Secret Negotiations: Palestinian State in Return for Israeli Land Lease?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali El-saleh, Nazar Majli - October 29, 2010 - 12:00am

Asharq Al-Awsat has learnt from informed sources that secret talks have been talking place between the US and Israel on the formation of a Palestinian state. Washington and Tel Aviv have discussed a Palestinian state being established in return for Israel leasing land from the Palestinian Authority; this includes land in occupied eastern Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. The sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that this land-lease deal would last for a period of time between 40 and 99 years.

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Few options left for Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Over 70 years ago, agitating European Zionist leaders were offered by Britain, who then ruled Palestine, about 20 per cent of the Arab country to establish a state there, a partition they accepted in principle but then demanded more land. This offer was made behind Palestinians backs. Ten years later, the UN approved the partition plan which gave Palestinian Jews 55 per cent of the country, although they hardly owned five per cent of the land, while the Palestinian Arabs would retain 45 per cent. The Palestinians, backed by the Arab states, rejected the plan and resolved to win it back.

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Fayyad: PA will declare independent state in August 2011
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the PA will declare an independent Palestinian state in 2011, while picking olives with a reporter from Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, according to an interview published on Thursday. "The deadline is next summer, when the Israeli occupation of the West Bank must end," Fayyad said. "In 2011, we will celebrate 66 years of the United Nations and the United Nations will celebrate the birth of our nation."

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The Israeli-Palestinian settlement impasse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Saeb Erakat - (Opinion) October 28, 2010 - 12:00am

It comes as little surprise that Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are at an impasse. The lesson after nearly two decades of bilateral negotiations is that direct talks alone are not enough to guarantee peace. A principled, unshakable commitment to international law is also required. International law sets the benchmark for a just peace and helps ensure that Palestinians and Israelis are treated equally. It also maps a path toward lasting reconciliation rooted in a culture of rights and mutual respect.

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Resolving Palestinian issue key to ending terrorism, extremism: Jordanian PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai stressed on Tuesday that ending the problems of terrorism and extremism necessitates serious efforts to resolve the Palestinian issue, the state-run Petra news agency reported. In a lecture at the Royal Jordanian National Defense College ( RJNDC) Tuesday, Rifai said Israel's refusal to accept a fundamental political solution to the Palestinian issue means more conflicts and tensions and "lost hopes" to resolve the conflicts in the region.

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Israeli think tank supports Arab Peace Initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Michal Toiba - October 27, 2010 - 12:00am

A think tank at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya has given its support to the Arab Peace Initiative, Professor Galia Golan-Gild of the Lauder School confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. According to a report released by the IDC's Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Israel's security, economy, and international standing would improve if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government accepted the Arab peace plan.

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Ross warns Israel failed talks could imperil its security
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

A top White House advisor warned Monday night that the progress Palestinians have made on security in the West Bank could be jeopardized if peace talks don’t move forward. Dennis Ross, a senior White House Middle East advisor, pointed to improvements the Palestinians have made in security and coordination with Israel over the past two years in a speech before American Israel Public Affairs Committee activists in Florida.

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UN rep. backs declaration of Palestinian state in next year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

United Nations Special Middle East Peace Negotiator Robert H. Serry told Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday that the UN will a support the declaration of an independent Palestinian state. Serry spoke to Fayyad while the two picked olives together near the West Bank village of Turmus'ayyeh, close to the Israeli settlement of Shiloh.

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Credit to Obama for sticking with the Middle East. But it's gone very wrong
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jonathan Freedland - (Opinion) October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

The august ranks of those who form the conventional wisdom in American politics are as one: Barack Obama's Democrats are going to take a hammering in next Tuesday's midterm elections. One of the few elements of the Obama record not blamed is also, paradoxically, one of those areas that need to change on 3 November. It is the administration's handling of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

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Palestinian gambit for statehood puts Israel against wall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - (Analysis) October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

With talks at a stalemate and no agreement from the Israelis to reinstate a settlement freeze, the Palestinians are playing a new card: an end game to statehood through an appeal to the international community. The card hasn’t actually been played, but the mere threat that the Palestinians would push for international recognition of a state from the United Nations has been enough to push the Israeli government to reconsider options to return to the negotiating table.

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