Obama to Meet With Mideast Leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - September 20, 2009 - 12:00am

After a frustrating week of shuttle diplomacy here in which the Obama administration failed to persuade Israelis and Palestinians to renew peace talks, leaders of the two sides are heading to the United States to make their cases again that the administration should push the other harder.

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Jonathan Freedland / Maybe Israel just needs to acknowledge Palestinian pain
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Freedland - (Opinion) September 18, 2009 - 12:00am

Many of Israel's supporters around the world have spotted an alarming trend in the debate on Middle East peace. Call it the "Back to '48" approach, which argues that any attempt to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is doomed unless it gets to the root of the problem, tackling not only the "1967 file" - ending the occupation, plus or minus a chunk of land here or there - but also the "1948 file," consisting of the issues left outstanding by Israel's birth.

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Palestinians: Zero chances for Abbas-Netanyahu meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - September 18, 2009 - 12:00am

The chances of a three-way summit between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and US President Barak Obama are slim, Ramallah sources said on Friday, after a meeting between Abbas and special American envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell. Later Friday, Mitchell is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu for a second time in the same day. Palestinians said the current Israeli stance is not sufficient to lead to the summit the Americans are so eager to organize during the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week.

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Peace and prosperity in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Michael Mylrea - September 18, 2009 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama’s commitment to Middle East peace has made little progress in the last eight months. As his Middle East envoy George Mitchell visits leaders in the region this week, Palestinian optimism has turned to resentment. Time is quickly running out. Unless there is immediate progress toward establishing a sovereign Palestinian state, there will be a deadly third intifada that could quickly escalate into a major regional conflict. To prevent this volatile situation from becoming a catastrophe, US policy makers need to make immediate steps toward a two-state solution.

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Let's try something else
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram
by Samir Ghattas - September 18, 2009 - 12:00am

In three months time, we'll mark the anniversary of UN Resolution 181 of 1947, which provided for the partitioning of Palestine into two states, a Jewish one and an Arab one, with Jerusalem being an international zone.

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Op-Ed: U.S. Jews, Muslims must look forward, not back
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Salam Al-Marayati - (Opinion) September 17, 2009 - 12:00am

In the 25 years I have served as a leader in the Muslim American community, I have watched and sometimes participated as the pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian camps have put all their energy into trying to convert each other to their own ways of thinking -- ideologically, not theologically. The conclusion I have reached is that agreement cannot and should not be a pre-condition for engagement. As Muslims, Jews and Christians who believe in peacemaking as a social and religious responsibility, we must be the drivers of change at the grass-roots level.

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Time ripe to take on the lobby
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) September 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel’s halcyon days of impunity are coming to a close. At long last the world’s movers and shakers have come to realise that Israel is an instigator of violence and an obstacle to peace in this region.

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Palestinians: State within 2 years with Obama's support
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice on Wednesday. Senior Palestinian officials who met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after his meeting with the American statesman Tuesday told Ynet that the US commitment to reach a peace deal within two years was clarified during the meeting. The Palestinians estimate the Americans are adopting de facto the plan presented by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

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Geneva Initiative relaunches its grassroots peace recipe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Talk about a settlement freeze distracts negotiators from the real issues - such as Jerusalem and refugees - that truly block the path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians, former Meretz Party leader Yossi Beilin told reporters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. He spoke on the same day that US special envoy George Mitchell met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to discuss halting construction in West Bank settlements.

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No Deal, but Middle East Envoy Sets Further Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - September 16, 2009 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Obama administration’s special representative to the Middle East, George J. Mitchell, was set to leave Israel on Wednesday without agreement on a settlement freeze. But he was expected to return Friday to press his efforts to pave the way for resumed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Over the past two days, Mr. Mitchell has held two private meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as talks with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. Officials here indicated that he had not persuaded the two sides to restart the stalled talks.

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