Israeli moves give Blair hope of rebuilding political trust
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Tony Blair expressed optimism yesterday that Israel and the US would agree on a settlement moratorium sufficient to pave the way for the first political negotiations between Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the moderate Palestinian leadership. The international community's Middle East envoy was speaking after three days of talks with Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Netanyahu.

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Blair: Israel thinks its time for talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair expressed optimism on a settlement freeze agreement in the near future, that will pave the way for renewed regional peace talks. Followings talks with Israeli officials in recent days, Blair told the British Independent: "I hope and believe... we can get a political negotiation launched on satisfactory terms."

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The lonely struggle of Uri Davis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seth Freedman - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Waiting for Uri Davis in a hotel forecourt in Ramallah, I reflect that his reputation precedes him by a comfortable distance. His rejection of political Zionism, coupled with his conversion to Islam and his recent election to Fatah's Revolutionary Council means he is treated with a mixture of scorn and hostility by vast swaths of Israelis and supporters of Israel in the Jewish diaspora.

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Israeli Obstacles to the International Conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Randa Takieddine - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

The importance of the visit by the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to France on Thursday and Friday to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner lies in the timing. The visit comes before Sarkozy takes part in the General Assembly of the United Nations on 12 September, and his meeting with the heads of the G-20 in Pittsburgh on the 24th and 25th of the same month.

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Israel rekindles its African ties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Will Ross - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Avigdor Liberman begins his trip in Ethiopia, where he will be accompanied by 20 business people. Officials say the trip is about building business links with Africa and also countering the influence of Iran on the continent. Israel hopes closer ties with Africa will help at the UN where African countries often vote in blocks. Ethiopia has strong links with Israel. During the 1980s and 90s tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel to resettle in what they considered to be their homeland.

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Not one penny has reached Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

It has been six months since the international community pledged nearly US$5 billion (Dh18bn) in aid to the Palestinian people, chiefly for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after Israel’s devastating offensive there this year. None of this aid has reached Gaza and no reconstruction has started.

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The case against boycott
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) August 31, 2009 - 12:00am

How much did the boycott of South Africa actually contribute to the fall of the racist regime? This week I talked with Desmond Tutu about this question, which has been on my mind for a long time.

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Hamas slams UN over 'Holocaust classes' in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
August 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Hamas condemned the United Nations on Sunday, saying it planned to teach Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip about the Holocaust – but the UN agency which runs schools in the enclave would not confirm any change. Branding the Nazi genocide of the Jews "a lie invented by the Zionists", the Islamist movement which runs the Gaza Strip wrote in an open letter to a senior UN official that he should withdraw plans for a new history book in UN schools.

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Abbas to tour Arab, European countries by year's end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas intends to carry out a tour that will include a number of Arab and European countries, according to a leading Palestine Liberation Organization official on Wednesday. Yasser Abed Rabu, the PLO Executive Committee's secretary-general, said Abbas would visit Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, Spain and France. Rabu added that the president's goals were to "rescue" the peace process from Israeli threats and settlement activity, and shore up support from the international community in favor of a just resolution to Palestinian aspirations for statehood.


Report: Abbas to meet Sarkozy in Paris next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on 4 September, Agence France-Presse reported on Wednesday. "President Abbas will travel to Paris on September 3 and will meet President Sarkozy the next day," an anonymous Palestinian official told AFP. The visit would be Abbas’ second to France since February, amid an international effort led by the US to reinitiate long-stalled peace negotiations with Israel.

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