Israelis and Palestinians talking again after months-long freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Reporting from Jerusalem - In a limited thaw of a frosty relationship, Israeli and Palestinian officials held their first high-level meeting in months Wednesday and discussed ways to bolster a promising economic recovery in the West Bank. The encounter was part of a shift by the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership, which previously shunned contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. That position was out of step with the Obama administration, which is seeking to bring the sides together.

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Israeli Obstacles to the International Conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Randa Takieddine - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The importance of the visit by the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to France on Thursday and Friday to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner lies in the timing. The visit comes before Sarkozy takes part in the General Assembly of the United Nations on 12 September, and his meeting with the heads of the G-20 in Pittsburgh on the 24th and 25th of the same month.

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Moment of truth for Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The moment of truth is approaching for President Barack Obama’s much hyped initiative to re-launch the Middle East peace talks with the objective of creating an independent Palestinian entity based on the two-state solution. He is expected to present the outline of his plan at the UN’s General Assembly meetings in New York this September.

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President Obama hopes to be Mideast peacemaker at UN session
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New York Daily News
by Kenneth R. Bazinet - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama hopes to bring the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table at this month's opening session of the UN, a top Israeli official said Monday. "I think they will meet by the end of September," said Israeli President Shimon Peres. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Obama are all scheduled to be in New York for the start of the UN General Assembly during the week of Sept. 20.

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Obama envisions two years until Mideast peace deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar, Barak Ravid - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington will announce the renewal of talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority through a trilateral summit of U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting would take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly late this month; two years would be allotted to completing talks on a peace agreement. On Monday President Shimon Peres confirmed that such a summit was being considered, under facilitation by Obama.

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Encountering Peace: President Obama: Pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Analysis) September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama's popularity in Israel is at an all time low for a US president. Only 4% of Israelis believe that the president is pro-Israeli, according to a survey published last week by the Jerusalem Post. President Obama does not face elections in Israel so perhaps he does not need to be overly concerned with this statistic but in order for Obama's Middle East peace plans to succeed, the Israeli public must have a "buy-in".

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Jewish settlers plan massive construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

The accelerating pace of Jewish settlement expansion in East Jerusalem this year may spur violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the city and cripple new efforts by the Obama administration to kick-start peace talks, an Israeli anti-settlement group warned yesterday. The “massive” construction being planned by Jewish settlers within Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem is likely to prompt clashes, said Yudith Oppenheimer, the executive director of Ir Amim, a Jerusalem-based advocacy group.

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Hope rises for renewal of Mid East peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Irish Times
by Mark Weiss - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

A RENEWAL of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians late next month now appears a distinct possibility, although Israeli and US officials will continue to meet in the coming weeks to hammer out details of a compromise formula acceptable to both sides. At Wednesday’s meeting in London between Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, the sides inched closer to a package which will enable the resumption of bilateral talks on the Israeli-Palestinian track, suspended since Mr Netanyahu became prime minister five months ago.

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Abbas to tour Arab, European countries by year's end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas intends to carry out a tour that will include a number of Arab and European countries, according to a leading Palestine Liberation Organization official on Wednesday. Yasser Abed Rabu, the PLO Executive Committee's secretary-general, said Abbas would visit Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, Spain and France. Rabu added that the president's goals were to "rescue" the peace process from Israeli threats and settlement activity, and shore up support from the international community in favor of a just resolution to Palestinian aspirations for statehood.


U.S.: We will be flexible on conditions for Mideast talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

A State Department spokesman said on Friday that the Obama administration will be flexible on pre-conditions for all parties involved in Middle East peace negotiations. "We put forward our ideas, publicly and privately, about what it will take for negotiations to be restarted, but ultimately it'll be up to the parties themselves, with our help, to determine whether that threshold has been met," spokesman P.J. Crowley said, adding that the U.S. position on an Israeli settlement freeze remains unchanged."

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