Mideast Peace Tops List of Hopeless Causes: Aaron David Miller
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Aaron David Miller - June 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Groucho Marx, one of America’s pre- eminent philosophers, once quipped, “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes.” I thought of Groucho the other day, while ruminating about President Barack Obama and the crisis after Israeli commandos boarded a ship ostensibly carrying human-rights activists and aid supplies headed for Gaza in defiance of Israel’s blockade.

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U.S. to set deadline for Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Barbara Slavin - May 25, 2010 - 12:00am

George Mitchell, the Obama administration's special envoy for Middle East peace, plans to set a deadline for an Israel-Palestinian agreement, applying lessons learned from his successful mediation in a previous conflict.

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Transcript: Shimon Peres
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
(Interview) May 24, 2010 - 12:00am

In an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Peres said Israel's survival as a Jewish state depended on its ability to conclude a two-state peace deal with the Palestinians. Below is an edited transcript. The Wall Street Journal: Where should we begin?

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As non-violence takes root, so may a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hussein Abdul Hussein - May 19, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians, hard-headed realists that they are, have never much bought the idea of non-violence. The state of Israel was partly born out of violence and has been sustained mainly through violence. Turning the other cheek to people whose anatomical focus was your knees – and keeping you on them – never seemed especially wise, let alone effective.

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Peace or poison
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by A.B. Yehoshua - May 19, 2010 - 12:00am

Contrary to the hopes of many, the end of World War II and the shock of the Nazi atrocities did not mean the end of war and genocide. Indeed, the decades following it have been rife with bloody conflicts in which entire population groups have been murdered. Remember Angola’s civil war, the Khmer Rouge’s massacre of millions of Cambodians, Rwanda’s tribal wars, the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia, and the extermination of Christians in Southern Sudan.

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Abbas spokesman: Negotiations likely to fail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Indirect negotiations are not likely to create significant changes or advancements in the peace process, Fatah official and presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said on Sunday. Blaming "Israeli stubbornness and insistence to continue building in settlements," Abu Rudaineh cast a pessimistic shadow over indirect negotiations scheduled to resume on Monday as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell returns to the region.

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How to tell if there's progress in Israeli- Palestinian talks?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by David Harris - May 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Indirect talks between Palestinians and Israelis are to kick off on Tuesday with the visit to Ramallah of United States special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell. Later in the week he is slated to hold talks with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem. These initial indirect or proximity talks will first tackle border issues and security. For some regional analysts, this is the best way to begin the process, while others see this approach as doomed to fail.

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Is Netanyahu alienating Israel’s friends in Europe?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - May 17, 2010 - 12:00am

On the day last week that Israel gained admission to the prestigious Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel's continued control over the Palestinians was eroding its global standing. Whereas Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Israel’s joining of the OECD as an economic and diplomatic coup, Barak warned of a growing tide of international isolation unless Israel comes out with a major peace initiative of its own, irrespective of the OECD membership.

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E. J'lem demolitions on hold
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Lappin - May 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Demolition orders for illegally constructed Arab homes in east Jerusalem are highly unlikely to go ahead in the near future, it emerged on Thursday, despite a recent announcement to the contrary by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch. The U-turn came after the US State Department sought clarifications over comments by Aharonovitch, who said on Wednesday that “police have no instructions to refrain from carrying out the demolitions. They will be carried out in the coming days.” The comments threatened to reignite a US-Israeli row over Israeli policy in east Jerusalem.

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US to fund installation of Israeli rocket defence system
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
May 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Barack Obama is to ask the US Congress for an extra $200m in military aid to help Israel get a short-range rocket defence system in place. The system is designed to shoot down mortars and rockets from Gaza or Southern Lebanon with guided missiles. The system, called Iron Dome, has gone through testing and installation will start later this year. According to US State Department figures, direct military aid to Israel was $2.55bn in 2009. This is set to increase to $3.15bn in 2018. Easing tensions

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