Blair: Abbas leaving office due to frustration over stalled peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

The United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair, said Tuesday that he believed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision not to seek re-election was a reflection of deep frustration regarding the slow pace of peace negotiations. Speaking to Army Radio while on a visit to Jerusalem, Blair called Abbas a man of peace, and said he worried the decision would harm any chance of toppling Hamas' power in the Gaza Strip. "People are impatient to get into the negotiation regarding the Palestinian and Israeli states," Blair told Army Radio.

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Weisglass: Something happened during White House meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Daniel Edelson - November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

Attorney Dov Weisglass said the fact that reporters were not allowed in the Oval Office during Monday night's meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama, as well as cancellation of a briefing the Israeli leader intended to hold for reporters, was indicative of either a crisis or far-reaching understandings regarding the Mideast peace process.

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Dahlan: We may seek UN resolution on Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

Taking steps towards statehood? The Palestinian Authority is looking into the possibility of turning to the Security Council and urging it to adopt a resolution recognizing the Palestinian state’s borders, senior Fatah member Mohammad Dahlan said Tuesday. The PA will seek a state in line with the 1967 borders, including east Jerusalem, Dahlan said. He added that all options were open at this time, including the possibility of a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence.

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US and Israeli leaders hold talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

President Barack Obama has met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House as the US struggles to revive the Middle East peace process. The talks in Washington came amid heightened tension over Mr Netanyahu's refusal to freeze settlement building in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says the meeting was unusual. There were no photos, no press calls, and none of the public warmth Israeli leaders usually get from US presidents.

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How Will the Palestinians Survive without Mahmoud Abbas?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

We must not forget that the Palestinian president – no matter who he might be – is an important figure not just for the West Bank, but for the entire Arab world. This is because the Palestinian President is the guardian of the most important cause – the Palestinian Cause – and therefore possesses exceptional [political] legitimacy in the Middle East's political arena. Therefore the issue that we are facing is one that concerns everybody.

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Obama shifts to Israel’s corner, but tries not to show it
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Uriel Heilman - November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

When the White House chief of staff took to the podium at the federations’ General Assembly to call for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations without preconditions, he sounded almost exactly like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier. "All issues should be resolved through negotiations," Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday to delegates at the Jewish Federations of North America's annual meeting. "No one should allow the issue of settlements to distract from the overarching goal of lasting peace."

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Palestinian leaders foresee bleak future
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

It must be assumed that the discussion at the somewhat reluctantly and hastily arranged meeting in Washington last night between Barack Obama, the US president, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, would have focused almost exclusively on the future of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

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Obama-Netanyahu talks see no result
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

The latest attempt by the US president to salvage the Middle East peace talks appears to have come to nothing after his meeting with Israel's prime minister ended with only a brief statement from the White House. Binyamin Netanyahu left the White House on Monday after spending an hour and forty minutes inside with Barack Obama, without making the customary public appearance with his host. A brief White House statement said that the two leaders discussed a number of bilateral issues, including Iran and "how to move forward on Middle East peace".

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Abbas is playing a bluff with few cards
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Craig Nelson - November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

The year was 1990, and the Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Shamir, was dragging his feet yet again on committing his government to talks with the Palestinians aimed at setting a date for a peace conference. In a fit of frustration, James Baker, who was the US secretary of state, turned to Israeli officials and uttered those now famous and – as it turns out – tragically rare words from the mouth of a top US official: “When you’re serious about peace, give us a call.”

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Twenty years after Berlin, Palestinians crack Israel's wall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 9, 2009 - 1:00am

Marking the 20th anniversary since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Palestinians tore down a section of Israel's wall in the West Bank village of Ni'lin on Friday. During a weekly protest against the barrier, which cuts through the Ramallah-area village's center and isolates residents from 60 percent of their farmland, some 300 demonstrators methodically dismantled a concrete section before Israeli forces opened fire.

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