Israeli Embassy: J Street could ‘impair Israel’s interests’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
October 13, 2009 - 12:00am

An Israeli Embassy spokesman said J Street supports policies that could "impair Israel's interests." Yoni Peled told the Jerusalem Post that the embassy has "communicated to J Street its views on the peace process and on the best way to ensure Israel's security." The embassy told the left-wing pro-Israel organization that "while recognizing the need for a free and open debate on these issues, it is important to stress concern over certain policies that could impair Israel's interests," Peled said, according to the Post.

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UN chief backs Abbas decision to debate Goldstone report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
October 13, 2009 - 12:00am

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon supports a Palestinian proposal to reopen debate in the Human Rights Council on the Goldstone Commission's report on the Gaza war, his spokeswoman Michele Montas said on Monday. She said Ban assured Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on the matter during a telephone conversation on Sunday. Israeli officials across the board have condemned the 575-page report which accuses Israel of war crimes during the wintertime offensive. The report also accused Hamas of actions amounting to war crimes by firing rockets at civilians in southern Israel.

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U.S. to Egypt: Fatah-Hamas deal undermines Israel-PA talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - October 13, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States sent a message to Egypt stating it does not support the proposed reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas as it would undermine negotiations with Israel, Haaretz has learned. George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, met on Saturday night in Cairo with the chief of Egyptian intelligence, Gen. Omar Suleiman, and told him the United States would not support an agreement not aligned with the principles of the Quartet.

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New negotiations will test Netanyahu's commitment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) October 13, 2009 - 12:00am

Yasser Arafat was enticed to attend a meeting with Ehud Barak at Camp David during the summer of 2000 with the promise that he would not be blamed if it turned out to be a failure. It did, and he was. Last month the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was invited to attend a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York without any such promise. He was not blamed and the meeting was not a failure.

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New negotiations will test Netanyahu's commitment
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Daily Star (Opinion) - October 13, 2009 - 12:00am

Yasser Arafat was enticed to attend a meeting with Ehud Barak at Camp David during the summer of 2000 with the promise that he would not be blamed if it turned out to be a failure. It did, and he was. Last month the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was invited to attend a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York without any such promise. He was not blamed and the meeting was not a failure.

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Turkey: Israel excluded from NATO drill over Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
October 12, 2009 - 12:00am

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told CNN on Sunday that his country excluded Israel from a planned NATO military exercise partly due to its criticism of the IDF's winter offensive in Gaza. Asked by CNN why Turkey excluded Israel from the exercise, Davutoglu said, "We hope that the situation in Gaza will be improved, that the situation will be back to the diplomatic track. And that will create a new atmosphere in Turkish-Israeli relations as well. But in the existing situation, of course, we are criticizing this approach, (the) Israeli approach."

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Disappointing state of affairs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) October 12, 2009 - 12:00am

George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, is dangerously close to going the way of so many others who have tried to mediate between the Palestinians and Israelis. It was hoped that Mitchell would arrive in Ramallah Friday with something to rescue the Palestinian leadership from the doldrums that it has found itself in ever since the PLO accepted the UN to defer a vote on the Goldstone report on alleged war crimes during Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza earlier this year.

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Hopes fade over Palestinian unity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
October 12, 2009 - 12:00am

A reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, the rival Palestinian parties, has been delayed, following a bitter dispute over the Palestinian decision not to back a UN report on alleged Israeli war crimes. The deal was to be signed on October 25, clearing the way for Hamas and Fatah to co-operate in rebuilding war-damaged Gaza by preparing for Palestinian elections in the first half of 2010.

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U.S. upholds contiguous Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by David Harris - October 11, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell told reporters after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday that Washington supports the creation of a Palestinian state with "contiguous territory." The "contiguous" Palestinian state suggests that Palestinians would be able to travel between any two places of their future state without entering Israel. Analysts believe that Mitchell was reassuring Palestinians over its position of upholding the creation of a Palestinian state.

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Abbas reverses course on Goldstone report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 11, 2009 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday evening that he has instructed his envoy to the United Nations in Geneva to seek a new debate in the Human Rights Council on the Goldstone report on alleged war crimes in Gaza. During a televised speech, Abbas confirmed reports from Friday that his government had completely reversed course on the 575-page report. “I instructed the ambassador to call for another exceptional meeting of the Human Rights Council to vote on the report, seeking to punish all who committed the most grotesque crimes against women and children in Gaza,” Abbas said.

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