Peace Negotiations | The American Task Force on Palestine

Abbas wants Quartet to launch "meaningful" peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 1, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday called on the European Union (EU) to urge the Quartet of Middle East peace players to launch a "meaningful" peace process. Abbas made his remarks after his meeting with Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Netanyahu is exploiting anxiety over instability to stave off peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) February 28, 2011 - 1:00am

In a childish response two weeks ago to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goaded, "whoever is in a bunker should stay there." Speaking on the Knesset rostrum a few days later, Netanyahu invited the citizens of Israel to join him in his bunker. The prime minister spoke of the missiles fired by Hamas from Gaza, reprimanded the fools who forced the settlers to leave their Gush Katif bunkers, and peppered his remarks with references to the Iranian threat.

Dennis Ross: Time running out for peace; status quo unsustainable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - February 28, 2011 - 1:00am

The Obama Administration's "ongoing strategic discussions with the Israelis have taken on a character, a range of issues, intensity, and a frequency that is simply unprecedented," Dennis Ross told J Street's annual conference on Monday. The White House adviser on Middle East peace issues said that one of the Obama Administration's principles was “an unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security.”

Netanyahu wary of new international efforts in peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - February 27, 2011 - 1:00am

Four days before Mideast Quartet officials are planned to meet Israeli and Palestinian representatives, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still hasn't decided whether or not he will be sending his adviser and peace-talks representative Yitzhak Molcho. The forum of seven senior ministers will be meeting this Tuesday to reach a decision on the matter. Over the weekend, the United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Robert Serry, announced that Quartet representatives would hold separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials later in the week in Brussels.

Path of peace is Israel's only choice in new Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - February 25, 2011 - 1:00am

President Shimon Peres, an incorrigible optimist, promised us a new Middle East. He even predicted that the day would come when Gaza would turn into the Singapore of the Middle East. He was also the first to encourage an alliance of security interests between secular Turkey and Israel. Like many of us, he too believed that so long as Mubarak stayed in power, the peace agreement would last. He was also confident that Mubarak's corrupt son would perpetuate his father's policies. After all, billions of dollars of American aid should not be taken lightly.

Second chance in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - (Editorial) February 25, 2011 - 1:00am

Sometimes in life you get a second chance to get something right, after getting it wrong the first time. The perception I get from discussions in Washington, with independent analysts and people in and close to the administration, is that the Obama team remains caught and wavering between two approaches: to forge ahead with a bold new policy that responds to the historic changes now rippling through the Middle East; to broadly maintain established old patterns of American policy, especially vis-à-vis Arab autocrats and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Hamas: Post-Mubarak, Israel up for Shalit deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 24, 2011 - 1:00am

Hamas officials have decided to hold confidential discussions with Israel, reviving negotiations for a prisoner swap, Hamas spokesman Usama Al-Maziani said Wednesday. In the wake of the ouster of now former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, the official said, Hamas leaders in Gaza believe Israel has become "more responsive" to a prisoner swap deal. According to Al-Maziani, Israeli officials had shown some "limited" responses to Hamas overtures seeking to secure the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel in return for the release of a captured Israeli soldier.

Quartet tries new Israeli-Palestinian peace bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Edith M. Lederer - February 24, 2011 - 1:00am

Envoys from the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia are hoping to hold separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to try to revive peace talks, the U.N.'s Mideast coordinator said Thursday, Robert Serry said the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators has proposed meetings with the two sides on all core issues blocking a peace settlement. They include borders of a Palestinian state, security arrangements, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem.

PM’s latest stance on Palestinian state likely a thank-you
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - February 22, 2011 - 1:00am

In what could be the initial repayment to the US for its Friday veto of the Palestinian anti-settlement resolution in the UN Security Council, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went further toward embracing the idea of a Palestinian state in a statement he issued Saturday night than in any of his previous speeches or statements.

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