A U.N. Plan for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Robert Wright - (Opinion) December 13, 2010 - 1:00am

The blogger Andrew Sullivan has called America’s policy toward Israel “assisted suicide.” That may be an exaggeration, but on Friday it became less of one. The occasion was a speech by Hillary Clinton, much anticipated after the collapse of talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

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UN chief urges Israel to freeze settlements despite failure to reach deal with U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shlomo Shamir - December 9, 2010 - 1:00am

The UN Secretary-General publicly chastised the government of Israel on Wednesday for refusing to extend its ten-month moratorium on construction in the settlements of the West Bank that expired in September, calling it a snub to the international community. A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to renew its freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, framing it as an obligation that Israel is avoiding.

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Peeking into the abyss
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Blog) December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

There have been contradicting reports about the outcome of ongoing American efforts to resume the peace process, which was launched by the administration in Washington at the beginning of last September and then was undermined by the resumption of full-scale Israeli settlement activities. Since then, two parallel sets of political activities have been underway. First are American contacts with Israel to try to bring about another settlement freeze that might allow talks to continue between Israel and Palestinians.

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Frustration Behind Abbas' call for unilateralism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - December 2, 2010 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has once again raised the possibility of unilaterally declaring a independent Palestinian state without signing a peace agreement with Israel. After a meeting with German President Christian Wulff in Bethlehem on Tuesday, Abbas told reporters that if talks with Israel fail then the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will look for other options to achieve independence.

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UN Day of Solidarity marked
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 29, 2010 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority called on the UN Monday to act to end Israel's occupation of Palestinian land Monday, in a statement marking the world Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The PA Ministry of Information in Ramallah declared in a statement that this day should be "translated into action by implementing resolutions adopted by the same General Assembly including the right of return of Palestinian refugees."

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Encountering Peace: Five minutes to midnight
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) November 22, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel is facing the most severe crisis in its history. Surprisingly, most of its citizens choose to ignore this reality. The growing movement to delegitimize our right to exist cannot simply be dismissed by calling it anti- Semitism. The reasons are more complex than that.

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How international law affects the Palestine 'peace process'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Oliver Miles - (Analysis) November 22, 2010 - 1:00am

As a former professional diplomat, I regard international law, with all its shortcomings, as much better than the alternative, the law of the jungle. I have often argued this with Israeli officials in particular, but they tend to prefer the doctrine of the iron wall, which they hope their enemies are powerless to break down and behind which they may live in safety.

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The pragmatic solution may become practically impossible
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) August 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The idea of the one-state solution keeps popping up, particularly when the two-state solution is undergoing difficulties. Maybe this is because people in the region are unable to imagine anything other than one- or two-state solutions. Recently, and in view of the serious difficulties facing the peace process as well as the evident drift toward radicalization and the political right in both Israel and Palestine, we have again begun hearing the idea of a one-state solution.

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UN releases Israeli, PA responses to Goldstone; no input from Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
August 19, 2010 - 12:00am

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday released the results of Israeli and Palestinian investigations into alleged war crimes during the conflict in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009, which did not appear to include any input from Gaza's Hamas rulers.

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You'll Never Guess What the Laws of War Say About Attacking a Neutral Vessel on the High Seas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by J.J. Goldberg - August 19, 2010 - 12:00am

I don’t know about you, but I find on occasion that there’s nothing more relaxing than to curl up with some good reading material. Well, the other day I was getting cozy with my favorite Geneva Conventions on the laws of war, and to my surprise I came across an annex to the conventions detailing the ins and outs of what’s legal and what’s not legal in the conduct of warfare at sea. How about that? The document is fetchingly titled The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994.

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