PA: Netanyahu promised US settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The Palestinians are optimistic about comments made by American officials in recent days. Palestinians sources told Ynet on Wednesday that the Americans said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has committed to halt construction in settlements.   The sources said that despite the Palestinians' dissatisfaction with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's public support of Israel on settlement construction, Netanyahu has officially committed to a freeze.  

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Despite progress, Obama hesitant about Netanyahu meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

With President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to appear at the same convention of Jewish activists, and their governments nearing a deal on the thorny settlements issue, it would seem like a great time for a sit-down. But there's a problem: the reluctance of the Palestinians -- and by extension the Arab world -- to climb on board for renewed negotiations.

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In face of Arab anger, Clinton amends view on Israel's offer to curb West Bank growth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Karen Deyoung - November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to soothe Arab uneasiness Monday over weekend statements she made praising the Israeli government's offer to "restrain" growth in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying it "falls far short" of the Obama administration's hopes and is "not enough."

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Hussein Ibish on the Fantasy World of One-Staters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Interview) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, which is the leading American group advocating for an independent Palestine alongside Israel, has a new book out, "What's Wrong With the One-State Agenda?" which does a comprehensive job of demolishing the arguments made by those who think that Israel should be eliminated and replaced by a single state of Jews and Palestinians. He has performed an important service with this book by noting one overwhelming truth about this debate: Virtually no one in Israel wants a single-state between the river and the sea.

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Palestinians downbeat despite US backtracking
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

The Palestinians remained pessimistic about the likelihood of relaunching peace talks with Israel despite US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's attempt to clarify earlier remarks about settlements. During a visit to Morocco, Clinton told Arab leaders that Washington remained opposed to all Israeli settlement activity after she had praised an Israeli offer to ease construction as "unprecedented" during a visit to Jerusalem.

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A Stalemate Looms in Obama's Mideast Peace Effort
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

The Obama Administration's bid to relaunch an Israeli-Palestinian peace process is falling apart faster than you can say settlement freeze — in no small part because President Obama began his effort by saying settlement freeze. On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton found herself struggling to persuade skeptical Arab foreign ministers to see the silver lining in Israel's "No, but ..." answer to the U.S. demand that Israel halt all construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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Personality of the Month: Dr. Salam Fayyad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from This Week in Palestine
November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Born in Nablus in 1952, Dr. Salam Fayyad remembers his early school years in Tulkarem, when doing well at school was not the main thing (as it continues to be today), it was the only thing. Well, almost the only thing. Back then, after-school street football was also a daily routine and a prominent item on his agenda.

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ANALYSIS / PA fury over U.S. policy on settlements paid off
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

The statements and condemnations of the Palestinian Authority, which is insisting the U.S. change its stance regarding a settlement freeze, appear to have paid off. In Israel on Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stance on limiting settlement construction and calling for a resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians. However, in Morocco Monday, she sought to tone down her statements.

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Obama betrays hope created by Cairo speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Craig Nelson - (Opinion) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

It’s official: forget Cairo. Fold up the speech and throw it in the bin, or put it in that already bulging folder marked “Bad Faith & Broken Promises”. That seems to be the unintended but unavoidably obvious message of the about-face by the US president Barack Obama and his decision last weekend to press ahead with Israeli-Palestinian talks despite Arab and Palestinian demands that Israel halt West Bank settlement construction first.

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Need for US-sponsored Arab-Israeli deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghassan Rubeiz - (Opinion) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinians and Israelis are locked in a relationship of deep mistrust. A credible outside force must intervene to break up an enduring cycle of despair. In the foreseeable future, there seems to be no Middle East miracle cure, spontaneous recovery, inspiration, powerful leadership or any of those signs of self-generated breakthroughs.

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