Good News From the Middle East (Really)
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The New York Times (Editorial) - January 25, 2011 - 1:00am

IT has lately become the accepted wisdom that the Middle East peace process is dead, finished, kaput. This belief has been reinforced by Al Jazeera’s release this week of some 1,600 documents that are said to describe the inside workings of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2008.

»

Documents Open a Door on Mideast Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - January 25, 2011 - 1:00am

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks over the past 17 years have operated at two levels, one public, the other behind closed doors. To the world and their own people, each side spoke of sacred, nonnegotiable demands, while in the Jerusalem hotel suites where the officials met those very demands were under negotiation.

»

Reaction to the leaked Palestine papers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Chris McGreal - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian negotiators have angrily dismissed accounts as lies, fabrications and half truths As Palestinian negotiators named in the secret accounts of negotiations with Israel angrily dismissed them as lies, fabrications and half truths, there was an equally hostile backlash over their offer to let the Jewish state keep its settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and other concessions.

»

Palestine papers: Now we know. Israel had a peace partner
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jonathan Freedland - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

The classified documents show Palestinians willing to go to extreme lengths and Israel holding a firm line on any peace deal Who will be most damaged by this extraordinary glimpse into the reality of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? Perhaps the first casualty will be Palestinian national pride, their collective sense of dignity in adversity badly wounded by the papers revealed today.

»

Abbas says Jazeera leaks on Israel talks confused
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

Leaked documents detailing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians deliberately confuse the positions of either side, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday. The documents, obtained by Al Jazeera television channel, indicate that Palestinian negotiators offered Israel much bigger concessions than previously revealed. "What is intended is a mix-up. I have seen them yesterday present things as Palestinian but they were Israeli... This is therefore intentional," Abbas said in Cairo. He said the peace talks were carried out in an open manner.


The story behind the Palestine papers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black, Seumas Milne - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

How 1,600 confidential Palestinian records of negotiations with Israel from 1999 to 2010 came to be leaked to al-Jazeera The revelations from the heart of the Israel-Palestine peace process are the product of the biggest documentary leak in the history of the Middle East conflict, and the most comprehensive exposure of the inside story of a decade of failed negotiations.

»

Crowley: US cannot vouch for 'Palestine Papers' veracity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

State Dept. spokesman says US is reviewing leaks, adds Washington committed to two-state solution, will continue working with on core issues. Responding to Al Jazeera's release of over 1,000 PA documents relating to negotiations with Israel, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that the US cannot verify the documents, via his Twitter account.

»

PA official: Israelis don't want a two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

Erekat says Al-Jazeera release part of campaign targeting PA, Abbas refused to make concessions on J'lem; Abbas: We have nothing to hide. Palestinian Legislative Council official Mustafa Barghouti on Monday said that Israelis don't want a two-state solution, according to The Guardian's news blog on 'The Palestine Papers.' "Regardless of how flexible the negotiators are and how many concessions are offered, it makes no difference because Israel does not want a two state solution. All this flexibility is in vain," he was quoted as saying.

»

Abbas: Concessions in Palestine papers came from Israel, not us
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday denied offering secret concessions to Israel and said that reporting of purportedly leaked documents had presented Israeli positions as those of his own negotiators. "What is intended is a mix-up. I saw them present things yesterday as Palestinian, but they were Israeli ... This is therefore intentional," Abbas told reporters in Cairo after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "We say things very clearly, we do not have secrets." Abbas stressed.

»

Palestinian reporter faces trial for insulting PA President Abbas on Facebook
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 24, 2011 - 1:00am

Reporter who works for Al-Quds TV, which is sympathetic to Hamas, said he was held for over 50 days in Palestinian lockup after he was tagged in a Facebook image that mocked Abbas. A Palestinian reporter tagged in a Facebook image that mocked the Palestinian president said Saturday he faces trial for insulting a public figure despite already being detained for more than 50 days.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017