Israel blocks rights groups from advocating for Gazans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - September 24, 2009 - 12:00am While the Israeli army's crossings into Gaza have gone into near-lockdown mode since Hamas wrested control of the coastal strip more than two years ago, Israeli human rights organizations have regularly stepped in to intervene, with some success. That is, until last week. On Sunday, a group of the most active human rights groups here were informed that the government-run body that controls access to and from Gaza will no longer deal with them. » Read more

Think Again: Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Zahi Khouri - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am "Economic Peace Is Possible." No. Neither sustainable economic development nor peace is possible without political freedom. » Read more

Toward peace in the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Aaron David Miller - (Analysis) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am Watching Tuesday's three-way meeting in New York between President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- and the administration's effort to spin it into a success -- reminded me that when breakthroughs in Arab-Israeli peacemaking come, they come with unforeseen and unpredictable urgency driven by big men and big events. » Read more

Palestinians rule out talks until total settlement freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Harvey Morris - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian leadership yesterday ruled out a future meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, unless he met demands for a total freeze on Jewish settlements, in a setback for President Barack Obama's troubled efforts to relaunch peace negotiations. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister, told reporters: "No one is talking about a new meeting" between Mr Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president. » Read more

U.S. officials: Middle East talks on track ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Laura Rozen, Ben Smith - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am Reacting to the tepid response to this week's attempt by President Obama to jumpstart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, two senior U.S. officials made the case Thursday that critics are obsessing over marginal obstacles while the sides move slowly but surely toward the negotiating table. » Read more

Palestinians want peace deal but don't reject Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters September 25, 2009 - 12:00am Most Palestinians who want a state of their own would like to achieve it through a peace deal with Israel but there is still substantial support for the Islamist Hamas group which favors resistance, according to a new opinion poll. The survey by New York pollsters Charney research for the New York-based International Peace Institute (IPI) was carried out over the summer in Gaza, where Hamas rules, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, under the authority of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement. » Read more

IPI Poll: Palestinians Support 2-State Peace Plan, Fatah, Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Peace Institute September 24, 2009 - 12:00am The poll reveals major changes in attitudes since 2000, when Palestinians rejected compromises proposed at the Camp David summit with Israel, and the 2006 Palestinian elections, when Fatah was defeated by the Islamist Hamas party. » Read more