“Annoying” Palestine is on the right track
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) December 21, 2010 - 1:00am

Last week the US House of Representatives adopted a resolution threatening a potential cutoff of aid to the Palestinians if they unilaterally declared statehood. It was essentially meaningless bluster, taking a strong stance against something the Palestinians aren’t currently pursuing or even seriously considering.

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Does Israel have a peace partner after all?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) December 20, 2010 - 1:00am

It may be that the big news from Sunday's visit to Ramallah of the Geneva Initiative supporters is that somewhere, out there in the Palestinian territories and in Israel, there is still a peace camp that appeared to have entirely disappeared. In other words, to use the slogan of the Geneva Initiative, "there is a partner." More than 200 people, Israelis and Palestinians, crowded the conference room of the Muqata yesterday to hear their host, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and have lunch.

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Abed Rabbo: Peace process may die if doesn't get boost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
December 20, 2010 - 1:00am

The peace process is frozen but it might die if it does not get a real boost, top PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo said during an interview aired Monday on Army Radio. Abed Rabbo added that US Mideast envoy George Mitchell "did not bring us any new proposal" during his last visit to the region, following a deadlock in negotiations. "We submitted a complete portfolio to the Americans about our perceptions on the issue of borders and security, and we expect the Israelis to do the same," the Palestinian negotiator said.

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Disillusioned Palestinians seeking new path
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Philippe Agret - December 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Disillusioned by the collapse of talks and disappointed by the US administration, the PLO is turning away from negotiations and seeking international recognition for a Palestinian state. In the days since the US administration acknowledged it had failed to chart a path back to direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, senior Palestinian officials have made clear that they think negotiations are dead. "The peace process is in a deep coma," PLO negotiator Nabil Sha'ath told journalists Saturday night. "I don't think anyone wants to continue this negotiation."

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Mubarak blames Israel for Mideast peace crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Maamoun Youssef - December 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday blamed Israel for the stalemate in peace negotiations with the Palestinians in a speech before a joint session of the Egyptian parliament's two chambers. Mubarak also warned Israel that the security of its people hinged on peace rather than "occupation or arms."

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These concrete constraints have quashed any hope of peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley - (Opinion) December 17, 2010 - 1:00am

After weeks of fruitless endeavour, the United States has finally – and wisely – given up on its efforts to secure a renewed freeze on Israeli settlement construction in order to relaunch direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Yet, amid speculation over how Israelis and Palestinians might now resume their talks, a reality is taking hold: the point is fast approaching where negotiations between the two will be, for all practical purposes and for the foreseeable future, over. As emissaries are dispatched and ideas explored, discussions could well carry on.

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The Illusion of Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) December 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Ever since Obama arrived at the White House, Israel has exerted every effort possible to convince him that the priority of his foreign policy should be the Iranian issue and preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, either through intensified sanctions or through military action, and that he would easily find solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if the nuclear threat from Iran were to cease and Tehran’s influence in Gaza, Lebanon and other places were to be reduced.

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US mediation faces its biggest test
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) December 17, 2010 - 1:00am

The American government’s decision to change its approach to mediating an Arab-Israeli comprehensive peace agreement, by dropping its insistence on an Israeli freeze in settlement construction as a prerequisite for moving ahead, confirms several important things. It proves that the US can be decisive, persistent, realistic, patient, pragmatic and humble - all admirable and important qualities in a mediator. The problem is that the US has proved again that the most important attribute for a mediator is the one it has never mastered in recent years: success.

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Arab FMs want 'serious offer' on Israel peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

CAIRO (AFP) - Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday rejected more Palestinian-Israeli peace talks without a "serious offer" and said they will seek a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement building. They announced their decision after meeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo and US Middle East envoy George Mitchell vowing "substantive" talks with Israel and the Palestinians to rescue the battered peace process.

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Q&A-After Mitchell trip, what next for peace process?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Tom Perry - December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

The U.S. Middle East envoy held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week during his first trip to the region since the United States called off efforts to revive direct negotiations. What happened to those negotiations, what has U.S. envoy George Mitchell said and done this week and what are the prospects of success for another round of indirect talks Washington now says it will pursue? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NEGOTIATIONS?

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