Jordan Valley may be hurdle in peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Howard Schneider - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am The backhoes are busy on housing plots for this new Israeli settlement in the Jordan Valley, and young families, under army guard and toting M-16s, have begun cultivating dozens of acres of land with dates, olives and other crops. To the south, a water pipeline from Jerusalem has let veteran farmers double the land irrigated for date trees to 9,000 acres, with a second pipeline and more farmland expansion planned. » Read more

Palestinians say new U.S. approach imperils peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Howard Schneider - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am Palestinian officials on Sunday criticized the United States for what one called "backpedaling" on demands that Israel stop settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, saying the Obama administration's change of approach on the issue damaged the likelihood of a peace agreement. "If America cannot get Israel to implement a settlement freeze, what chance do the Palestinians have of reaching agreement" on the even more complex set of issues involved in final peace talks, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a written statement. » Read more

Clinton Asks Abbas to Return to Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am Dealing a blow to the Obama administration’s efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton failed Saturday to persuade the Palestinian leader to accept an Israeli proposal that would slow but not stop the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. » Read more

Israelis Arrest West Bank Settler in Attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am The Israeli police said Sunday that they had arrested a 37-year-old American immigrant, a West Bank settler, and charged him in an array of killings and terrorist attacks over the last 12 years, including the murders of two Palestinians, the bombing of a leftist Israeli professor’s home and the maiming of a 15-year-old boy who belongs to a community of Jews who believe in Jesus. » Read more