Erdogan Wins Palestinian Hearts and Minds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Adnan Abu Amer - (Opinion) March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan didn't need to declare a connection between Zionism and racism to gain popularity among Palestinians.

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President Obama’s Visit to Israel: Too Little Too Late?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - March 6, 2013 - 1:00am

Young Israelis Want the President to See their Side A group of students sit around a conference table at the Hadassah Academic College in downtown Jerusalem. They are all majoring in politics and government, and started college only after finishing their mandatory army service. Overall, they are pleased that President Obama is coming to visit Israel, but say he should have come during his first term.

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Israeli PM calls for "credible military threat" against Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 5, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called for "a clear and credible military threat" against Iran, saying the Islamic republic is getting closer to building a nuclear bomb. The hawkish Israeli leader, told a pro-Israel lobby group in Washington via satellite link from Jerusalem that diplomacy and sanctions have not worked to stop Iran from pressing ahead with its controversial nuclear program.

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This Is What the Challenges for Israel and Palestine Look Like
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Atlantic (Opinion) - March 5, 2013 - 1:00am

As President Obama prepares to visit Israel and Palestine later this month, he's facing a set of political and diplomatic impasses that seem virtually insurmountable. Israel and the Palestinians have never been further apart on final-status issues since formal negotiations began more than 20 years ago.

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Dennis Ross: Netanyahu's attorney in Washington
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from 972 Magazine
by Noam Sheizaf - (Opinion) March 4, 2013 - 1:00am

Veteran U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross had a full page op-ed in The New York Times this weekend, in which he presents a 14-step program that is supposed to establish a framework for renewing the diplomatic process.

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Kerry and Abbas hold surprise meet in Riyadh to discuss Israeli-Palestinian talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury, Barak Ravid - March 4, 2013 - 1:00am

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met for unplanned talks on Monday afternoon, as part of their coinciding visits to Saudi Arabia. Abbas' own trip to the capital Riyadh to meet King Abdullah was unexpected, and may have been coordinated to overlap with Kerry's. The lunch meeting, which was added to Kerry's schedule at the last-minute on Monday morning, focused on efforts to resume the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians and on U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to the region.

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'Abbas to Kerry: Push Israel for settlement freeze'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - March 4, 2013 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met in Saudi Arabia Monday with US Secretary of State John Kerry and discussed the latest regional developments, Palestinian officials in Ramallah said. This was the first meeting of its kind since Kerry replaced Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. “The meeting focused on efforts to revive the peace process,” said a Palestinian official. “They also discussed [US] President Barack Obama’s planned visit to the region later this month.”

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Biden and Netanyahu Stress Points of Unity in Speeches to Pro-Israel Group
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - March 4, 2013 - 1:00am

The thundering ovations, slickly produced videos and legions of lawmakers were the same as ever. But something was missing as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee convened here this week for its annual conference: tension.

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To Achieve Mideast Peace, Suspend Disbelief
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Dennis Ross - (Opinion) March 2, 2013 - 1:00am

THESE are hard times for trying to promote, much less make, peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The rise of political Islam, Syria’s civil war and looming implosion, and the Iranian nuclear imbroglio not only dominate the environment, but they also render it forbidding for peacemaking. And while all these factors make Israelis and Palestinians reluctant to take risks for peace, they do not represent the biggest hurdle for ending the conflict. The most fundamental problem between Israelis and Palestinians is the problem of disbelief.

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Kerry: Turkish comments complicate Mideast process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matthew Lee - March 1, 2013 - 1:00am

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that comments by the Turkish prime minister equating Zionism to a crime against humanity complicate the efforts to find peace in the Middle East. Speaking at a news conference in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Kerry stressed the "urgent need to promote a spirit of tolerance, and that includes all of the public statements made by all leaders."

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