Dubai hit can't distract from need for Palestinian talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) February 23, 2010 - 1:00am

Okay, it was a successful operation. Maybe here and there a bit clumsy. Amos Biderman's cartoon in Haaretz in which "our fine young men" were all wearing the same glasses because there was a sale at Opticana reflects our preoccupation with the killing of one Arab, dangerous and wicked as he may be. But it doesn't solve any of the really serious problems facing the country.

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For Israel, defiance comes at the cost of legitimacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Henry Siegman - (Opinion) February 23, 2010 - 1:00am

The Middle East peace process and its quest for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict that got under way nearly 20 years ago with the Oslo accords has undergone two fundamental transformations. It is now on the brink of a third.

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France's Sarkozy backs 'viable' Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 22, 2010 - 1:00am

French President Nicolas Sarkozy backed the creation of a "viable" Palestinian state on Monday but was cautious about repeating his foreign minister's support for possible recognition of a state before its borders were set. Speaking at a news conference in Paris with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Sarkozy repeated France's support for statehood for Palestinians but added: "We have always said a viable Palestinian state."

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Abbas to renew talks with Israel next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are to be renewed next week, a senior government official in Jerusalem said on Thurdsay. Israeli government officials were told by Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger that the Palestinians were ready to resume indirect talks, the senior government official said. Spindelegger, who visited Israel and the Palestinian territories last week, said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had told him he would consent to the United States' request to renew talks with Israel.

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UN envoy: Quartet to back PA autonomy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

Robert Serry, the UN special envoy to the Middle East peace process, hinted on Thursday that the international community would pressure Israel to cede parts of the occupied West Bank to Palestinian Authority control. Serry said the International Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, US and Russia, will express support for PA demands on the Israeli government to transfer Areas B and of the West Bank C into A, under full Palestinian control, on the road to establishing statehood.

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Palestinian leader meets US envoy on peace effort
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Mohammed Assadi, Alastair MacDonald - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met a senior aide to U.S. envoy George Mitchell on Thursday, part of Washington's effort to relaunch peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat confirmed the scheduled meeting with David Hale had taken place in Ramallah. But like the Americans he offered no comment on what was discussed. U.S. officials had announced the meeting after Erekat met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Qatar on Sunday. Mitchell and his team maintain a strict silence about their discussions.

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The silence of Israel's liberals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) February 16, 2010 - 1:00am

It is not a pleasant experience to look at Israel's image in the world nowadays, to put it mildly. To the extent the country makes the headlines, it is in the context of the Goldstone report on Operation Cast Lead, the latest outlandish statement of foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman or Israel's continuing occupation of large parts of the West Bank. Israel's negative image is reflected in events such as ambassador Michael Oren being heckled on University of California Irvine campus and deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon apparently being threatened during an appearance at Oxford University.

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Mideast peacemaking efforts at "very critical stage": Jordanian king
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Jordanian King Abdullah II Monday urged coordinated and intensified international action to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as peacemaking efforts are going through a "very critical stage", the state-run Petra news agency reported. The king made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation from J Street, which is an American-Jewish entity that supports the two-state solution and is against Israeli settlement activities. At the meeting, the king said resolving the conflicts should be in line with the two-state solution and within comprehensive peace in the region.

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Abbas: No U.S. clarification over peace talks' resumption until now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday said the United States has not yet presented the demanded clarification related to the resumption of the indirect peace talks with Israel. The Palestinian state-run news agency Wafa quoted Abbas as saying at the weekly meeting of the Palestinian cabinet in Ramallah on Monday that the Palestinian side has not yet received any clarifications from the United States over the resumption of the peace negotiations with Israel.

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It's time to get tough with Israel's leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

Inch by inch, the Palestinian president appears to be once again succumbing to American pressure. He is about to allow his junior officials to start so-called "proximity talks" with their Israeli counterparts to pave the way for the resumption of peace negotiations, which broke down after Israel's invasion of Gaza in December 2008.

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