The West Bank Archipelago
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Robert Mackey - (Blog) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am

This week, leading Israeli, Palestinian and American officials have agreed that the creation of a Palestinian state on territory in the West Bank and Gaza is essential to peace in the Middle East. But spend any time looking at a map of the West Bank as it is today, or with any of the many different proposals for how that map might be redrawn to accommodate the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians, and it becomes clear why any sensible mapmaker might choose to steer well clear of the challenge of drawing up that state.

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Assad redraws line land for peace with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
April 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Monday there could be no progress towards peace with Israel unless the Jewish state recognised the right of Damascus to get back the Golan Heights. Assad reasserted the bedrock Syrian condition for an end to decades of conflict a day after Israel’s new ultranationalist foreign minister said it would talk peace with Syria only if it stopped demanding an Israeli commitment to return the Golan.

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Abbas won't be pressured into talks with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Dalia Nammari - April 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinians won't be pressured into resuming peace talks with Israel as long as construction in Jewish settlements continues, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday. Abbas said a complete construction freeze is a prerequisite for resuming talks. Israel's new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, supports settlement construction and has not committed to the idea of Palestinian statehood. In his speech Monday, Abbas said he would not give in to possible Israeli or international pressure on the Palestinians to resume negotiations even if settlement construction continues.

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Israel defies US and destroys Palestinian home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Ben Lynfield - April 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Brushing aside international criticism, Israel demolished a Palestinian house in East Jerusalem in the latest in a series of actions that critics say is racheting up tensions in the city, harming chances for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ammar Hudidon, a resident of the Jebel Mukaber neighbourhood and a father of seven children, said a bulldozer flattened his home yesterday after the Jerusalem municipality said he lacked building permits. Palestinians complain that the permits are virtually impossible to obtain.

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Connect Gaza and West Bank now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) April 22, 2009 - 12:00am

US presidential envoy George Mitchell is touring the region searching for signs of progress to report back to his boss and to move the peace process forward.

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Trembling earth under economic peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Alon Cohen-Lifshitz - April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The West Bank is returning to center stage amid expectations that the new U.S. administration will do more to push the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians forward. The United States faces the old vision of two states living side by side and enjoying independence, security and prosperity. Unfortunately, this vision relies on false assumptions about the West Bank's development potential.

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Obama envoy Mitchell to ask PM to clarify position on peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar, Amos Harel - April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell arrived last night in Israel for the third round of talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah since his appointment, and the first during the tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell is expected to ask the prime minister during their meeting today to clarify Israel's position regarding the resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians and Syria.

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Beyond a two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New Statesman
by Edward Platt - (Opinion) April 16, 2009 - 12:00am

When Binyamin Netanyahu finally announced the make-up of his coalition government on 30 March, two of the most important posts went to figures from opposing ends of the political spectrum – the Labour leader Ehud Barak retained his job as minister of defence, and the leader of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu (“Israeli Home”) party, Avigdor Lieberman, became foreign minister. Such a broad coalition, born of Israel’s system of proportional representation, will generate a stalemate in the domestic arena, and it is hard to see it making much progress in foreign affairs.

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Borderline outcast?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck, Roula Khalaf - (Analysis) April 13, 2009 - 12:00am

It has been a tough few months for Israel's diplomatic corps. At the start of the year, diplomats were fending off accusations that Israel was using excessive force in its offensive against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. After that conflict they faced a torrent of allegations that their actions had amounted to war crimes, claims that they deny.

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Blair: Netanyahu will back establishment of Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

International Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said he estimates Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will promote the establishment of a Palestinian state.  

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