Abbas Says Might Not Run In Poll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
October 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. President Barack Obama he would not run for re-election unless Israel dropped its refusal to freeze settlements, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday. "Abu Mazen (Abbas) told him that he would not be a candidate in the presidential election (in January) unless Israel abided by the peace requirement," said one of the officials, who are briefed regularly by Abbas and spoke on condition of anonymity.

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Israel Ever-Present at US-Iranian Negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

The strategy of the two parallel tracks, based on incentives and threats, which has been adopted by the Barack Obama Administration is raising debate and discussion, as well as finding those who would challenge it, those who believe in its roots, those who fear for it and those who are wary of it falling like a gift onto the lap of the seasoned experts of procrastination, obstruction and maneuvers.

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US: Israel discriminates against non-Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel continues to discriminate against its religious minorities legally, financially and culturally, according to a US State Department review on worldwide religious freedom released on Monday. In its 2009 International Religious Freedom Report, the foreign service said that despite past documentation of prejudice against minorities, the status of respect for religious freedoms by Israel "was unchanged during the reporting period."

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Obama peace quest flounders in Mideast quicksand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Alistair Lyon - (Analysis) October 23, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama's high-priority Middle East peace drive has run into predictable quicksands, even as other foreign policy challenges in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and beyond clamour for his attention. Israel has rebuffed Obama's request for a complete freeze on settlement construction, while Arab states, whose own peace offer has gathered dust since 2002, have brushed off his calls for goodwill gestures toward the Jewish state.

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No way home: The tragedy of the Palestinian diaspora
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Judith Miller, David Samuels - October 22, 2009 - 12:00am

It is a cynical but time-honoured practice in Middle Eastern politics: the statesmen who decry the political and humanitarian crisis of the approximately 3.9 million Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Gaza ignore the plight of an estimated 4.6 million Palestinians who live in Arab countries. For decades, Arab governments have justified their decision to maintain millions of stateless Palestinians as refugees in squalid camps as a means of applying pressure to Israel.

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J Street and the ATFP are norm breakers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghassan Rubeiz - (Opinion) October 22, 2009 - 12:00am

In “Transforming America’s Israeli Lobby,” Dan Fleshler argues that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is not helping Israel’s long-term interests and it is not properly reflecting the progressive sentiments of the American Jewish community. Fleshler explains the complexity of the Jewish lobby in America and urges congress to listen to all shades of Jewish opinion, not only to AIPAC.

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Clinton gives Obama Mideast progress report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - October 22, 2009 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was at the White House giving President Barack Obama a report on efforts to relaunch Middle East peace talks this afternoon. But despite near constant diplomatic effort underway in recent months, and some progress achieved, success in getting peace talks even relaunche still eludes the Obama administration, a White House readout of Clinton's oral briefing suggests.

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Israel hardens stance on U.N. Gaza report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
October 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel hardened its opposition Tuesday to international calls for an independent inquiry into its offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter, saying it would urge the United States to stop the issue from advancing at the United Nations. The decision came at a cabinet meeting called to discuss a U.N. report that has accused both sides of committing war crimes during the three-week operation. The report, which was adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council last week, recommends war crimes proceedings if Israel and the Palestinians do not conduct credible internal investigations.

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In Washington, Erekat says US must denounce Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 21, 2009 - 12:00am

The US is obligated to expose Israel for blocking the resumption of peace negotiations, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Tuesday. "When we say that we want to resume permanent status negotiations on all core issues without exceptions, that's also an Israeli obligation," Erekat told reporters outside the State Department in Washington, DC, according to AFP. Erekat was speaking after meeting with US President Barack Obama’s Middle East peace envoy, George Mitchell.

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Palestinian official: We're ready for talks with U.S., but not Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - October 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat arrived in Washington Tuesday, where he is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other American officials to discuss the first phase of the road map for Mideast peace and the renewal of final-status talks.

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