UN expresses solidarity with Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Members of the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People discussed the status of Palestinians and the ongoing Israeli occupation on Monday as the UN observed the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concerns over the failure to resume peace talks based on a two state solution for over a year and further called on Israel and Palestinian authorities to conduct immediate investigations into allegations of grave human rights violations committed in Gaza during Israel’s Operation Cast Led last year.

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Progress Requires Patience, Compromise and Courageous Leadership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
(Interview) December 1, 2009 - 1:00am

What is the significance of the Israeli government’s announcement on a settlement construction freeze in the West Bank? What are your next steps now that the Israeli government has made this announcement?

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Israel rejects European Union plan to divide Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - December 1, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel's foreign ministry said Tuesday that a Swedish-led push for the European Union to call for the division of Jerusalem and the recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state would trip up Europe's own efforts to play a role in Middle East peacemaking.

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One Palestinian Prisoner Could Change the Balance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - (Analysis) November 30, 2009 - 1:00am

The political timing is definitely ripe. This week a major residual source of tension between Israelis and Palestinians may just be about to be resolved - if German mediation finally overcomes last-minute hitches to the long-awaited exchange - a thousand Palestinian prisoners for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. It's not yet certain that the prisoner exchange will go through. Nor is it clear who among the 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails will be part of the deal.

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Diplomacy 101
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) November 27, 2009 - 1:00am

We were thrilled when President Obama decided to plunge fully into the Middle East peace effort. He appointed a skilled special envoy, George Mitchell, and demanded that Israel freeze settlements, Palestinians crack down on anti-Israel violence and Arab leaders demonstrate their readiness to reach out to Israel. The Israelis have refused to stop all building. The Palestinians say that they won’t talk to the Israelis until they do, and President Mahmoud Abbas is so despondent he has threatened to quit. Arab states are refusing to do anything.

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Israel & Palestine: Can They Start Over?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books
by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley - (Analysis) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

1. The idea of Israeli–Palestinian partition, of a two-state solution, has a singular pedigree. It has been proposed for at least eight decades. Jews first accepted it as Palestinians recoiled; by the time Palestinians warmed to the notion in the late 1980s, Israelis had turned their backs. Still, its proponents manage to portray it as fresh, new, and capable of leading to peace. International consensus on a two-state agreement is, today, stronger than ever. Meanwhile, interest among the two parties most directly concerned wanes and prospects for achieving it diminish.

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Two alternative paths
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Editorial) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

I continue to believe that a bilaterally negotiated two-state solution between Israel and the PLO is the optimal outcome and is possible. But not under the leadership currently in power in all the relevant capitals: Jerusalem, Ramallah, Gaza, Cairo and last but not least (on the basis of its first 10 months' performance) Washington. In the absence of credible hope for a near-term solution, a number of alternative paths to progress present themselves. Two are reflected in evolving realities on the ground, hence appear to be the most pragmatic. They are not mutually exclusive.

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Encountering Peace: Getting serious about 'economic peace'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

More than 10 months have passed since President Barack Obama entered the White House and seven months since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took over the reins in Jerusalem and there is still no peace process worth mentioning. Netanyahu campaigned on the slogan of "economic peace" and boasted that he would help the Palestinians build their state from the bottom up by strengthening their economy and thereby "giving them something to lose," so that they will not revert back to violence.

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Ramallah's road map to statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by David Ignatius - (Opinion) November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

Looking at this city, you can imagine what a Palestinian state could someday be like if folks got serious: The streets are clean, there's construction in every direction and Palestinian soldiers line the roads. A visitor sees new apartment buildings, banks, brokerage firms, luxury car dealerships and even health clubs.

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Ahmed Qureia: Two-state solution becoming hopeless
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 19, 2009 - 1:00am

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel’s decision to build 900 settlement homes in Gilo is “another nail in the coffin of the peace process,” member of the PLO executive committee and Chairman of the Department of Jerusalem affairs Ahmed Qurei said Wednesday. The PLO official called the decision one “disrespectful” to the personal efforts of US President Barack Obama who has been attempting to revive the peace process since he stepped into office more than a year ago.

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