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The regional approach might get us there faster
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Avi Dichter - (Editorial) June 9, 2009 - 12:00am We in Israel take pride in leaving "no stone unturned in the search for peace." However, now it seems, we are leaving unturned not a stone, but a large boulder. The Arab peace initiative, calling for comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab world, has been placed on the table. It is backed by the leaders of all Arab nations and has been deemed "very impressive" by US |
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Obama set the right tone in Cairo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Freep by Terry Ahwal - June 8, 2009 - 12:00am The President’s speech in Cairo was inspiring, unprecedented, truthful and courageous. I have been waiting for this speech most of my life. |
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Loving Israel By Hating Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) June 9, 2009 - 12:00am I've got a home in that rock, just beyond the mountaintop - God gave Noah the rainbow sign No more water - but the fire next time. (Traditional spiritual of African-American slaves) It's become a fashion, here and abroad: Jews who are convinced that they love Israel more than the rest of us - and certainly better than the rest of us - have told anyone who would listen, that one way to express love of the Jewish state, is to revile Barack Obama. |
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Mitchell told natural growth won't stop
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - June 9, 2009 - 12:00am While outwardly, US envoy George Mitchell tried to downplay tensions between Washington and Jerusalem, the settlement construction issue continued to be a central source of contention when Mitchell met with Israel's leaders on Tuesday. Mitchell, during a day of meetings that included four hours with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, was told that Israel would not bring all settlement construction to a complete halt, even though this continues to be the US's stated position. |
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Netanyahu failed to build bond of trust with Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) June 10, 2009 - 12:00am Three weeks after Benjamin Netanyahu returned from his visit to Barack Obama, there is no longer any doubt that the prime minister has failed in his most important mission - to build a bond of trust with the U.S. president. The signs are clear: Israel and the United States are trading messages through speeches and headlines instead of through discrete consultations. |
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U.S. Envoy Reassures and Presses a Wary Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - June 9, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama’s Middle East envoy sought Tuesday to allay fears here of a fundamental breakdown in Israeli-American relations while alluding to abiding differences over Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and the formula for Israeli-Palestinian peace. |
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US envoy Mitchell meets Palestinian leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News June 10, 2009 - 12:00am US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has held talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, as part of renewed US peace efforts. Mr Abbas's top negotiator said the meeting had been "positive" and called on both sides to stick to commitments made under the 2003 "roadmap". On Monday Mr Mitchell met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He reiterated calls for a two-state solution, which the Israeli leader has refused to endorse. Mr Netanyahu is scheduled to give a major foreign-policy speech on Sunday. |
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Abbas Tries to Fix Palestinian Side Of Peace Puzzle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters June 10, 2009 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas chairs talks in Jordan on Thursday with factions of Fatah, seeking agreement to hold the first congress in 20 years of the fractured, weakened movement dominating Palestinian politics. Fatah needs to restore unity to overturn its shock 2006 election defeat by Islamist rival Hamas, and to ensure Abbas is firmly in the driver's seat for peace talks with Israel, which U.S. President Barack Obama wants to resume without delay. |
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US envoy pushes Middle East agenda
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - June 10, 2009 - 12:00am George Mitchell, the United States’s envoy to the Middle East, met senior Israeli officials yesterday in what appeared to be part of an unusually vigorous US bid to step up pressure on Israel to freeze Jewish settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land. Although Mr Mitchell was understood to have focused on the settlements in his discussions in Israel, his visit may also have proved decisive before what is expected to be a major peace policy speech on Sunday by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. |
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Obama's Message Should Be Embraced
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Khalaf Al Habtoor - (Opinion) June 9, 2009 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama's peaceful sentiments towards the Muslim world are viewed with distrust or cynicism by some in this region and, to a point, that's understandable. I'm not given to wishful thinking and I'm definitely not naïve, but if we truly want to move forward we should do so with open hearts and minds while resisting the temptation to tar this American leader with the same brush as his predecessor. |