December 13th

Hillary Clinton signals failure of direct talks on Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

The Obama administration will continue to try to negotiate the outlines of an eventual peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians through indirect talks, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday evening, implicitly acknowledging that the direct talks launched with fanfare just three months ago had failed.

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Reality Check
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) December 11, 2010 - 1:00am

The failed attempt by the U.S. to bribe Israel with a $3 billion security assistance package, diplomatic cover and advanced F-35 fighter aircraft — if Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would simply agree to a 90-day settlements freeze to resume talks with the Palestinians — has been enormously clarifying. It demonstrates just how disconnected from reality both the Israeli and the Palestinian leaderships have become.

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December 10th

Roger Cohen looks at the Jewish debate on Israeli policies. The US debates its role in the peace process. The UN says the Gaza blockade is not over. A call by top Israeli rabbis not to rent to Arabs continues to provoke controversy. Two Gaza teens are killed by abandoned Israeli ordnance. Senior Palestinian officials are coming to Washington. Palestinians are weighing their options, including seeking UN membership. Hanan Ashrawi says more talks are futile without a change in the US approach. Israel draws heavy international criticism on settlements. There is no clear successor to Pres. Abbas. The US may be working to resuscitate indirect talks. Latin American recognition of Palestine is partly based on anti-corruption efforts. Saeb Erekat says Israel must recognize refugee rights. Hassan Haidar says Palestinian officials shouldn't bother going to Washington. The Arab News calls the US reversal on a settlement freeze “capitulation.” Hussein Ibish says it's not the end of the world or the peace process.

Dr. Asali Interviewed by Al-Riyadh
Interview with Ziad Asali - Al-Riyadh - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Dr. Ziad Asali, in an interview with AL-Riyadh Daily, discusses the peace process, regional developments in the Middle East, and pro-Palestine advocacy in the United States. Click here to download the full interview in Arabic

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The end of the settlement freeze gimmick is not the end of the world, or the possibility of peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

For many months now I have been predicting that the US would probably be able to secure a three or four-month settlement freeze extension, allowing for the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. And, indeed, the Obama administration moved heaven and earth to do so, but now it would appear they have accepted that the present Israeli cabinet simply will not agree to any such thing.

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Abject surrender
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Washington’s decision that it will no longer attempt to persuade the Israelis to impose a new moratorium on settlement construction in order to restart peace negotiations is an abject and shocking admission of failure. Everyone knew that that the Americans had serious difficulties trying to persuade the Israelis to concede on this vital issue. But there was wide belief that an ingenious diplomatic formula could be devised to enable talks to go ahead. No one imagined that President Barack Obama would simply capitulate to the Israelis. That is what has happened.

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Abbas Don’t Go
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Shifts in US foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, prove that it is the making of amateurs, who do not hesitate to back down every time they are confronted with a problem, and who do not refrain from 180 degrees turnarounds every time difficulties appear before the ideas they have put forward to resolve any issue or crisis. Such frivolity was revealed by the WikiLeaks documents, which showed that most US diplomats all over the world were like eavesdropping workers who report what they hear here and there superficially and without any analysis, mixing up rumors and facts.

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Palestinians weigh up option of seeking UN membership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by James Reinl - December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

An application for UN membership and a request for the recognition of a sovereign state is one of several options on the table for the Palestinian leadership that will be decided upon during an Arab League meeting next week, a Palestinian envoy to the UN said yesterday. Palestinian officials hope to eventually win support from the 192-member UN General Assembly, said the envoy, who asked to remain anonymous. "We would try to have everyone on board because the question of Palestine is legally very clear under international law," the envoy said.

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The returning issue of Palestine's refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Saeb Erakat - (Opinion) December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Before his murder in 1948, Lord Folke Bernadotte, the first UN mediator to the Arab-Israeli conflict, stated: "It would be an offence against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent [Palestinian] victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes, while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine." Lord Bernadotte paid for his candour with his life as Jewish militants assassinated him under the direction of Yitzhak Shamir, the man who would later become prime minister of Israel.

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Palestinians Win Backing for Independence by Crackdown on Corruption
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Miller - December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

Cleaner government in Ramallah and law and order on the streets of Jenin may be doing more to bring Palestine into the community of nation states than peace talks with Israel, officials and analysts said after Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil moved to recognize Palestine as an independent state.

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