September 11th

Abbas refusal to meet Netanyahu could scuttle tripartite talk plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid - September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Less than two weeks before the UN General Assembly is to meet, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas remains adamant in his refusal to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, potentially jeopardizing the Obama administration's plans to hold a tripartite meeting in New York on September 23 or 24. Abbas insists there will be no meeting with Netanyahu, nor a resumption of negotiations, unless Israel completely freezes settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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Exclusive: Senior Fatah official concerned over Egyptian election plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Senior Fatah member and head of the party's parliamentary bloc Azzam Al-Ahmad echoed other members sentiments in his reservations over the Egyptian conciliation plan's treatment of the elections issue, he said in an interview Friday.

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US Envoy to hold three days of talks with Palestinian, Israeli leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell is set to start three days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders Sunday in an effort to prepare the region for potential peace talks, the US State Department said.

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A Peace Process Momentum Plan to Move Quickly to Actual Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Samuel Lewis, Edward Walker - (Analysis) September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

After his major speeches in Turkey and Egypt, President Obama established his ownership of the Arab-Israeli issue. With countries in the region testing whether he has the wherewithal to deliver the goods, his challenge is to keep the momentum going forward on an almost daily basis with practical steps and leadership. The President needs to create a "peace process momentum plan" leading to negotiations by mid-fall, which recent reports suggest he is trying to do through his Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, who is traveling to Israel again at the end of the week.

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What Is Peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) September 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Israelis want peace but don’t believe it’s possible. That is the cumulative finding of a host of opinion polls, and it is critical to any effort by President Barack Obama to create a new momentum toward peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. For many Israelis, the peace with Egypt and Jordan has not appeared sufficiently beneficial, despite the added security it has brought, to pursue peace with the Palestinians or Syrians.

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U.S. Middle East envoy to visit Israel, Palestinian territories
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barrack Obama's special envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories this weekend in a bid to revive stalled regional peace talks, the State Department said on Thursday. "George Mitchell ... will depart the United States tomorrow night," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters. Mitchell's visit to the Middle East will begin on Sunday and last through Monday and Tuesday, Crowley said, adding that details were still being worked out.

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Israel PM, Egypt president to talk peace in Cairo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
by Patrick Moser - September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel's hawkish premier heads to Cairo on Sunday for talks focused on a US-led push to revive the Middle East peace process amid charges that his settlement policies are harming the efforts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will "discuss the peace process and issues of mutual concern," a spokesman for the premier said. Netanyahu "is looking forward to a good meeting with the Egyptian president," the spokesman said without giving further details.

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September 10th

Articles by ATFP President Ziad Asali and Daoud Kuttab examine Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s plan for de facto statehood. The New York Times profiles J Street. Zahi Khouri argues that occupation and economic growth are incompatible. A 2006 letter from captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit adds pressure on Israeli leaders to secure his release. Violent incidents erupt on the Israel-Gaza border. The UN reiterates that Israeli settlements are illegal, and analysis of a possible freeze continues. Commentaries consider a new Palestinian TV satire program and the B’Tselem report on Gaza civilian deaths.

Netanyahu bureau mired in anarchy, turf wars and lies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) September 10, 2009 - 12:00am

If over the past few weeks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to be making some order in his office, his conduct and that of his advisers regarding his secret trip to Moscow reveal that anarchy, turf wars and mendacious responses to both the media and the public are but a few of the manifestations of the organizational culture prevailing in the office that runs the State of Israel.

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Why stop with Elbit?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) September 9, 2009 - 12:00am

The question is not why Norway divested from the defense electronics giant Elbit Systems, but why only now, and why only from that company? The country that gave the name of its capital city to what the world thought of as a peace process is still invested in companies involved in construction and development in the West Bank settlements - the principal factor in destroying any chance for peace (at least any peace other than the belligerent demand that the Palestinians say "thank you" for what Israel is willing to give them).

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