December 8th

U.S. to hold separate peace talks with Israel, Palestinians: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua December 8, 2010 - 1:00am A senior Palestinian official revealed on Wednesday that the United States informed the Palestinian leadership that it wants to hold separate peace talks with Israel and the Palestinians. "We received an oral letter from the American Administration expressing its desire to hold separate talks with Israel and the Palestinians over the peace process," Yasser Abed Rabbo, Secretary General of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee told Voice of Palestine Radio. » Read more

Palestinians seek unilateral statehood recognition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Karin Laub - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinians' Plan B — an alternative to the elusive peace deal with Israel — is gradually taking shape: convince as many countries as possible to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, and use that to lobby the United States not to veto recognition by the U.N. Security Council. » Read more

Palestinians seek unilateral statehood recognition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Karin Laub - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinians' Plan B — an alternative to the elusive peace deal with Israel — is gradually taking shape: convince as many countries as possible to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, and use that to lobby the United States not to veto recognition by the U.N. Security Council. » Read more

Palestinians seek unilateral statehood recognition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Karin Laub - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinians' Plan B — an alternative to the elusive peace deal with Israel — is gradually taking shape: convince as many countries as possible to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, and use that to lobby the United States not to veto recognition by the U.N. Security Council. » Read more

Palestinians seek unilateral statehood recognition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Karin Laub - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinians' Plan B — an alternative to the elusive peace deal with Israel — is gradually taking shape: convince as many countries as possible to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, and use that to lobby the United States not to veto recognition by the U.N. Security Council. » Read more

Palestinians question US ability to forge peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Josef Federman - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am A top Palestinian official on Wednesday questioned Washington's ability to forge Middle East peace after a new breakdown in American attempts to revive negotiations. The U.S. failure to persuade Israel to renew a limited freeze on construction in West Bank Jewish settlements, announced late Tuesday, was the latest setback for the Obama administration in its quest to broker a peace deal by September. That goal, a top priority of the president, appears increasingly in doubt. » Read more

US mulls reviving indirect Middle East peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alternet December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The United States is weighing a return to indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks following its failure to revive direct negotiations because of disagreements over Israeli settlement construction, two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said on Tuesday.

Israel allows Gaza to add flowers to farm exports ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alternet December 8, 2010 - 1:00am Israel has allowed the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to export flowers through Israeli territory, in addition to strawberries it permitted earlier, officials said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement Israel's security cabinet had approved an "additional easing of restrictions to permit and expansion of commercial exports from the Gaza Strip," without giving details. » Read more

Palestinians criticise U.S., peace process in crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alternet by Tom Perry - December 8, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinians said on Wednesday "Israeli obstinacy" made Washington give up on efforts to freeze Jewish settlement and questioned whether the United States could ever help them attain independence. Senior Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said that with its bid to revive direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations now at a dead-end, the United States was proposing a return to indirect talks to try to unstick a peace process in deep crisis. » Read more

Abbas says peace talks with Israel in crisis? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 8, 2010 - 1:00am President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said peace talks with Israel were in crisis after Washington's decision to drop its demand for a new freeze on settlement building in the occupied West Bank. "There is no doubt that there is a crisis," Abbas said after his meeting with Prime Minister George Papandreou in Athens. Abbas said he hoped the European Union would get involved in relaunching the negotiations. "We hope that the time will soon come when the EU will play a role alongside the United States." » Read more