July 28th

The Israeli right has a new vision – Jews and Arabs sharing one country ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jonathan Freedland - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am If David Cameron is feeling a tad frustrated by the lack of progress in the Middle East – breaking with usual diplomatese during a visit to Turkey todayto brand Gaza a "prison camp" – then he is not the only one. "Everything is stuck," sighs Jamal Zahalka, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament on a visit to London. The small Arab nationalist party he leads is formally committed to the two-state solution which would see a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but he sees no prospect of it. Those in charge are interested only in "conflict management, not resolution", he says. » Read more

Proximity talks have their uses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Later this week, the Arab League will decide whether to recommend that the PLO move from proximity to direct talks in its negotiations with the Netanyahu government. The American-led Quartet and the moderate Arab states are reportedly pressuring President Mahmoud Abbas to request precisely such a recommendation. This, then, is a good opportunity to reflect on the advantages of US-brokered proximity talks as opposed to direct talks in the Israeli-Palestinian context. » Read more

Martin Indyk: I think the settlement issue will be resolved ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Interview) July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Martin Indyk served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2001. Today he is vice president for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. Assuming Benjamin Netanyahu's government has no intention of extending the freeze on construction in the settlements in September, what impact might that have on direct talks? » Read more

Negotiations must be about substance not form ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Among Palestinians, the discussion that has been held in political and media circles in recent weeks about the need to move from indirect to direct talks is perceived as being about Israel trying to escape its responsibilities by trying to shift the focus from substance to form. » Read more

July 27th

Analysis: A conundrum for the government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am The violence in northern Samaria on Monday was a taste of what might come after September 26. That’s the date when the government-imposed freeze on settlement construction will expire, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will have to decide whether to extend it, and, if so, under what format – complete or partial. » Read more

The right's strategy of phases ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Most of the Jewish public perceives the refusal by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accede to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand to recognize Israel as the Jewish state prior to negotiations and a final agreement as evidence of a hidden agenda. For them, this agenda is based on a "strategy of phases" and the aspiration to destroy Israel as a Zionist state. » Read more

Israel needs a Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Israel’s national security and self-preservation as a democracy, if not its very existence, depend on its ability and willingness to come to terms with the reality of coexistence with the Palestinians on the basis of a two-state solution. Unfortunately, instead of seeking to promote the creation of a Palestinian state, the current government has sought to impede it. » Read more

Q&A with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - (Interview) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Edited excerpts of interview by Washington Post's Janine Zacharia, with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Friday, July 23, 2010 WP: You arrive in Washington on Monday. What is the primary objective of your trip? » Read more

Q&A with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - (Interview) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am Edited excerpts of interview by Washington Post's Janine Zacharia, with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Friday, July 23, 2010 WP: You arrive in Washington on Monday. What is the primary objective of your trip? » Read more

Gaza kids struggle to leave their world of silence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Osama Radi - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am The four-year-old Gaza boy Noor stuttered when he tried to utter the word "baba". A deaf specialist, sitting next to him, was teaching him to say the easy word, hoping to help the boy leave the world of silence. Noor and another eight hearing-impaired children were in one room with their specialist mentor who produced several musical sounds and slowly moved her tongue and lips to teach them the correct pronunciation of the early childhood expressions. » Read more