In the shadow of an Israeli settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Martin Asser - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

They are called the Seven Villages, situated north-west of Jerusalem where the West Bank hills fall away towards the Mediterranean. Though their inhabitants live within the Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem governorate, few get to visit Jerusalem - though the city was "like a mother to us" one man said. While Israelis in nearby Givat Ze'ev settlement bloc zip to Jerusalem by car in minutes, the Palestinian villagers need permission from Israel's military authorities.

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Excessive American Kindness
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

The first conclusion one can draw from the tripartite summit which brought together Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas in New York, as well as from the US President’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly, is that US diplomacy, which promoted a climate of optimism during the past few months and expressed its desire to play an active and positive role in resuming peace negotiations on balanced bases, was quick to abandon such a role with the emergence of the first difficulties, and has retreated to a position of spectator of an imbalanced “arm wrestling match” which, if it were to begin, wo

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Obama Presses Mideast Leaders To Broaden Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Glenn Kessler - September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama's meetings Tuesday with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority signaled his impatience with months of stalemate in the quest for Middle East peace, as well as his desire to move beyond talks about settlement construction and straight to negotiations on the final shape of the region.

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Abbas says Israel must keep 2008 word
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Waked - September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that Israel must honor agreements on borders and Jerusalem which he says its government made in 2008 talks with the Palestinians if stalled peace negotiations are to resume. Speaking after talks with US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas also repeated Palestinian insistence that Israel halt settlement building in the territories, including east Jerusalem.

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Obama calls for Mid-East urgency
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Mr Obama spoke after hosting the first meeting between leaders from both sides since he took office. US Middle-East envoy George Mitchell later said the US did not see any issue as a precondition for talks. The US has been pressuring Israel to comply with Palestinian demands for all building in settlements in the occupied West Bank to end before talks restart. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas shook hands in front of the cameras during what was their first encounter since Mr Netanyahu came to office in March.

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President Obama enters the Mideast fray
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama, exasperated by the disappointing course of Mideast peace efforts, urged Israelis and Palestinians on Tuesday to reapply themselves, even though eight months of intensive American engagement has failed to return the parties to the negotiating table. Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at a New York hotel ahead of a United Nations session, stepping personally into the process and offering an unusually blunt message.

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White House Pivots in Mideast Peace Bid
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The New York Times - September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama, who has met immovable resistance from Israel over his demand for a full freeze on settlements in the West Bank, is largely setting that issue aside as a first step toward restarting Middle East peace talks.

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Israel makes secret offer on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Eli Lake - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am

Ahead of the Obama administration's first U.S.-Palestinian-Israeli summit, Israel has agreed to a partial freeze of settlement construction for six to nine months but still wants to build more than 2,500 new housing units, said Israeli officials and an Israeli specialist familiar with the country's evolving policy.

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In Mideast Peace Bid, Obama Pivots in His Demands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - September 22, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama, who has met immovable resistance from Israel over his demand for a full freeze on settlements in the West Bank, is largely setting that issue aside as a first step toward restarting Middle East peace talks.

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Avi Issacharoff / Tripartite summit or PR for Obama?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) September 21, 2009 - 12:00am

The tripartite summit Tuesday between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama is not likely to bring about a breakthrough or so much as a line for the final-status agreement. Both Israel and the PA have been emphasizing at every opportunity that the summit is not about negotiations, but merely a "preliminary meeting."

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