Clinton: Resumption of negotiations an 'urgent need'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Israel and the Palestinians to resume the peace talks immediately, Israeli Radio reported Thursday morning. In a television interview, Clinton said that the US administration did not support a unilateral Palestinian step to ask the UN for recognition. Her statement followed assertions by President Mahmoud Abbas indicating he believed the US would back him in the move for recognition.

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For Arab and Jew, a new beginning
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Sandy Tolan - (Opinion) April 21, 2011 - 12:00am

With each child shot down with a stone in his hand, or on her way home from the bakery; with each cafe turned to carnage when a young man explodes himself upon the innocent; with each shot and countershot, crude rocket launch, or barrage of missiles sent in retribution – with each terrible burst of anger and pain, something beautiful is lost. Life, of course; that's what's been sacrificed, more than 100,000 times by some estimates, since the tragedy unfolded six decades ago.

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Israel and Palestine don't need more friends – but the peace process does
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jonathan Freedland - (Opinion) April 20, 2011 - 12:00am

I spent much of last week being a Palestinian. And not just any Palestinian. I was the man charged with negotiating their future. Over the course of two full days I was Saeb Erekat, longtime (and now caretaker) negotiations chief of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, facing off against an Israeli team led by one of Binyamin Netanyahu's closest confidants.

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Palestinian president rejects new uprising against Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Bouazza Ben Bouazza - April 20, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian president said Wednesday he is opposed to another armed uprising against Israel, even if faltering peace efforts fail later this year. Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Tunisia that he remains committed to the U.S.-backed target of reaching a negotiated peace agreement with Israel by September. But with talks stalled for months, he repeated his plan to unilaterally seek United Nations endorsement of Palestinian independence in the absence of a deal.

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EU role vital to resume Palestinian-Israeli talks: Jordan's king
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday said Romania and the EU play a fundamental role in supporting efforts to attain lasting peace and security in the Middle East, the state-run Petra news agency reported. The Jordanian leader underlined the need for intensified efforts to help the Palestinians and the Israelis resume peace talks that address all final status issues leading to the creation of an independent Palestinian state that lives in peace and security along with Israel.

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Israel under pressure to offer peace plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - April 19, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to unveil a new plan for solving the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict or risk having the U.S. and international community move ahead with a strategy of their own.

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Palestinian UN diplomat: Palestinians prefer peace treaty with Israel by September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 19, 2011 - 12:00am

Riyad Mansour, the top Palestinian diplomat at the United Nations, said the Palestinians prefer to have a peace treaty with Israel by September, the month when the Palestinians plan on taking their case for an independent state to the floor of the UN. The Palestinians say that if a peace treaty with Israel isn't reached by September their first choice is to go to the UN Security Council with such strong support and arguments that it would recommend admission of Palestine as a new member of the United Nations.

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US-Israel relations: An Interview with Gil Hoffman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Interview) April 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Gil Hoffman is the chief political correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post. I met him in Cincinnati, where he spoke on recent developments in the Middle East. What follows is a synopsis of our interview together (4/5/2011). Q: Netanyahu, Abbas, and Obama all agree in theory on the need for peace through a two-state solution. Why is there currently no progress on this issue?

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No one is really interested
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) April 18, 2011 - 12:00am

The question why there is no peace progress offers a good opportunity to review the obstacles to peace that have emerged in the course of the past two and a half years. During that time, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama took office, and the Olmert-Abbas peace talks ended in failure.

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Religious Leaders Urge Presidential Leadership for Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
April 14, 2011 - 12:00am

In response to the launching of a new Israeli Peace Initiative by former Israeli government, intelligence and security officials, leaders of twenty-five Jewish, Christian and Muslim national religious organizations wrote to President Obama saying that they believe “this initiative, the earlier Arab Peace Initiative and the Geneva Accord, taken together, offer key principles and ideas for comprehensive Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace.” (Letter and endorsers attached.)

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