Abbas calls peace talks 'historic opportunity' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews August 26, 2010 - 12:00am After being forced to resume direct talks, Palestinians President Mahmoud Abbas called negotiations with Israel "a historic opportunity" to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians. At a reception for diplomats held in Ramallah Wednesday evening, Abbas urged the Israeli government "not to miss this historic opportunity." He stressed that the demand to maintain the settlement construction freeze comes from the entire international community, possibly hinting that the resumption of construction on September 26 could lead to the PA's withdrawal from talks. » Read more

MESS Report / PLO must cease climbing trees too high to climb down ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - (Blog) August 22, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to resume direct negotiations with Israel on September 2 in Washington without any of his preconditions being met. Israel has not promised to end construction in the settlements, and the Quartet's statement does not even mention this issue. Contrary to the demand that the Quartet's announcement would constitute the framework for the talks, U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell was quick to make it clear this is not the way things will be. » Read more

As Netanyahu prepares for summit, ministers get all heated up over freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis - August 26, 2010 - 12:00am A week before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to depart for the Washington summit during which direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians will be inaugurated, Israeli ministers and MKs are engaging in intense debate over the possibility of continuing the 10-month settlement construction freeze, which expires in late September. » Read more

Palestinians to U.S.: Israeli settlement freeze must include East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - August 26, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority has told the U.S. administration that an Israeli commitment to continuing the freeze on settlement construction must include East Jerusalem. During preparatory talks ahead of the summit due in Washington next week, the Palestinians made it clear they refuse to accept any softer formula on the building freeze. They expect that even after the September 26 deadline, when the 10-month moratorium ends, the United States will support their demand to continue the ban on all construction outside the Green Line, including in the settlement blocs. » Read more

Silwan residents say settlers provoked clash ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 26, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood said settlers attempted to enter the Al-Ein Mosque early Thursday morning, sparking skirmishes that lasted until after sunrise. Israeli forces arrived as locals said they were attempting to drive the settlers out of the mosque area. Two settler cars were torched, and several windshields smashed in the violence. The incoming border police force was described as "massive," and said to have been firing tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets toward Palestinians. » Read more

Palestinians warn Israel peace talks could be quickly derailed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - August 25, 2010 - 12:00am For more than a year, the Palestinians insisted on an Israeli settlement freeze as a precondition to entering direct talks with Israel. But recently they dropped their demand, paving the way for the first direct peace talks with the Israelis since early 2009. Or did they? » Read more

WEST BANK: Anti-negotiations conference broken up ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) August 25, 2010 - 12:00am Crowds started to arrive at the Protestant church hall in downtown Ramallah in the West Bank shortly after midday Wednesday to attend an anti-negotiations conference. They were responding to a call by local Palestinian leaders opposed to plans by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to start direct negotiations with Israel before the latter halts all settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. » Read more

In the Mideast, the peace process is only a mirage ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by George F. Will - August 26, 2010 - 12:00am Immersion in this region's politics can convince those immersed that history is cyclical rather than linear -- that it is not one thing after another but the same thing over and over. This passes for good news because things that do change, such as weapons, often make matters worse. » Read more

A Test of Wills Over a Patch of Desert ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - August 25, 2010 - 12:00am The two women crouched on the floor of a tent in this windblown Bedouin encampment in the Negev Desert, hurriedly preparing the evening meal as dusk approached. They had been fasting since sunrise in observance of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Now they were cooking furiously, spicing okra in tomato sauce and stuffing hollowed-out zucchini, against a backdrop of piles of rubble, the remains of their homes recently demolished by the Israeli authorities. » Read more