A double freeze in Washington
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tzachi Hanegbi - December 20, 2010 - 1:00am

Haim Saban has a dream: Help the Israelis and Palestinians adopt a pragmatic vision that will advance the goal of peace between the two nations.

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Giving up on an Israeli-Palestinian settlement is simply not an option
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) December 20, 2010 - 1:00am

The Obama administration has mercifully, and honestly, admitted that the time has come to abandon its policy of seeking a settlement freeze as a path to negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The administration will pay a political price for this. It will be blamed for having failed, and it will endure the gloating of its critics. However, the United States will remain, in the end, the single party that everyone else will look to for providing answers and for defining which policy direction to take.

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Palestinian Leader Has 60 Israelis to Lunch
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 19, 2010 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, hosted a two-hour meeting with about 60 Israeli politicians, public figures and activists at his headquarters here on Sunday in an effort to reach out to the Israeli public at a time when the official peace process is at a standstill. Enlarge This Image Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times President Mahmoud Abbas. “In the end, we want to make peace between the people, the Israeli and Palestinian people,” Mr. Abbas said, not just the governments.

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Disillusioned Palestinians seeking new path
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Philippe Agret - December 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Disillusioned by the collapse of talks and disappointed by the US administration, the PLO is turning away from negotiations and seeking international recognition for a Palestinian state. In the days since the US administration acknowledged it had failed to chart a path back to direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, senior Palestinian officials have made clear that they think negotiations are dead. "The peace process is in a deep coma," PLO negotiator Nabil Sha'ath told journalists Saturday night. "I don't think anyone wants to continue this negotiation."

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Mubarak blames Israel for Mideast peace crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Maamoun Youssef - December 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday blamed Israel for the stalemate in peace negotiations with the Palestinians in a speech before a joint session of the Egyptian parliament's two chambers. Mubarak also warned Israel that the security of its people hinged on peace rather than "occupation or arms."

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US focus on framework agreement in peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, said yesterday that he hoped to make "real progress" in peace talks, even as media reports suggested that the Palestinians may be disappointed with Washington's efforts so far. Mr Mitchell met in Cairo with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, on the third day of his visit to the region. "In the days ahead our discussions with both sides will be substantive, two-way conversations with an eye towards making real progress in the next few months on the key questions of an eventual framework agreement," he said.

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Arab FMs want 'serious offer' on Israel peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

CAIRO (AFP) - Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday rejected more Palestinian-Israeli peace talks without a "serious offer" and said they will seek a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement building. They announced their decision after meeting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo and US Middle East envoy George Mitchell vowing "substantive" talks with Israel and the Palestinians to rescue the battered peace process.

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Norway upgrades PLO mission, supports statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

OSLO, Norway (Ma'an) -- Norway's foreign ministry announced Wednesday that the status of the Palestinian representative's office in Oslo would be upgraded to a diplomatic mission as part of an effort of the scandanavian nation to support Palestinian efforts toward building a state. The announcement came while Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was in Oslo, where officials announced the coming international donors conference to take place in the city in April 2011. During the announcement the official said he hoped a Palestinian state could be established within the year.

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Q&A-After Mitchell trip, what next for peace process?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Tom Perry - December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

The U.S. Middle East envoy held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week during his first trip to the region since the United States called off efforts to revive direct negotiations. What happened to those negotiations, what has U.S. envoy George Mitchell said and done this week and what are the prospects of success for another round of indirect talks Washington now says it will pursue? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NEGOTIATIONS?

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Abbas to Cairo following Mitchell request
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 15, 2010 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak Wednesday to discuss a US request to return to indirect talks given Israel’s refusal to stop settlement construction in the West Bank. Abbas and Mubarak will also tackle the Palestinian national dialogue brokered by Egypt.

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