Palestinians outraged over Abbas bowing to Israel, US
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - October 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Demonstrators descended Monday on this city's most famous traffic circle, Manara Square, which for years was a launching point of Palestinian protests against the Israeli occupation.

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PA source: US to press Israel on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - October 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian sources told Ynet the United States has reiterated its commitment to the Palestinian Authority in recent days to reach a peace deal with Israel within two years, based on the Road Map and the 1967 borders. The sources said that in light of the PA's position on the Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, the Americans said they would continue to pressure Israel in the matter of settlements, and said this would be put into action in the coming days with special Mideast envoy George Mitchell's visit to the region.

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Analysis: US backs Israel, but leaves door open for external Cast Lead probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Dan Izenberg - (Analysis) October 5, 2009 - 12:00am

The address last week by US Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner to the UN Human Rights Council on the Goldstone Report must have been music to Israel's ears. Posner said almost exactly what Israel has been trying to say, without much success, ever since the report was published last month. Here are some of those statements: • We believe that the document is deeply flawed and disagree sharply with its methodology and many of its recommendations, including their extraordinarily broad scope.

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Palestinians should trust Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Ziad Asali - October 4, 2009 - 12:00am

THINGS have changed over the past decade between Palestinians and the United States, and much for the better. Yasser Arafat was enticed to attend the Camp David meeting in 2000 with the promise that he would not be blamed if it failed. It did, and he was. Last week Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was invited to attend the New York meeting without any such promise. He was not blamed, and the meeting was not a failure. The meeting dealt with both an immediate crisis and a long-term strategic goal.

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EXCLUSIVE: Obama agrees to keep Israel's nukes secret
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Eli Lake - October 2, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama has reaffirmed a 4-decade-old secret understanding that has allowed Israel to keep a nuclear arsenal without opening it to international inspections, three officials familiar with the understanding said. The officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing private conversations, said Mr. Obama pledged to maintain the agreement when he first hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in May.

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Dashing hopes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) October 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not serious about arriving at peace with the Palestinians. He is only marking time or, better yet, wasting precious time for all sides involved. Tzipi Livni, former Israeli foreign minister and leader of Kadima, the main opposition party in Israel, knows Netanyahu only too well, having engaged in lengthy negotiations with him to form a national coalition government after the Israeli elections in which her party emerged the winner.

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False symmetry
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - October 1, 2009 - 12:00am

One of the most frustrating things about the American policy towards the Middle East is how Israel seems to always be able to get away with it or at least treated symmetrically with the Palestinians, whether there is cause for such symmetry or not.

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A new US perspective on Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Hussein Ibish - October 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Under US President Barack Obama's Administration, the United States has vigorously re-engaged in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and made commitment to Palestinian statehood a national security and foreign policy priority. Obama has said that it is "absolutely crucial" to American interests to resolve the conflict, and appears determined to persist despite all difficulties and obstacles. There are several crucial reasons for this intensification.

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Netanyahu nixes call for Israeli inquiry into Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - October 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nixed the idea of setting up an inquiry committee into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip as a means of dealing with the Goldstone Commission's report.

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No radical change in American policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Sobhi Ghandour - (Opinion) September 30, 2009 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama has been in office for eight months, but there have been no major changes in American foreign policy, apart from the decision to cancel the missile shield planned for Eastern Europe. The absence of any other significant changes in US policy has been a great disappointment, especially in this region, which was pinning much hope on the new administration with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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