US said to be weighing "temporary" Palestinian borders formula
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Bethlehem – Ma’an – US President Barack Obama’s administration is considering an Israeli proposal for the creation of a Palestinian state with “temporary borders” an Israeli newspaper said on Tuesday. The plan also includes guarantees and a timetable for a final peace agreement that includes permanent borders and addresses other core issues including the fate of Jerusalem. The Haaretz report did not indicate what the “temporary borders” of the state would be. Palestinian officials have not commented on the report.

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Netanyahu, Mitchell fail to reach deal on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell failed to reach an agreement on the issue of West Bank settlements during a meeting Wednesday in London, according to spokespeople for the two men. However, Netanyahu and Mitchell did make progress in their meeting, the spokespeople said in a joint message afterward, adding that the two agreed on the need to begin meaningful diplomatic negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians with the aim of reaching a regional peace agreement.

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Israel and US discuss settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
August 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has met US envoy George Mitchell as part of a renewed drive to reach a deal on Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The US has been pushing for a complete end to Israeli construction in the hope of kick-starting stalled peace talks. The meeting in London followed talks with UK PM Gordon Brown, when Mr Netanyahu rejected any construction freeze in occupied East Jerusalem. He demanded again that the Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

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Meridor: We won't return to the line of 1967
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
August 25, 2009 - 12:00am

"Surely, nobody expects [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu to offer more than what [former prime minister Ehud] Olmert offered [to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas]," Intelligence Affairs Minister Dan Meridor [Likud] told German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published Tuesday.

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ATFP Welcomes State Department Intervention on New Restrictive Israeli Visas
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - August 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, August 21 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today welcomed the intervention by the US State Department describing new restrictive Israeli visas as "unacceptable." Reports suggest that the new visas, which are marked "Palestinian Authority only" and restrict access to areas Israel considers under Palestinian jurisdiction, are being issued at the Allenby Bridge crossing mainl


Drawing borders is the first step
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) August 17, 2009 - 12:00am

We still have no real idea of when or what President Obama will present as an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. In the meantime, the Prime Minister's special emissary, Yitzhak Molcho, is off to Washington to try and reach some understandings with the US administration prior to the next meeting between Senator Mitchell and Netanyahu. The rumors floating around suggest that Obama's plan will aim to focus first on setting borders between the State of Israel and the future State of Palestine, now that Netanyahu has accepted the two-state solution.

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PA officials: U.S. wants borders to top peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - August 7, 2009 - 12:00am

The U.S. administration will demand that Israel and the Palestinians address the issue of borders as the first step in the Middle East peace plan, senior Palestinian officials said Thursday. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that Washington will present its new plan for a comprehensive Middle East peace soon. The Americans will also outline proposals for an Israeli peace with Syria and Lebanon, the Palestinian officials said Thursday.

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Living apart together
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jerry Kindred - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Ariel Atias is Israel's minister of construction and housing. Speaking at the Israel Bar Association in Tel Aviv recently, he said that Jews and Arabs shouldn't live in the same towns. He pointed to last year's Jewish-Arab riots in Akko as proof that we just don't get along. Atias said he intends to formulate and implement housing policies that create and perpetuate separate townships for Jews and Arabs.

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Checkpoints eased: Nablus journeys
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel said they were necessary security measures to prevent attacks on its civilians, but many Palestinians viewed them as collective punishment. The northern city of Nablus, previously a stronghold of Palestinian militant groups, has been surrounded by six checkpoints since the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, which began in 2000. For the first time in about nine years, its residents can now drive their cars out of the city. Journey times around the West Bank have been cut significantly.

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U.N. envoy sees Lebanon border village row over soon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 9, 2009 - 12:00am

The U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon said on Wednesday he hoped for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Lebanese part of the divided border village of Ghajar within the next few months. The move could bolster the Lebanese government and improve the atmosphere for Arab-Israeli peace talks. Ghajar, which has a population of about 2,000, straddles Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, but Israel currently occupies both parts.

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