Rattling the Cage: A wake-up call from Judge Goldstone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Maybe this will do it. Maybe the Goldstone report on Operation Cast Lead will be the thing that finally puts the fear of God into Israeli society, that shocks this country into deciding once and for all that the occupation must come to an end - for our sake if no one else's.

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Squandering the Moment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Unless something happens soon, Israelis, Palestinians and other Arabs may squander the best chance for Middle East peace in nearly a decade. President Obama is committed to serious negotiations and, for now, there is a lull in regional violence. But all of the region’s major players are refusing to do what is needed to keep their own people safe and move the peace process forward. Mr. Obama has called on the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to freeze all settlement construction as a way to demonstrate his government’s commitment to trading land for peace.

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Artists deny calling for TIFF boycott over Tel Aviv series
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CTV News
by Cassandra Szklarski - September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Artists angered by a spotlight on Israeli films at the Toronto International Film Festival insisted Monday they are not calling for a boycott as they continued to draw the ire of a growing list of celebrity critics. Filmmakers including Toronto's John Greyson, Elle Flanders and Palestinian-Israeli director Elia Sulieman held a press conference to refute charges they were blacklisting the festival's "City to City" program and its participants.

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Israel threatened with international law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - September 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Controversy surrounded Richard Goldstone's investigation for the UN Human Rights Council into the Gaza war from the very start, with Israel flatly refusing to co-operate because it regarded it as irredeemably biased. But Palestinians and their supporters will see it as an authoritative if long overdue indictment.

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The 9/11 Anniversary: An Opportunity to Reconsider Mistaken Policies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) September 14, 2009 - 12:00am

As we reach the eighth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 events, pressures increase on US President Barack Obama to take the necessary steps to combat what he calls “violent extremism” – a term that replaces the expression “war on terror” adopted by his predecessor George W. Bush, who had made the Iraq war his first step to taking revenge for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

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A Peace Process Momentum Plan to Move Quickly to Actual Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Samuel Lewis, Edward Walker - (Analysis) September 11, 2009 - 12:00am

After his major speeches in Turkey and Egypt, President Obama established his ownership of the Arab-Israeli issue. With countries in the region testing whether he has the wherewithal to deliver the goods, his challenge is to keep the momentum going forward on an almost daily basis with practical steps and leadership. The President needs to create a "peace process momentum plan" leading to negotiations by mid-fall, which recent reports suggest he is trying to do through his Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, who is traveling to Israel again at the end of the week.

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Spain supports Palestinian statehood on 1967 borders: FM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 10, 2009 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Minister of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos said Wednesday that his country supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian statehood on the borders of 1967. Moratinos made the statement in a joint news conference held in Ramallah with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, adding that Spain and the European Union "will keep exerting every possible effort to achieve the Palestinian goals."

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What Is Peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) September 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Israelis want peace but don’t believe it’s possible. That is the cumulative finding of a host of opinion polls, and it is critical to any effort by President Barack Obama to create a new momentum toward peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. For many Israelis, the peace with Egypt and Jordan has not appeared sufficiently beneficial, despite the added security it has brought, to pursue peace with the Palestinians or Syrians.

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Spanish FM: Syria optimistic about talks with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - September 9, 2009 - 12:00am

President Shimon Peres met in Jerusalem Wednesday evening with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, who reportedly relayed a message concerning Syria. According to Moratinos, Syrian President Bashar Assad said during their meeting that he was "optimistic about reigniting the Israeli-Syrian peace process."

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The Elders' View Of the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jimmy Carter - September 6, 2009 - 12:00am

During the past 16 months I have visited the Middle East four times and met with leaders in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza. I was in Damascus when President Obama made his historic speech in Cairo, which raised high hopes among the more-optimistic Israelis and Palestinians, who recognize that his insistence on a total freeze of settlement expansion is the key to any acceptable peace agreement or any positive responses toward Israel from Arab nations.

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