10 days ago, via images broadcast from the clashes in Silwan in East Jerusalem: The funeral of the Palestinian shot dead by an Israeli security guard; the police commanders' explanation that the guard was caught in a nighttime ambush and felt his life was in danger; the masked stone-throwers; the burned Israeli cars with shattered windows; a line of policemen advancing, tossing gas grenades on its way to dispersing the riot.

Commentary: Instant diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
by Arnaud De Borchgrave - (Analysis) October 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Along with instant coffee, instant soup, instant oven cleaners, instant Viagra, instant pain relief from four-hour Viagra, it was only a matter of time before instant diplomacy made its debut on the nation's comedy channels. Some foreign leaders have concluded American youth -- and many older Americans, too -- have tuned out serious news and tuned in comedians who make fun of everything from the nuclear ambitions of superannuated Iranian mullahs to Osama bin Laden's air-conditioned deluxe cave in the Hindu Kush.

Peace ball firmly in Obama's court
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Although some may blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for dropping the ball soon after their peace negotiations began three weeks ago, the more likely person who will be blamed should the talks collapse totally will be no other than US President Barack Obama on whom many had banked.

Disappointment with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

A US State Department spokesman told reporters this week that Washington was disappointed with Israel because of its failure to extend the settlement moratorium for as long as the peace talks were moving. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon used the same words to describe how the United Nations feels towards Israel. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris, expressed the same sentiment vis-a-vis Israel's decisions.

PA official: Israel to be blamed if talks breakdown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian officials on Wednesday expressed skepticism about the resumption of peace talks and signaled they would accept nothing less than an extension of the West Bank settlement construction moratorium ahead of the scheduled arrival of US Mideast Envoy George Mitchell and European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton to the region on Thursday. Veteran Palestinian negotiator Nabil Sha'ath said Israel should be blamed for any breakdown of the negotiations if it insists on expanding settlements on lands claimed by the Palestinians for their state.

'Obama guarantees Bibi: Only 2 more months of freeze'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration is pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the settlement construction moratorium by two months, Jewish senators were told at a White House briefing.

U.S. Presses Israelis on Renewal of Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Helene Cooper, Mark Landler - (Analysis) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is trying to cajole the Israeli government into a 60-day renewal of the freeze on Jewish settlement building by offering it security guarantees, ranging from military hardware to support for a long-term Israeli presence in the strategically sensitive Jordan Valley, according to lawmakers and other officials briefed on the proposals.

White House offers Israel a carrot for peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) September 30, 2010 - 12:00am

In its scramble to salvage Middle East peace talks, the Obama administration has dangled incentives before the Israeli government that touch on some of the most sensitive issues of final status talks between the two sides, administration sources said.

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