US credibility damaged by reversal on Israeli settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Paul Woodward - (Opinion) November 2, 2009 - 1:00am In a speech in Cairo that was widely applauded across the region last June, the US president, Barack Obama, boldly declared: "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop." Five months later Mr Obama's resolve appears to have withered. He sent his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to deliver news that Israel was only too eager to hear. » Read more

Rips in the Peace Camp’s Big Tent ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) November 2, 2009 - 1:00am The first national conference of J Street, the self-described “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby, convened October 25 in Washington, D.C., with all the understated reserve of a new iPhone launch or the christening of the Queen Mary. Gathered in a swank hotel a short walk from the White House, some 1,500 activists from across the country sat through hours of speeches by big-shot politicians and diplomats, earnestly debated tactics and philosophy, handed out awards over chicken dinners and jabbered excitedly in the corridors. » Read more

Obama yet to deliver on Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Jeremy Bowen - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am When he travelled to Cairo at the beginning of June this year being president must have seemed much easier than it does now. He gave a speech there, in a grand lecture theatre at the university, that was intended as a key foundation stone for his presidency. It was supposed to begin to repair the damage done to America's standing in the Muslim world, and especially in the Arab Middle East by his predecessor. Most importantly of all, it was to accelerate the president's push for Middle East peace. » Read more

‘Fayyad’s Two Year Plan is a Very Smart Move’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Felice Friedson - (Interview) November 2, 2009 - 1:00am James L. Wolfensohn, a former head of The World Bank, served as the first Mideast envoy of the Quartet, the entities sponsoring the Road Map peace plan: the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia. While Mr. Wolfensohn’s experience and reputation in world finance is unparalleled, his service as the Quartet’s first envoy provides an expertise very few can match. He speaks with Felice Friedson, President and CEO of The Media Line. » Read more

Israel releases Hamas MP ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews November 2, 2009 - 1:00am Israel on Sunday released Hamas Member of Parliament Hatem Qafisha after a year in detention, allowing him to return to his home in the West Bank city of Hebron. The 49-year-old Palestinian was greeted by members of his family and officials of the Islamist movement Hamas, including Parliament Speaker Aziz Duwaik. Duwaik himself was only released in June after spending three years in Israeli prison, while Qafisha has spent a total of 10 years behind bars in several stints. » Read more

Settlements are fertile ground for Jewish terror ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) November 2, 2009 - 1:00am The parade of the self-righteous got underway Sunday night: Yaakov Teitel was described as a "foreign element," "wild thorn" and "rotten apple." Even if he acted alone, spoke and hallucinated in English, even if he was mentally disturbed, as his attorney claimed, it does not change the fact that Jack the Ripper from the West Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel - contrary to his predecessor in London - acted on ground that was fertile like no other. » Read more

U.S.-born Jewish terrorist suspected of series of attacks over past 12 years ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am The authorities have arrested a resident of the West Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel for suspected murder and a role in a string of murder plots, according to details of an investigation revealed Sunday after a gag order was lifted. » Read more

Fayyad condemns "terrorist" settler violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 2, 2009 - 1:00am Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday condemned an attack during which Israeli settlers shot a Palestinian and injured four others in occupied East Jerusalem. Five relatives, three of them over 60 years old, were hospitalized after right-wing Israelis attacked the Salah family, shooting one, in a bid to take over their home in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa on Friday. » Read more

Abbas dilemmas as US backs Israel on talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ali Sawafta, Erika Soloman - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's rejection of an Israeli settlement freeze as a condition for peace talks puts Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a spot. As Abbas faces an apparent shift in the Obama administration's diplomatic strategy and comes under U.S. pressure to relaunch peace negotiations suspended in December, here are some of the scenarios that could play out: ABBAS TALKS NOW » Read more

Did Clinton's Middle East message backfire? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am MARRAKESH, Morocco - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's message on Israel-Palestinian peace talks this weekend was not notably different than what President Barack Obama himself said in New York in September at a meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. But the prevailing perception and coverage in the wake of Clinton's meetings in Israel and Abu Dhabi Saturday is that the U.S. » Read more