Editorial: Unsettled issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) September 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Abbas will not be able to continue talking while Israel continues building With the expiration of Israel’s partial freeze on settlements only two weeks away, President Barack Obama is concerned. The “major bone of contention” he referred to over the weekend is the potential lifting of the settlement moratorium which could wreck the talks before they get out of first gear. The president’s credibility and the future of talks depends on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

»

Israel Bends Slightly on Settlement Building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - (Analysis) September 12, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, signaled for the first time on Sunday that he was willing to limit, though not completely halt, construction in the West Bank settlements after a partial building moratorium expires later this month. The hints of flexibility came as diplomats worked to defuse a potential crisis over settlement building that threatens to derail fledgling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

»

Peace Now: 2,066 settlement homes to be built as soon as freeze ends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - (Analysis) September 12, 2010 - 12:00am

2,066 new homes would be ready for continued West Bank construction as soon as a moratorium on settlement building is lifted later this month, a report by the Israeli left-wing NGO Peace Now said Sunday, adding that work on another 11,000 potential units could hypothetically start as well.

»

Settlers vow to keep on building – at any cost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - (Analysis) September 11, 2010 - 12:00am

As Israeli and Palestinian leaders prepare for key peace talks in Egypt, hardline Jewish settlers are vowing to sabotage a political process that they fear, if successful, could endanger the survival of the Jewish state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sit down for a second round of talks on Tuesday in a US-sponsored effort to end nearly two decades of deadlock, but opponents of the negotiations say they are quietly confident of their failure.

»

How the Palestinian Authority is fighting Hamas attacks
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Washington Post (Opinion) - September 11, 2010 - 12:00am

The Sept. 8 editorial "The Hamas murders," on the drive-by attacks against Israeli settlers in the West Bank by Hamas, was exceptionally unfair to the Palestinian Authority. Demanding that the authority "fight terrorism," the editorial ignored the fact that the shootings occurred in an area under full Israeli security control.

»

Netanyahu's the Key
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
by Aaron David Miller - (Analysis) September 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Of all the questions hovering over next week’s Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in Egypt, the most intriguing and consequential are these: who is Benjamin Netanyahu, and is he willing to break his sacred taboos on issues like Jerusalem and borders to reach a historic agreement with the Palestinians? As important as Obama and Abbas are to the negotiations, Netanyahu is the key. Indeed, it is the cruelest of ironies that the man who has been least committed to serious Israeli-Palestinian negotiations now holds the key to their success.

»

Fatah: Settlements deepen occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 10, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- "Settlements deepen the occupation, they steal Palestinian lands and water; with settlements there is no peace," a statement from the Fatah Central Committee said Thursday. In an effort to clarify the staunch stance of Palestinain negotiators around the settlement issue, a document was released by the committee following a Ramallah meeting ahead of Eid Al-Fitr, as negotiations will resume on 14 September, a day after the Eid holiday closes.

»

Obama: Israeli-Palestinian peace talks might focus first on possible border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - (Analysis) September 10, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama on Friday signaled that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators might begin their peace talks by focusing on the potential border between the two states in order to overcome conflicts over Israeli settlement growth on the West Bank.

»

Peres to Abbas: Netanyahu is a trustworthy partner
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called President Shimon Peres on Thursday evening to offer greetings for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. During the telephone conversation, Peres pleaded with Abbas to "trust [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu."

»

Jewish settlers confident talks will fail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - (Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

In the coming weeks, Danny Dayan and his neighbours will be at the centre of diplomatic attention as policymakers from Washington to Jerusalem try to breathe life into a new round of Middle East peace talks. He, in turn, will do his utmost to ensure that the latest diplomatic effort is stillborn.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017