PLO: Don't let Israeli extremists derail peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- "The USA, the Quartet and the Arab world must exert their utmost efforts to ensure a complete cessation of settlement construction," a statement from the PLO's Executive Committee said Thursday night. The statement asked that parties invested in the talks work to "forbid extremist forces in Israel from derailing peace talks," and reiterated the support of the body for the negotiations.

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Next round of talks to be split in Egypt, Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (Ma'an) -- US Mediators will meet in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm Ash-Sheikh on Tuesday, and then move Wednesday to Jerusalem where talks will continue. "The Egyptians have volunteered to host a round of direct negotiations," State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley told reporters Wednesday, and confirmed that a move to Jerusalem for a second day of talks had been agreed to during discussions the week before. Crowley gave no explanation for the change in location, which was expected to be Egypt for both days of talks.

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Erekat did not intend to 'apologize to Israel'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

JERICHO (Ma'an) -- Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat issued a statement on Wednesday alleging his televised address to Israelis asking that they be his "peace partner" was altered.

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Pessimistic about peace, Israelis greet new year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israelis usher in the Jewish new year, or Rosh Hashana, at sundown Wednesday with a widespread sense of pessimism that a new round of U.S.-sponsored Mideast talks can achieve peace. President Barack Obama wants a deal within a year, but Israelis are deeply skeptical after decades of failed efforts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the widespread doubts.

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PA official: We won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, even though the PA acknowledges there is a Jewish majority in Israel, senior Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath said at a press conference in Ramallah on Wednesday. According to Shaath, the Palestinian negotiating team turned down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request to discuss the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state during the upcoming round of peace talks in Sharm el-Sheikh next week.

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Clinton: There may never be another chance for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated the American administration's optimism as to Israeli-Palestinian peace process' chances of success Wednesday. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations, Clinton said that she believed the "pessimists" were wrong to think the talks were doomed to fail. Peace can be achieved, she said, if the parties will overcome "initial obstacles" – a clear hint the settlement freeze set to end on September 26. The Palestinians have already threatened to walk away from the negotiating table should Israel resume its settlement activity.

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Europe’s Absence from the Palestinian-Israeli Negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Randa Takieddine - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed a high degree of resentment of the fact that the European Union was not invited to the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, during his meeting with President Hosni Mubarak at the Elysee Palace on his way to Washington. Meanwhile, the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was the only European minister who sent a letter to Catherine Ashton, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, to say that the absence of the European Union (EU) from the these talks is unacceptable.

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How to Make Peace in the Middle East in Six Months or Less Without Leaving Your Apartment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Jessica Allen - (Book Review) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, brokered by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, are set to resume in two weeks’ time. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says reconciliation is “difficult but possible.” That was last month.

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Obama, Clinton call on US Jews, Muslims to back talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama indicated he understood recent Palestinian statements threatening to quit the peace process and rejecting compromise as political posturing, according to rabbis on a White House conference call Tuesday. Obama, who spoke with rabbis of various denominations in a call marking Rosh Hashanah, was asked by a participant about comments from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas perceived in Israel as hostile to the negotiating process he launched with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu just last Thursday.

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Clinton: Arab momentum building for two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday dismissed doubts over the success of Middle East peace talks, saying skeptics were "wrong" and that negotiations had gained momentum with backing from Arab states willing to accept a two-state solution. "There's a certain momentum," she said. "You know, we have some challenges in the early going that we have to get over, but I think that we have a real shot here."

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