Obama to Abbas: I am committed to creation of Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - May 11, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged commitment to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state and vowed to hold both Israel and the Palestinians accountable if either side takes actions that "undermine trust" during U.S.-mediated talks launched this week. In a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama welcomed the beginning of indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and reiterated his strong support for the two-state solution.

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Obama asks Abbas to prevent anti-Israel incitement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 11, 2010 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama Tuesday asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to prevent anti-Israeli incitement during indirect peace talks and said he would welcome him at the White House "soon." During a phone conversation between the two leaders, Obama also expressed appreciation for Abbas' recent decision to appear on Israeli television, and said he would hold both the Palestinians and the Israelis accountable for any actions that undermine the proximity talks.

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How to bolster a delicate situation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the peace process, seems to have succeeded for a second time in getting both Palestinians and Israelis to agree to start proximity talks. The first time around, the talks were sabotaged by an Israeli decision to build 1,600 settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem during a visit by Joe Biden, the US vice-president. This time, the situation remains equally delicate.

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AN ISRAELI VIEW: The best of a bad lot?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Gilead Sher - May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

The good news first: after more than a year wasted over trial and error in United States foreign policy, President Barack Obama has set the Israeli-Palestinian process back on track. The bad news is that for the first time in close to two decades, Israelis and Palestinians will be talking indirectly to one another.

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Palestinians frustrated by report of newly announced East Jerusalem construction plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Reports of Israeli renovation work which started Sunday and will include construction of 14 housing units in a Jewish settlement in disputed East Jerusalem frustrated the Palestinians. A report by the Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement movement, said that the housing units would be appended to a place that has once been used as a post by Israeli police, which overlooks the Muslim holy shrine al-Aqsa Mosque.

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Proximity and peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

A POTENTIAL four months of indirect negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis began yesterday, mediated by US Middle East special envoy George Mitchell. Like the tumbler in a complex lock mechanism, success will rely on the progressive definition of a succession of key issues. It is by far from certain that the key to open direct talks between the two sides will work, and even then there is the second bigger lock of substantive face-to-face agreement to be opened.

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'Ruling others erodes our global status'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
May 10, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel’s continued control over the Palestinians is eroding Israel’s global standing, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday. “We won’t give up anything connected to security, but it’s important to say that continuing to control another nation is very problematic,” he said at the Labor faction meeting. “We can reach an agreement to end this without sacrificing our security. “ Saying that ruling over the Palestinians “causes our erosion internationally,” Barak called for Israel to present a peace plan “on all diplomatic issues.”

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U.S.-Brokered Mideast Shuttle Talks Begin Again
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - May 9, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration announced Sunday that indirect, American-brokered talks had resumed between Israel and the Palestinians, capping a year of efforts by Washington to revive the peace process. The American special envoy to the region, George J. Mitchell, is expected to shuttle between the two sides over the next four months as mediator of the so-called proximity talks. They are aimed at forging a joint vision of the outlines of a solution based on the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

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ATFP Advocacy Director lectures at the Ohio State University
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - May 7, 2010 - 12:00am

On May 4th, ATFP Advocacy Director Ghaith Al-Omari delivered a lecture at the Ohio State University John Glenn School of Public Affairs entitled “The Peace Process: Through Our Eyes”.


The Arab peace initiative: Now or never
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Alon Ben-meir - May 7, 2010 - 12:00am

It has been almost a year now since US President Barack Obama set out for Cairo to deliver what has been seen as one of the largest overtures by the US to publicly engage the Middle East.

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