Secret Negotiations: Palestinian State in Return for Israeli Land Lease?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali El-saleh, Nazar Majli - October 29, 2010 - 12:00am

Asharq Al-Awsat has learnt from informed sources that secret talks have been talking place between the US and Israel on the formation of a Palestinian state. Washington and Tel Aviv have discussed a Palestinian state being established in return for Israel leasing land from the Palestinian Authority; this includes land in occupied eastern Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. The sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that this land-lease deal would last for a period of time between 40 and 99 years.

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Egyptian officials to meet Abbas in Ramallah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit and Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman will meet President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday in efforts to revive stalled peace negotiations. The Egyptian officials will try to convince Abbas to accept a partial freeze on construction in settlements, excluding settlements that Israel intends to annex in a peace agreement, the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA said.

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'Egypt trying to convince Abbas to resume peace talks with Israel'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Egypt's top diplomat and the head of its intelligence branch were in Ramallah on Thursday in an effort to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume direct negotiations with Israel. The Palestinian Authority has refused to continue its direct peace negotiations with Israel, launched recently in Washington, until Israel agrees to halt settlement construction. Israel enforced a 10-month moratorium on West Bank construction, but that freeze ended in late September.

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The Israeli-Palestinian settlement impasse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Saeb Erakat - (Opinion) October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

It comes as little surprise that Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are at an impasse. The lesson after nearly two decades of bilateral negotiations is that direct talks alone are not enough to guarantee peace. A principled, unshakable commitment to international law is also required. International law sets the benchmark for a just peace and helps ensure that Palestinians and Israelis are treated equally. It also maps a path toward lasting reconciliation rooted in a culture of rights and mutual respect.

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No breakthrough in Mid-East peace talks - Egypt envoy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Ahmed Aboul Gheit reiterated Arab support for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's demand that Israeli settlement building be frozen ahead of new talks. Israel has refused to renew the freeze despite pressure from Washington. Mr Abbas said he was still mulling an appeal to the UN, but said his first choice would be to return to talks. "We have discussed our options... but our first option is to return to direct negotiations if Israel halts all settlement activity," Mr Abbas said.

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Settler leaders warn of ‘silent building freeze’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - October 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Settler leaders warned Tuesday night that building would soon come to a grinding halt in nine of the largest settlements unless the relevant government ministries immediately authorize 4,321 planned units. “The cities of Judea and Samaria are effectively frozen,” Naftali Bennett, director-general of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, told The Jerusalem Post. “The government has promised to stop the freeze, yet it is continuing it.” The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on Tuesday night.

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Israel expands West Bank settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel is expanding a settlement in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, Ma'an has learned. Shvut Rachel Alt. 804, part of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, was built on Palestinian land in the Jalud village. The village's total area is some 16,000 dunums. Settlers have confiscated about 80 percent of the land to expand six settlements, residents say.

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Israeli police, Arabs clash over rightist march
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - October 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli police on Wednesday fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse Arabs who were protesting against a rally by ultranationalist Jews in an Israeli-Arab town. Riot police, some on horesback, charged about 200 Arabs who threw stones at them before retreating, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Ten masked Arabs were arrested. About 30 Jewish demonstrators had travelled from Jerusalem to Umm el-Fahm in northern Israel, the seat of an Islamic movement whose leader, Sheikh Raed Salah, says Israel endangers Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

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UN envoy demands Israel act against settler attacks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

A senior UN official condemned attacks by Jewish "settler extremists" on Palestinians' olive trees in the West Bank and called on Israel to "combat violence and terror by Israelis." Robert Serry, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, also said he was alarmed that work had started on hundreds of new homes for settlers in the occupied territory since the end of Israel's settlement freeze last month.

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Palestinians work on West Bank settlement boom
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Wyre Davies - October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

For men like Abdel Salam Alami it is good, well-paid work. They even get insurance if they're injured on the job. Yet this construction is extremely controversial. The issue of settlements is at the heart of the faltering peace talks. The Palestinians say they take up land needed for a viable future state. The international community says they are obstacles to peace. Israel is under pressure to renew at least the partial freeze on building in the occupied West Bank, which expired last month.

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