Economy minister wants standards for local products ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 8, 2010 - 12:00am National Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh asked the government to work harder on Tuesday, in developing national consumer standards, to protect Palestinians and improve the marketability of products globally. Speaking in Nablus at the first conference for Palestinian consumer protection, Abu Libdeh accused the interior ministry and his own ministry of impeding a new project aimed at improving the labeling on Palestinian produce. » Read more

President Obama's new Middle East course has promise ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post (Editorial) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am FOR MUCH of the past 15 months, President Obama sought to advance his goal of a Middle East peace settlement through public pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The results were mixed. Mr. Netanyahu made significant concessions to the White House, including announcing for the first time his acceptance of Palestinian statehood and imposing a 10-month freeze on new construction in West Bank settlements. But Mr. » Read more

ATFP President on MSNBC ATFP World Press Roundup Article from MSNBC (Interview) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am Dr. Ziad Asali appears on MSNBC to comment on President Obama's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. » Read more

In Israel, the Noble vs. The Ugly ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Nicholas D. Kristof - (Opinion) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am Israel goes out of its way to display its ugliest side to the world by tearing down Palestinian homes or allowing rapacious settlers to steal Palestinian land. Yet there’s also another Israel as well, one that I mightily admire. This is the democracy that tolerates a far greater range of opinions than America. It’s a citadel of civil society. And, crazily, it’s the place where some of the most courageous and effective voices on behalf of oppressed Palestinians belong to Israeli rabbis — like Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights. » Read more

Netanyahu hints at flexibility on Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Uriel Heilman - July 8, 2010 - 12:00am It was an otherwise wholly unremarkable stump speech before a friendly audience in New York. On Wednesday evening at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel, the Israeli prime minister addressed a roomful of about 200 Jews on the subjects of Iran, his government’s eagerness for direct peace talks with the Palestinians and the swell meeting he had just had with President Obama at the White House. » Read more

The Israeli-Palestinian Confluence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Bernard Avishai - (Opinion) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am Is the two-state solution passé? Serious people, with democratic instincts, are asking this now, but it is hard to think of a more frivolous question. » Read more

Obama ignores the obvious by backing Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am In observing Israeli leaders and their much-touted peace overtures over the years, it has always been wise to hew to the maxim: “Watch what they do, not what they say.” The reason, of course, is that Israeli officials are marvellously adept at telling outsiders keen on a just and fair settlement with the Palestinians exactly what they want to hear – even as they condone and carry out measures that undermine such a settlement. » Read more

For peace to succeed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Opinion) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is in the US doing his best impression of a statesman. All it would take for peace to happen, he keeps on saying, is for the Palestinians to sit down across the table from him and talk directly. » Read more

Do U.S. Donors Drive Israeli Politics? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Naomi Chazan, Daniel Gordis, Ori Nir, Benjamin N. Schiff, Yossi Shain, Stephen Spector - (Opinion) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am The Diaspora’s Influence Yossi Shain is a professor of political science and the director of the Aba Eben Program of Diplomacy at Tel Aviv University and a professor of comparative government at Georgetown University. He is the author of “Kinship and Diasporas in International Affairs.” » Read more

Editorial: Fading hopes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am The mood music was noticeably different after President Barack Obama's latest meeting with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and it is worth wondering why. The Tuesday encounter was widely expected to be as rancorous as its predecessor. Not only had the two leaders not previously hit it off but the Israelis had done little if anything to ease Obama’s frustration at their obdurate policies. » Read more