'Iran is our friend,' says Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Robert Tait - October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

With its stunning vistas and former Ottoman palaces, the banks of the Bosphorus – the strategic waterway that cuts Istanbul in half and divides Europe from Asia – may be the perfect place to distinguish friend from foe and establish where your country's interests lie. And sitting in his grandiose headquarters beside the strait, long the symbol of Turkey's supposed role as bridge between east and west, Recep Tayyip Erdogan had little doubt about who was a friend and who wasn't.

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'Institution building' in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Lally Weymouth - (Interview) October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Lally Weymouth of The Post and Newsweek interviewed Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad this week in Ramallah. Excerpts: Q: So you have a plan to create institutions and a state within two years? We've committed ourselves to a path of completing the task of institution building. [This means] the capacity to govern ourselves effectively in all spheres of government within two years. So does that mean a central bank, roads?

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'Just means against an unjust attack'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Lally Weymouth - (Interview) October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Lally Weymouth of Newsweek and The Post interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Q: What did you think of the Goldstone report?

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Palestinian reconciliation and the peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Walid Salem - (Opinion) October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

With the current paralysis in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process--which is due to the Israeli government's refusal to abide by its obligations under previously signed agreements, notably the roadmap--it might at first glance seem strange to ask what are the ramifications of Palestinian unity for Palestinian-Israeli relations.

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'In spite of everything, there will be peace'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Lally Weymouth - (Interview) October 26, 2009 - 12:00am

In Israel, the office of the president is meant to be ceremonial. But at 86, President Shimon Peres, the last founder of the Jewish state to remain active in Israeli politics and a frequent counselor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, hardly stays on the sidelines. Although Israelis are feeling pressured by a recent U.N.

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Lieberman discusses Goldstone with Ban
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
October 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke on the telephone with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon late Thursday on several Middle East issues, among them the Goldstone report which alleges that Israel may have committed war crimes during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza last winter.

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US in fresh bid on Palestine stalemate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - October 22, 2009 - 12:00am

Susan Rice, Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations, held talks yesterday with senior Israeli officials in what appeared to be the latest bid by the Obama administration to end a months-long deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Ms Rice is also likely to have reiterated the US’s call for Israel to adopt a key recommendation of the UN-mandated Goldstone report to carry out a credible probe into possible war crimes committed by its troops in the attack in the Gaza Strip in December and January.

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J Street and the ATFP are norm breakers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghassan Rubeiz - (Opinion) October 22, 2009 - 12:00am

In “Transforming America’s Israeli Lobby,” Dan Fleshler argues that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is not helping Israel’s long-term interests and it is not properly reflecting the progressive sentiments of the American Jewish community. Fleshler explains the complexity of the Jewish lobby in America and urges congress to listen to all shades of Jewish opinion, not only to AIPAC.

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Deputy PM to Haaretz: Israel must probe Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gidi Weitz - October 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor thinks Israel should establish its own independent committee to investigate Israel Defense Forces activity in the Gaza Strip during last winter's Operation Cast Lead.

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Palestinian official: We're ready for talks with U.S., but not Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - October 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat arrived in Washington Tuesday, where he is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other American officials to discuss the first phase of the road map for Mideast peace and the renewal of final-status talks.

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