WEST BANK: Palestinians determined to get more recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - August 13, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority is doubling its efforts to get as many countries to recognize it before September, when it plans to officially ask the United Nations for recognition and membership. Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Malki said on Saturday that “we have made very important breakthroughs, but we need to do more and build on what we have achieved so far.”

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Abbas, Peres held '4 secret meetings'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
August 13, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas revealed he held four secret meetings with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres in a bid to revive stalled peace talks, a Palestinian official said Saturday. He quoted Abbas as saying at a meeting of his Fatah party on Friday that: "I met Shimon Peres four times in Amman and London in an attempt to restart negotiations and the peace process on a correct foundation." The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had thwarted those efforts.

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Abbas: We want settlements-free state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
August 12, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with US lawmakers visiting the West Bank and Gaza Strip and urged them to lend their support to the formation of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, the PA's WAFA news agency reported on Friday. Abbas reportedly stressed that the future state must be "empty of settlements." The US delegation was led by Senator Steny Hoyer (D), who is the Minority Whip of the House of Representatives. They toured the area on Thursday.

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Encouraging Peace: Forgetting September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) August 9, 2011 - 12:00am

The sudden sprouting of tent camps and Israeli demonstrations has allowed the public a brief reprieve from having to confront Israel’s international reality and the Palestinian decision to bring the conflict to the UN Security Council in September.While the public is busy thinking about solutions to all the social-economic distortions, the US has been busy trying to pre-empt disaster.

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Israel and the Palestinians Must Face the Inescapable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) August 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Coexistence between Israel and the Palestinians is inevitable and, short of catastrophic developments, the two peoples are doomed or destined to live between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River. They must now decide on the quality of that coexistence. Do they want to live with mutual hatred and fear while demonizing one another or do they want to live in peace and amity and realize the biblical prophecy of making their shared land the true Land of Milk and Honey?

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Academic claims Israeli school textbooks contain bias
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - August 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Nurit Peled-Elhanan, an Israeli academic, mother and political radical, summons up an image of rows of Jewish schoolchildren, bent over their books, learning about their neighbours, the Palestinians. But, she says, they are never referred to as Palestinians unless the context is terrorism.

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US, Israel propose new talks to head off Palestinian UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel is willing to begin new peace talks using the 1967 lines as a basis for negotiations, if the Palestinians drop their UN membership bid, an Israeli government official confirmed on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official confirmed that Israel has been working with Washington and members of the international peace-making Quartet to draw up a new framework that could relaunch stalled talks.

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Holding on by our fingernails
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Daniel Seidemann - (Blog) August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

No two-state solution is possible unless an agreement can be implemented that satisfies both Israeli and Palestinian requirements in Jerusalem. Today, such an agreement in Jerusalem is still possible, but barely.

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Israel's settler mentality continues to prevail over Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Mousa Qous - (Blog) August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

No doubt Jerusalem could be the key to peace in the Middle East, if Israel--the occupying power--cedes East Jerusalem to enable the Palestinians to establish the capital of their future state. Instead, the opposite is taking place. To consolidate its grip over Jerusalem, the Israeli government continues with its settlement activities in the middle of Arab Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. These create new facts on the ground that make any future withdrawal almost impossible.

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Encountering Peace: I should be a millionaire!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

‘The people demand social justice” – I can hear the rhythm of the chant of the masses along the route from the tent encampment on King George Street in Jerusalem to the prime minister’s house. The beat, the words – “the people demand….” so reminiscent of the sounds of Tahrir square in Cairo or Tunis a few months before. The Arab spring has arrived in Israel – unbelievable!

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