The European position is key
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Blog) June 20, 2011 - 12:00am

The period from now until September is going to be crowded with ideas and proposals aimed at achieving two objectives. First, these will seek to head off the Palestinian plan to take the conflict to the United Nations for discussion and ask for recognition of the Palestinian state and membership at the world body. Second, these proposals will try to ensure a resumption of the bilateral negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.

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Hopeful
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) June 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Most everybody seems to have given up on the idea that peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could resume. Not France, however. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has recently proposed holding a peace conference on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict this summer in Paris, rekindling optimism and, in the process, apparently “surprising” the US whose Secretary of State Hillary Clinton questioned the practicality of holding such a conference when the two sides are so far apart.

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Spain wants Mideast talks to resume this year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Spain supports a two-state solution and wants the Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks this year, the country's foreign ministry said Wednesday. Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez met with her Palestinian counterpart Riyad Al-Malki on Wednesday, during an official visit which ends on Friday. Jimenez "reiterated Spain's support in favor of a two-state solution...as the only path to a global and long-standing peace in the Middle East," a statement said.

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No Ford in Israel's Future?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily
by Elliot Jager - (Analysis) June 16, 2011 - 12:00am

With little fanfare, the Ford Foundation has initiated a phased withdrawal from its long, largely behind-the-scenes campaign to influence Israeli politics. News reports have focused mostly on the foundation's 23-year-long patronage of the New Israel Fund (NIF), whose beneficiaries include a number of pressure groups that colluded with the now-discredited Goldstone Commission Report.

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Egyptian FM: Palestine UN membership doesn’t negate Israel’s legitimacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm
June 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Arab efforts to enable Palestinians to obtain membership in the United Nations do not aim to render Israel an illegitimate state, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Araby said in a Thursday statement. Araby said that diplomatic efforts to request Palestinian state membership in the UN General Assembly are expected in September, and that these efforts are justified in light of ongoing Israeli intransigence and refusal to bring an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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PM: Israel aims to offset PA's UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - June 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with European Parliament President Prof Jerzy Buzek in Jerusalem. The two discussed various regional issues, including the unilateral Palestinian bid for statehood in the UN, planned for September. Netanyahu told Buzek the he aims to push a diplomatic initiative that would see 30 UN-member nations block the PA's bid. "It will not create an opposing majority, but it will balance out the bid's potential support," he said.

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The reason for our water crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Shaddad Attili - (Opinion) June 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Earlier this month, I took part in a panel discussion on the water crisis affecting the Middle East. Along with representatives from Jordan and France, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Minister for Environmental Protection, was on the panel. The theme was “equitable sharing and reasonable use of cross-border watercourses,” which goes to the very heart of the water dispute between Palestinians and Israelis.

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PM: Palestinians won't compromise if all demands are met
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman, Hilary Leila Krieger, Tovah Lazaroff - June 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Netanyahu tells Jerzy Buzek 30 UN states should oppose Palestinian statehood bid; US, EU officials in Israel work to stop UN move. If the Palestinians obtain all of their requests and the UN General Assembly recognizes a Palestinian state, it will be difficult to get the Palestinian leadership to accept necessary compromises in peace negotiations, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday night. Netanyahu made the comments during a meeting with President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek in Jerusalem.

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U.S. official: Cutting U.N. funds harms Israel, U.S. interests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
June 15, 2011 - 12:00am

A top U.S. official outlined U.S.-Israel cooperation at the United Nations and argued that cutting funding to the body would be detrimental to the interests of both countries.

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Netanyahu says there's no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Etgar Keret - (Opinion) June 15, 2011 - 12:00am

The flight to Rome leaves in the middle of the night. When I finish packing my small travel suitcase, my wife gives me a scrap of orange notepaper. It isn’t meant for me; it’s for the prime minister. It reads: “Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, I beg you do everything in your power to bring peace, for the sake of the future of our children and yours. Thank you, Shira.” I find this amusing, and she is offended. “What are you thinking?” I ask her. “That Bibi is like the Western Wall? That you can stick a note into a crack in him somewhere, pray a little and he’ll bring peace?”

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