Settlement by stealth belies promises of restraint
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Maysaa Al-Kurd has lived all her life in the home her family moved into in 1956. The pomegranate tree standing in the garden was planted by her father when she was still an infant nearly half a century ago. But that hardly reassured her yesterday when she heard the Jewish settlers break into the next-door extension building her brother Nabil built to house his family in 2001.

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For sale – one Middle East peace strategy (hardly used)
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Emile Hokayem - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Pity the Palestinians, but pity also the peacemakers whose good intentions inevitably stumble up against the harsh realities of Israeli-Palestinian politicking. The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s retreat from the position that a complete Israeli settlement freeze is a necessary confidence-building measure before final-status negotiations is not new; Barack Obama admitted as much in September. It simply reflects the dead end that US peace diplomacy has reached, and the need to start anew with a different approach.

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Need for US-sponsored Arab-Israeli deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghassan Rubeiz - (Opinion) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinians and Israelis are locked in a relationship of deep mistrust. A credible outside force must intervene to break up an enduring cycle of despair. In the foreseeable future, there seems to be no Middle East miracle cure, spontaneous recovery, inspiration, powerful leadership or any of those signs of self-generated breakthroughs.

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Short-Term Fixes Sought in Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

For the last seven months, the Obama administration has labored in vain to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians together, pushing for a loose quid pro quo under which Israel would freeze construction of Jewish settlements while its Arab neighbors undertook diplomatic steps to bolster Israel’s confidence in its security.

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Where things stand in the Middle East after Sec. Clinton's not-so-excellent adventure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog
by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to the Middle East and inadvertently created yet another crisis for the Obama peace initiative. It's not so much that she badly mishandled everything -- although that argument could certainly be made -- it's more that I think her difficulties demonstrate how complicated and in some practical senses almost impossible the American diplomatic task at hand really is.

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Settlers take control of East Jerusalem home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli settlers arrogated the home of the Al-Kurd family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Tuesday, residents of the area said. About 30 settlers were seen entering the house and throwing the family's furniture into the street. The settlers have refused to leave the building and Israeli police blocked members of the Al-Kurd family from entering the area. Witnesses also reported heated arguments between police and Palestinian residents.

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Clinton Asks Abbas to Return to Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Dealing a blow to the Obama administration’s efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton failed Saturday to persuade the Palestinian leader to accept an Israeli proposal that would slow but not stop the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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Palestinians say new U.S. approach imperils peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian officials on Sunday criticized the United States for what one called "backpedaling" on demands that Israel stop settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, saying the Obama administration's change of approach on the issue damaged the likelihood of a peace agreement. "If America cannot get Israel to implement a settlement freeze, what chance do the Palestinians have of reaching agreement" on the even more complex set of issues involved in final peace talks, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a written statement.

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Jerusalem must be capital of both Israel and Palestine, UN chief says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 29, 2009 - 12:00am

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Jerusalem must be the capital of two States -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace and security, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all, if peace in the Middle East is to be achieved, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Wednesday.

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To solve the problem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) October 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Tension flared up again recently in Al Aqsa Mosque compound, in the Holy City of Jerusalem, when Israeli security forces clashed with Palestinian worshippers, injuring some and forcing scores of others to take refuge in the mosque. News that some ultra-orthodox Jewish groups plan to worship in the Noble Sanctuary that houses one of Islam’s holiest places, in a bid to lay claim to the Islamic holy sites, no doubt angers the Palestinians.

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