Secret talks do have a place in diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Chronicle by Oded Eran - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am Israelis love secret meetings with Arab leaders in London. The most famous were held with King Hussein of Jordan in 1963, in the house of his Jewish physician. As a junior diplomat in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I kept the secret file of these meetings, codenamed "Charles". At the time, the talks produced a greater understanding between Jordan and Israel, but King Hussein was reluctant to be the first Arab leader to sign a peace treaty. » Read more

Hold Israel accountable with Leahy law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hill by Josh Ruebner - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am Apologists for Israeli occupation and apartheid claim that advocates for holding Israel accountable for its human rights abuses of Palestinians are “singling Israel out for extra scrutiny” or “holding Israel to a higher standard than other countries.” » Read more

To Save From the Sea, and the Siege ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Eva Bartlett - (Opinion) August 17, 2011 - 12:00am It's a sunny Gaza morning and although a work day, the beach along Sheik Rajleen has enough people on it to keep Gaza's small number of lifeguards busy and alert. From a simple, raised wooden hut, a team of three monitor the sea, periodically calling out to swimmers below to move to calmer waters. "I've known how to swim since I knew how to walk," says Ahmed el Basha, 42, one of Sheik Rajleen's lifeguards. » Read more

A Pyrrhic victory for the Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe by Shai Bazak - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian leadership has made clear its intentions to declare statehood unilaterally and seek admission to the United Nations this fall. While such a move might score the Palestinians a political win by serving to isolate Israel even further in the international arena, any victory will be symbolic at best. » Read more

Palestinians can still negotiate after the UN declaration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am In their frantic efforts to stop the Palestinian leadership from going to the UN, Israeli officials and propagandists pose what appears to be a mistaken choice. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Palestinians to have direct talks, and even offered to meet Palestinian officials anywhere if they choose what he called direct talks instead of unilateral action. On the surface of it, this position seems logical, but if one digs just beneath the rhetoric, it becomes obvious that the position is a continuation of Israel’s policy of obfuscation and political manoeuvring. » Read more

US still lacks evenhandedness ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am There were great expectations when Barack Obama first walked into the White House, both in the US and in the Arab world, if not everywhere. His appearance shortly thereafter in Cairo raised hopes and most Arabs thought he would usher in some genuine evenhandedness, something his predecessors had failed to do. This was certainly true of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and regretfully, the American position has not improved an inch. » Read more

Al-Assad: More dangerous than Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Hussein Shobokshi - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am Among the notable events in the historical records of the Syrian army is the fact that one of its elements, Hosni al-Za'eim, was the orchestrator of the first military coup in the Middle East in 1949. By doing that, he opened the gates of hell in the region in general, and in Syria in particular, for the rise of despotic, hateful and corrupt faces who knew nothing but the language of oppression, autocracy and injustice. Those faces were obsessed with illusions of grandeur and supreme arrogance. » Read more

Washington Watch: Is Bibi bluffing on borders? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am Leaks from unnamed aides to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claim he has shifted positions on another critical peace process issue – borders – but so far there’s no official confirmation. It appears to be a tactical move to derail the Palestinian strategy for a UN statehood resolution next month, and it could work if the Israeli leader can convince Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he is serious. » Read more

As Mubarak falls, terror rises in Sinai ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am The series of terror attacks that took place early Thursday afternoon on the road leading from the Israeli-Egyptian border to Eilat did not come as a surprise to Israel's senior security officials. They had expected it would occur at some stage or another. » Read more

Abbas inaugurates Palestinian Embassy in Beirut ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Van Meguerditchian - August 18, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raised his country’s flag for the first time at an official embassy in Beirut Wednesday, as hundreds of Palestinians looked on and cheered the historic event. For decades, official ties have been carried out by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Lebanese government. But in a government decision in 2008, Lebanon decided to establish formal diplomatic ties with Palestinians. » Read more