PLO gives borders, security proposal at Amman meet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 4, 2012 - 1:00am

Palestinian envoys handed Israeli officials a proposal for resolving border and security issues at a meeting in the Jordanian capital on Tuesday attended by international Quartet delegates. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Juda said Israeli representatives promised to respond to the proposals in future meetings, which were agreed to be held in Amman at an unspecified date, official PA news agency Wafa reported. Juda emphasized that there were no specific breakthroughs at the meeting, which was called by the international Quartet and attended by

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Palestinian Authority gives Mideast peacemakers an ultimatum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - December 23, 2011 - 1:00am

REPORTING FROM BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK -– The Palestinian Authority on Thursday gave the so-called quartet of Middle East peace negotiators an ultimatum: It will resume its campaign for statehood recognition if there is no movement in the peace process in the next month. "If nothing happens by Jan. 26, we are going back to our international campaign for recognition," said Nabil Shaath, a senior official in the administration of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

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Stalemate Marks Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process in 2011
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America
by Scott Bobb - (Opinion) December 20, 2011 - 1:00am

2011 was a year of stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. International mediators tried to revive direct peace talks amid political uncertainties caused by rifts in the Palestinian leadership and popular uprisings in several Arab nations. The Palestinian Authority, frustrated over the stalled peace talks, applied for full membership in the United Nations. Its case is pending, though it faces stiff U.S. opposition. But the Palestinians successfully gained admission to the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO, angering Israel and the United States.

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More involvement is required
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Mkhaimer Abu Sada - (Opinion) December 12, 2011 - 1:00am

The stalemate in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process has prompted the Quartet (made up of the United States, European Union, United Nations, and Russia) to ask both sides to present their positions on borders and security. There have been no direct peace negotiations between the Palestinian and Israelis since the Israeli war on Gaza in December 2008 and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's entry into office in March 2009, except for three weeks in September 2010 when direct negotiations collapsed at the end of a ten-month settlement freeze announced by Netanyahu a year earlier.

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Quartet to meet in Jerusalem next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
December 6, 2011 - 1:00am

The United States and other Mideast mediators will gather next week in another effort to revive the Israel-Palestinian peace process, but with little hope of even restarting direct negotiations let alone reaching a breakthrough on a two-state peace agreement. The "Quartet" of mediators that includes the US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations plans to meet Dec. 14 in Jerusalem, US officials said.

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U.S. warns Palestinians: Stop leaking content of Quartet talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - December 3, 2011 - 1:00am

The U.S. government has asked senior Palestinian officials to refrain from leaking details of talks that took place recently between Middle East Quartet envoys, Israeli representatives and the Palestinian Authority. According to a senior U.S. official, the Quartet agreed with Israel and the Palestinians that the content of the talks would remain confidential. “Quartet members and parties have agreed to preserve confidentiality in their discussions. So frankly, we're somewhat disturbed by the fact that many of these details have appeared in the press,” the official said.

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Quartet talks unlikely to jump-start negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Tovah Lazaroff - (Analysis) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am

Quartet members arrive in Israel Monday with little hope of bridging the gulf that divides the Israeli and the Palestinian leadership and has prevented the resumption of negotiations. In Ramallah on Sunday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas told US envoy David Hale that the Palestinians would not hold direct talks with Israel unless it froze West Bank settlement activity and stopped construction in east Jerusalem Jewish neighborhoods. In addition, Abbas said, Israel must accept the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution.

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Quartet to meet Israelis, Palestinians on Nov 14-U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
November 8, 2011 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Envoys of the "Quartet" of Middle East peace mediators will meet separately with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Nov. 14 in Jerusalem, their latest effort to jump-start the stalled peace process, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday. "We expect these will again be Quartet envoy meetings with the parties separately," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing, saying the meetings would seek to encourage both sides to offer concrete proposals on land and security concerns.

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Pointless and depressing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Last week, representatives of the Quartet met with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators and declared they had extracted a commitment from both sides to submit their final status negotiating positions on borders and security within three months. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat proceeded to deny any such Palestinian commitment, while Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas intimated he might soon consider dissolving the Palestinian Authority.

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A serious challenge
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am

One of the motives behind the Palestinian appeal to the United Nations is to gradually escape the United States' monopoly over mediation in the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis, seeking instead an even-handed mediation that is sensitive to the position of the international community, international law and the agreed-upon peace process terms of reference, like the roadmap.

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