Obama’s New Emphasis On Reciprocity Also Pressures Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - July 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Freezing the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank was once seen as a unilateral Israeli obligation. But the Obama administration is now treating this as part of a package that will require concessions from Arab states, as well. An intensified and more public focus on this principle appears to be one of the byproducts of President Obama’s June 13 pledge to American Jewish communal representatives to address perceptions that he is pressuring only Israel. So far, the Arabs are resistant.

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A temporary Mideast deal could break the stalemate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Globe and Mail
by Shira Herzog - (Opinion) July 21, 2009 - 12:00am

The latest Israeli-U.S. clash over construction in east Jerusalem indicates again how difficult it's going to be to shape the regional reality Barack Obama desperately wants. That's why there's a new deluge of policy proposals - not least of which is Israeli President Shimon Peres's trial balloon: a Palestinian state with provisional borders, leading to a permanent Israeli-Palestinian deal. Both parties officially reject the idea. But if properly formulated, it just might be a way of satisfying key Israeli and Palestinian needs.

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U.S. eyes Syrian, Palestinian tracks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - July 20, 2009 - 12:00am

Despite the latest clash between Israel and the Obama administration over building -- this time in eastern Jerusalem -- the United States is pressing ahead with plans to reopen negotiations on both the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Syrian tracks.

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Netanyahu’s Talk of Peace Finds Few True Believers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - July 19, 2009 - 12:00am

In the weeks since Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, finally accepted the principle of a Palestinian state, with qualifications, there has been deep skepticism about his sincerity. On the Palestinian side, aides to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, have called Mr. Netanyahu’s grudging endorsement of Palestinian statehood, under international pressure, a disingenuous public relations exercise.

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Living apart together
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jerry Kindred - (Opinion) July 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Ariel Atias is Israel's minister of construction and housing. Speaking at the Israel Bar Association in Tel Aviv recently, he said that Jews and Arabs shouldn't live in the same towns. He pointed to last year's Jewish-Arab riots in Akko as proof that we just don't get along. Atias said he intends to formulate and implement housing policies that create and perpetuate separate townships for Jews and Arabs.

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Israel rejects EU call for Palestinian state deadline
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
July 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel on Monday rejected a European Union call for the United Nations to recognise a Palestinian state by a certain deadline even if Israel and Palestinians fail to agree on a peace deal. "A peace agreement can come only following direct negotiations and cannot be imposed," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told public radio. Lieberman was commenting on a speech by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in London on Saturday in which he called for the international community to set a deadline for recognising the state of Palestine.

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Livni: Netanyahu support for two-state solution is hypocrisy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Kadima Party chair Tzipi Livni on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's performance in his first 100 days in office, calling his new-found support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "the height of hypocrisy." Speaking in an interview to Army Radio, the opposition leader accused Likud members of continuing to attack Kadima over its support for a two-state solution, but said that the government changed its position due to pressure from the United States.

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For Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Faisal Al Rfouh - (Opinion) July 8, 2009 - 12:00am

July 4 marked the Independence Day of the United States; the advent of the Obama administration marked a departure from the policies of unilateralism and intervention, thereby paving way for reconciliation and accommodation. President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo and Washington’s genuine desire for peace will take some time to convince the world, in general, and the Arab Islamic world, in particular, which has been rattled by the Bush era’s adventurism.

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Arab steps U.S. seeks in Israeli settlement dispute
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
(Analysis) July 7, 2009 - 12:00am

U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell is pressing for a halt to Israeli settlement activity, holding out the prospect of reciprocal steps by Arab states towards normalising relations with Israel. Talks in London on Monday between Mitchell and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on a package that could include a settlement freeze and normalisation ended inconclusively. Further discussions are planned between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as early as next week.

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Encountering Peace: It's the occupation, stupid!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 6, 2009 - 12:00am

Many voices here are already pondering the question how are we going to deal with at least three more years of an anti-Israel administration in Washington. These are the people who think that pressuring Jerusalem to meet its road map obligations is empowering the Arabs and weakening the country. One such person, and he defined himself as pro-peace, told me that until the Arabs recognize Israel as the Jewish state, freezing settlements sends the wrong message; it tells the Arabs they don't have to do anything and that all of the pressure will only be on Israel.

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