Settlers defy peace talks with new construction across West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz September 2, 2010 - 12:00am Hours before peace talks were set to begin in Washington, Jewish settlers defiantly announced plans on Thursday to launch new construction in their West Bank enclaves in a test of strength with Palestinian Islamists. Naftali Bennett, director of the settlers' Yesha council, said settlers would begin building homes and public structures in at least 80 settlements, breaking a partial government freeze on building that ends on September 26. » Read more

As Mideast talks begin, Palestinians find unlikely support from Jewish settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Danielle Cheslow - September 1, 2010 - 12:00am As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington this week, he carried with him a mix of hopes and fears about what the renewal of Mideast talks would – or should – bring. One of the more unusual proposals came from Rabbi Menachem Froman: In order to move negotiations forward in an amiable atmosphere, why not send a delegation of rabbis to the West Bank to wish Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian people long life? » Read more

The trickiest issue in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - September 1, 2010 - 12:00am As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas enter direct peace talks on Thursday, an intensifying battle for Jerusalem has rendered the conflict’s trickiest issue even more intractable. A key flashpoint in this battle is Sheikh Jarrah, a predominantly Arab neighborhood revered by religious Jews. While the number of new Jewish residents remains small, Palestinians and human rights activists see their expanding presence as fulfilling a larger plan. » Read more

Abbas: It is time to achieve peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 1, 2010 - 12:00am "It is time to make peace, it is time to end the occupation that began in 1967, and for the Palestinian people to achieve their freedom, independence and justice," President Mahmoud Abbas said from the White House moments after a second shooting attack against settlers in the West Bank. "We condemned what happened today. We do not want any drop of blood to be shed neither from Palestinians nor Israelis. We want peace between our two peoples. We want to live as partners and neighbors. Let us sign a final peace agreement and end, forever, a long era of conflict," Abbas said. » Read more

Barack Obama seeks peace within a year ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Carrie Budoff Brown, Laura Rozen - September 1, 2010 - 12:00am President Barack Obama opened the first round of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations Wednesday in nearly two years by challenging Mideast leaders to put aside decades of antagonism and reach a peace accord within the next year. "Do we have the wisdom and the courage to walk the path of peace?" Obama asked, standing alongside leaders of Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinians in the East Room of the White House. » Read more

At Mideast peace talk, a lopsided table ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley - September 2, 2010 - 12:00am Israelis and Palestinians will be sitting at the same table on Thursday, but much more separates them than the gulf between their substantive positions. Staggering asymmetries between the two sides could seriously imperil the talks. » Read more

Negotiating With the Israeli Settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Amjad Atallah, Michele Dunne, Yossi Klein Halevi, Rashid Khalidi, Menachem Klein, David Newman - (Opinion) September 1, 2010 - 12:00am David Newman The killing of four West Bank settlers on Tuesday was the last thing that Prime Minister Netanyahu needed immediately prior to the opening of talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington. Netanyahu is under intense pressure from all sides. The Obama administration, supported by Israel’s left wing opposition, wants him to make real concessions, including a continuation of the settlement freeze which has been in place for the past ten months and which ends on Sept. 26. » Read more

Israeli Peace Effort Rests on Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - September 1, 2010 - 12:00am David Rubinger, one of Israel’s best-known photojournalists and a man firmly on the political left, cast his ballot last year for Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister, the first time he had ever voted for the right-leaning Likud Party. “The left wants to make peace but cannot, while the right doesn’t want to but, if forced to, can do it,” he said in an interview. “So last year I decided to vote not with my heart but with my head.” » Read more

The Future Palestinian State Takes Root ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal by Hussein Ibish, Michael Weiss - September 2, 2010 - 12:00am Many contentious issues could bedevil the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that began Wednesday, but on one subject both sides can largely agree: The state-building program launched last year by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has made measurable progress. While the terrorist group Hamas rules in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in the West Bank are trying to build the framework of a future state. The West Bank economy grew by 8.5% last year (according to the International Monetary Fund), despite the global recession and » Read more

Netanyahu and Abbas to Begin Direct Mideast Peace Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Helene Cooper - September 2, 2010 - 12:00am The Israeli and Palestinian leaders were to open direct peace negotiations Thursday after committing to work to end the conflict that has endured for six decades. » Read more