PA committed 'treason' in W.Bank terror suspects' arrests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority of "direct cooperation with the enemy" after it arrested Hamas members in conjunction with recent West Bank terrorist attacks that left four Israelis dead and two others injured last week, Army Radio reported Thursday. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum likened the arrests to "treason" and warned the Fatah run authority not to hand the men over to Israel. "The continuation of this criminal campaign crosses all red lines and is direct cooperation with the enemy in the clear light of day," Barhum continued.

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Hamas warns PA: Stop arresting our people or we'll strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas on Wednesday warned that it would harm the Palestinian Authority if security forces continued to arrest its operatives in the West Bank. In a harshly worded announcement, the Islamist group declared that "our patience will soon run out" and that they would not remain silent for long, Israel Radio reported. "You know that the hands that have reached the heart of the occupier can reach you too," Hamas warned, referring to its recent attacks against Israelis in the West Bank, adding that Hamas cannot be stopped, and will strike anywhere, at any time it wishes.

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West Bank building freeze to continue in practice, if not officially
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The agreement beginning to take shape on the settlement construction freeze is based on an "unspoken understanding" that security authorities will not sign new building permits, but the government will not issue a formal resolution extending the freeze. Furthermore, a review found that the building moratorium is due to expire on September 30, not September 26, as previously thought.

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Disarming Lebanon's Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ahmed Moor - (Opinion) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Lebanon is regenerating. On balance, the country's collective sloughing off of history has been more successful than not. It is only 20 years since the civil war ended, and the memories of internecine atrocities remain; sporadic sectarian violence is a fact of life here. Fortunately, the Lebanese have avoided descending once more into civil war's morass but, despite all the healing, the Palestinian refugee issue still festers.

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Top Abbas aide: We're trying to reach deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Nasser Laham - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

If there is one man on the Palestinian side capable of assessing the prospects of these new direct talks between Israel and the PLO, it is President Mahmoud Abbas' top aide and spokesman. Known as "the black box" due to his vantage point as presidential spokesman for the administrations of both Abbas and former president Yasser Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudaineh has shadowed the Ramallah leadership for more than a decade.

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Sadat's Shadow
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Adel Al Toraifi - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

For more than two decades, the United States has tried to conclude a peace agreement between the PLO and Israel. In the beginning there were the 1993 Oslo accords, which was a difficult breakthrough. However, this was the agreement that allowed the opportunity to form much-needed state institutions on the Palestinian territories. Yet this did not happen both as a result of the influence of religious parties on both sides, and as a result of dozens of suicide attacks carried out by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, which disrupted all guarantees of security and reconciliation.

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Abbas: No peace without Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority would "not leave Gaza or the West Bank to Hamas or others,” President Mahmoud Abbas told the Kuwait-based daily newspaper Ar-Ray on Tuesday. The interview followed one in the Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam newspaper on Monday, where Abbas said that if he was forced to concede on key issues such as refugees or borders during the next round of direct negotiations with Israel, he would "pack my bags and leave."

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Palestinian TV satire Watan ala Watar unites political rivals – in anger
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Political rivals Hamas and Fatah are united – in anger. But the bite-sized nightly satirical sketches of Watan ala Watar have become a Ramadan sensation, cheering thousands of Palestinian television viewers through the holy month. The show has distracted families from the iftar meal that breaks their traditional daily fast, causing them to abandon half-eaten plates of chicken, lamb and rice for 10 minutes of intensive mockery of their political leaders.

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Legitimize Hamas and kiss the PLO goodbye
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 6, 2010 - 12:00am

With the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, numerous voices in the United States have been urging the inclusion of Hamas in international diplomacy, a focus on Palestinian unity, or some formal American outreach to the Palestinian Islamist group.

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Israel, Palestinians agree to more peace talks
Media Mention of ATFP In - September 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to a series of direct talks Thursday, seeking to forge the framework for a U.S.-backed peace deal within a year and end a conflict that has boiled for six decades. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who hosted the first session of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expressed confidence that this effort could succeed where so many others have failed.

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