Encountering Peace: Abbas, man of peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) March 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Abbas faced the Israeli nation on Saturday evening on Channel 2’s Meet the Press and answered every question Israelis have regarding the seriousness of the Palestinians regarding peace. To me, it is quite amazing that none of the Israeli newspapers wrote anything about the interview on Sunday morning. I am quite sure that if Abbas had spoken against peace it would have made headlines. If Abbas did not say he wanted to reach a full comprehensive agreement that would end the conflict and end all historic claims, as he did, it would have made news.

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Netanyahu's schemes won't work
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) March 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took the right step in condemning in strong terms the massacre of a five-member Israeli family, including two children and an infant, living in an illegal Israeli colony in the West Bank. No one in his right mind would not abhor this callous event, whose perpetrators are still unknown. "A human being is not capable of something like that," Abbas told Israel Radio. "Scenes like these — the murder of infants and children and a woman slaughtered — cause any person endowed with humanity to hurt and to cry."

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Reckoning Wrongly in a Massacre’s Wake
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) March 16, 2011 - 12:00am

“A proper revenge for the blood of a little child/Satan has not yet devised.” So wrote the revered Hebrew poet Chaim Nachman Bialik in his searing poem “On the Slaughter” in April 1903, a few days after the bloody Kishinev pogrom. The two-day rampage by townspeople in the czarist regional capital had left the Jewish quarter a smoking ruin, and 49 Jews hacked or beaten to death, while the czar’s police stood and watched. Bialik’s poem captured the outraged, horrified feelings of Jews across Russia and around the world: “The world is my gallows/And we are the select few/My blood is cheap…”

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Encountering Peace: The clock is ticking
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - March 14, 2011 - 12:00am

It is becoming increasingly difficult to be a peacemaker in Israel. The achievements of the Palestinian Authority of the past years in reestablishing law and order, deploying US-trained forces throughout the West Bank, and security cooperation with Israel in combating terrorism have all been erased from the public awareness and discourse in an instant following the horrific terrorist attack against the Fogel family in Itamar.

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Regional analysts expect few change in Israeli PM's upcoming peace initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Khaled Khalefe - March 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Local media have widely reported in recent weeks that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will give a policy speech and launch a new round of peace initiative in May, before a joint session of the U.S. Congress when he visits the long-time ally and major sponsor of the Mideast peace process. Netanyahu's aids have started to prepare a draft for the speech. Mike Herzog and Ron Dermer, his two main political advisers, are taking part in these preparations. In addition, Yaakov Amidror has been appointed as the new national security adviser.

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A Two State Peace: Defining the Border
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - March 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Ghaith al-Omari Carnegie Endowment for International Peace A Two State Peace: Defining the Border March 11, 2011 - 1:00am On March 11, 2011, ATFP Advocacy Director Ghaith Al-Omari participated in a panel on “A Two State Peace: Defining the Border” along with Geoffrey Aronson. The event was organized by the American Task Force on Palestine, Foundation for Middle East Peace, the Middle East Institute and Churches for Middle East Peace and held at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.


Dwarfs in charge of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Editorial) March 13, 2011 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM IS abuzz with brilliant new ideas. The brightest minds of our political establishment are grappling with the problems created by the ongoing Arab revolution that is reshaping the landscape around us. Here is the latest crop of mind-bogglingly innovative ideas:

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Halevy doubts chance of final deal with Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Greer Fay Cashman - March 11, 2011 - 1:00am

Ex-Mossad head: Interim agreement would be most workable; says, "To end conflict, we need to bring an end to mutual demands on both sides." The most feasible peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority would involve interim borders, and though a final peace treaty would be desirable, it is unlikely that one could be implemented, former Mossad chief and national security adviser Efraim Halevy told reporters on Thursday.

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2011: The Year of the (Bad) Initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) March 11, 2011 - 1:00am

This is going to be a great year for Middle East peace initiatives, but likely a very bad one for Middle East peace.

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Next 6 months crucial for resumption of negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Shefler - March 10, 2011 - 1:00am

Free elections set to take place in Egypt may turn ugly for Israel unless the peace process is resumed, UK ambassador Matthew Gould warned on Thursday morning. Speaking to Israeli press at the British ambassador’s residence in Ramat Gan, he said Egyptian politicians might try to outdo each other with rhetoric critical of the Jewish state to gain voters.

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