Why the demise of the Middle East ‘peace process’ may be a good thing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Alastair Crooke - January 11, 2011 - 1:00am

Establishing a Palestinian state has been a sine qua non of Western foreign policy for the last 20 years. For some, the evident demise of the “peace process” has given rise to a sense of bereavement nearly on par with the end of civilization. A Palestinian state, for many, was a banner of conscience, a matter of justice. It was perceived, too, as the essential remedy for the wider maladies of the Middle East. Its final exhaustion would seem to edge the region closer to an abyss.

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Netanyahu to meet Mubarak in Sharm
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads Thursday to Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on ways to break the impasse in peace negotiations with the Palestinians, his office said. The two leaders will meet in the Red Sea resort of Sharm Ash-Sheikh for talks that will also focus on threats facing the region. "On the agenda for the talks is the advancement of the political process, regional issues and other subjects of interest to the two countries," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

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Muslim, Christian and Jewish clerics meet in Ramallah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Muslim, Christian and Jewish clerics met in Ramallah on Wednesday to declare a joint stance on Israel's occupation of Jerusalem. The religious leaders met at the offices of the Islamic Christian Commission in Support of Jerusalem and the Holy Sites. In a news conference at the Ramallah office, the commission's secretary-general Dr Hasan Khatir welcomed the religious officials, in particular Rabbi Yisrael Hirsch, head of the Neturei Karta group. Khatir said the press conference was held to refute "Zionist lies."

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Egypt: A Chat About Arab-Israeli Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, told Israel on Thursday to “review its positions and policies and to adopt tangible confidence-building measures” toward the Palestinian Authority in order to allow a resumption of peace talks, an Egyptian official told reporters after talks between Mr. Mubarak and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu asked Mr. Mubarak to try to persuade the Palestinians to return to “direct, intensive and serious” negotiations, the Israeli government said in a statement. Israeli-Palestinian talks have been stalled since September. Mr.

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Flurry of int'l diplomacy launched in bid to revive Mideast peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Gur Salomon - January 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Following a long hiatus in international involvement in the stalled Mideast peace process, intense diplomatic activity was launched this week in an effort to get Israelis and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met in Egypt's resort town of Sharm el- Sheikh on Thursday to explore ways to break the current diplomatic impasse.

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Lieberman: No Mideast peace for 'at least a decade'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Philippe Agret, Charly Wegman - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel's hard-right wing settler Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told AFP on Tuesday "at least a decade" would be needed to reach a peace accord with Palestinians. "I think that we have good cooperation (with the Palestinians) on the economy and security and we must continue cooperation on these two levels and postpone the political solution for at least a decade," he said in an exclusive interview.

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Blair: Serious trouble if no talks soon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

The Quartet Special Envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair said Tuesday on CNN that Israel and the Palestinians will be in serious trouble if they don't begin talks in the near future. The former British prime minister added that behind the scenes a lot of work was being done to restart direct negotiations, which were halted in September after settlement construction in the West Bank was renewed following a nine-month moratorium. Blair acknowledged that the level of confidence between the two sides was low but said the talks can nonetheless be put back on track.

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Wanted: Adult Supervision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

Call me a foreign-policy geezer, a traditionalist from back in the day. But when it comes to conducting the affairs of the country abroad, particularly toward the seemingly endless, seemingly intractable Arab-Israeli peace process, one historically proven bureaucratic model trumps all others: the willful president empowering the strong secretary of state who, in turn, runs everything.

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Barak: No progress on Syrian track, focus on Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Hanan Greenberg - January 4, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel must do everything in its power to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday. During a visit to the Tze'elim army base in south Israel, Barak said there was no progress on the Syrian track and that Israel should focus its efforts on jumpstarting the negotiations with the Palestinians. The defense minister said that in Israel's "complex" reality, the government has a responsibility to seek every possible way to reignite the peace process with the Palestinians and pursue peace on a regional level.

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Barak deceives Barack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) January 4, 2011 - 1:00am

The American administration seems to have got cold feet about the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Since the advent of the Obama administration, there has been a lot of talk and much hope, but the American administration has yet to deliver on its promises. If anything, its failure to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement building has exposed the impotence of American diplomacy vis-à-vis Israel.

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