Diplomacy | The American Task Force on Palestine

In Curt Exchange, U.S. Faults Israel on Housing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - November 9, 2010 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s criticism of new Israeli housing plans for East Jerusalem, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s even sharper retort, have thrown the Middle East peace talks into jeopardy, with the dispute over Jewish settlements looming as a seemingly insuperable hurdle.

Change we can't foresee
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) November 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The conventional wisdom in some circles now holds that Republican gains in last week's US congressional elections will weaken President Barack Obama's hand in trying to advance an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This is not necessarily so, and for several reasons.

UN chief calls for efforts to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 8, 2010 - 1:00am

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that it was vital to break the current diplomatic stalemate, resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and produce results. The UN chief made the statement in his meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu against a backdrop of the stalled direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

Obama should learn from Clinton
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) November 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The results of the American congressional election place President Barack Obama at a crossroads regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He confronts two options.

Window of opportunity for two-state solution closing, Hague warns Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - November 5, 2010 - 12:00am

William Hague warned today that the window of opportunity for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was closing and failure by the two parties to reach agreement would be a "serious setback". Speaking at the end of a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, after visiting Jerusalem's Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, the foreign secretary urged Israel to renew its freeze on settlement construction to allow direct talks between the two parties to resume.

Abbas: Israel building ferociously in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
November 5, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated that he would not resume direct peace talks with Israel until it freezes construction in the West Bank's settlements. After meeting US envoy Mitchell in Washington, chief negotiator Erekat says, 'Key is in Netanyahu's hands. The choice is his: settlements or peace. He cannot have both' "Our demand to halt settlement construction is not a precondition," Abbas said in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims. "We reached an agreement with the Israelis on this matter when we accepted the road map back in 1995.

UN Gaza leaders given submachine guns for protection 'against Hamas'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - November 5, 2010 - 12:00am

The defense establishment has taken the unusual step of granting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency approval to take four weapons into Gaza. The weapons, submachine guns, are to serve the security detail guarding the heads of the agency in Gaza. The request to bring in the weapons was made three years ago and approved last week. The director of UNRWA's activities in Gaza, John Ging, said on his website that his life is in constant danger and he needs more suitable protection than the handguns his bodyguards had been carrying.

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