Talks and more talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian side seems to have caved in to the US demand to restart negotiations with Israel. The only condition this time, is to have talks conducted indirectly! So far so good, except for the fact that since direct talks with Israel went nowhere for so long, one wonders what the wisdom of continuing to talk is.

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Mitchell’s model for peace can still apply
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) February 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The Middle East peace process is so broken that the parties cannot even talk to each other. The best that can be hoped for is “proximity talks”, in which the US special envoy George Mitchell shuttles between sides as a mediator. Before even that can happen, the Palestinians need assurances and clarifications from the United States – in effect, they’re talking about what they will be allowed to talk about.

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Erekat calls for ‘alternative to two-state solution’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - February 4, 2010 - 1:00am

A paper prepared by Chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat on the status of the peace talks with Israel recommends that the Palestinians consider the possibility of abandoning the two-state solution in favor of a one-state solution if the peace process does not move forward. Another option that the Palestinians should consider, according to Erekat, is the re-evaluation of the Oslo Accords and “declaring them null and void, partially or completely, or applying them selectively in a manner consistent with Palestinian interests.”

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Bit of a Stir as Clinton Strays From Script on Mideast Peace
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The New York Times - February 4, 2010 - 1:00am

With an inadvertent bit of shorthand, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton set off a buzz in diplomatic circles on Wednesday, and may have offered a glimpse into how the Obama administration hopes to revive the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Answering a question at a news conference about how the talks might be revived, Mrs. Clinton said, “Of course, we believe that the 1967 borders, with swaps, should be the focus of the negotiations over borders.”

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Barak: make peace with Palestinians or face apartheid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory McCarthy - February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, last night delivered an unusually blunt ­warning to his country that a failure to make peace with the Palestinians would leave either a state with no Jewish ­majority or an "apartheid" regime. His stark language and the South African analogy might have been unthinkable for a senior Israeli figure only a few years ago and is a rare admission of the gravity of the deadlocked peace process.

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Build a Partnership for Peace, Right Here in America
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

With the turbulence surrounding diplomacy and the Middle East peace process, it is more urgent than ever for civil society to unite around the obvious reality that a conflict-ending solution can only be attained through the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security.

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Build a Partnership for Peace, Right Here in America
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Jewish Daily Forward (Opinion) - February 3, 2010 - 1:00am

With the turbulence surrounding diplomacy and the Middle East peace process, it is more urgent than ever for civil society to unite around the obvious reality that a conflict-ending solution can only be attained through the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security.

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Helping Abbas climb down the high tree
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - (Analysis) February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

If anyone sought proof that President Mahmoud Abbas was planning to return to the negotiating table with Israel in the near future, it was provided by the results of “public opinion” polls published in the past few days by a number of Fatah-controlled media outlets and an interview he gave to Britain’s Guardian newspaper. The polls are seen by many Palestinians as an attempt to prepare local public opinion for the possibility that the Palestinian Authority will soon resume the stalled peace talks with Israel.

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In Herzliya, I Founded Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Ben Caspit - (Opinion) February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

[The title refers to a journal entry by Theodor Herzl in 1897, "In Basel I founded the Jewish state"] Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad came to Herzliya on Tuesday. Thinking that he would be participating in a panel discussion, he did not prepare a speech. Suddenly he found himself making the Palestinian "Herzliya speech." Fayyad did not become confused. He is no sucker. In fluent if nearly unintelligible English (Fayyad has a heavy accent), he laid out his doctrine: a Palestinian state within two years. On all the territory. Including East Jerusalem. That is all.

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Jordan king urges more peace efforts from Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 2, 2010 - 1:00am

US President Barack Obama telephoned Jordan's King Abdullah II to discuss efforts to "overcome obstacles" facing the launch of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the palace said. "The two leaders discussed Middle East developments, mainly efforts aimed at overcoming obstacles facing the launch of serious and effective Palestinian-Israeli negotiations in line with a two-state solution," a palace statement said.

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