Finding an optimist in the Middle East peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from PBS
by Sal Gentile - (Analysis) September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S.-mediated talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials moved to Jerusalem on Wednesday, a symbolic gesture designed to lend credibility to the budding peace process. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t seem to have worked. Islamic militants are still lobbing mortars, and Israeli jets are still bombing tunnels. An expiration date on a settlement moratorium looms, and there seems to be little hope for a breakthrough.

»

Israelis, Palestinians already broaching tough topics in talks, envoy says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli and Palestinian leaders are delving very quickly into some of the most difficult issues dividing them, the U.S. special envoy to the region said in an unusually upbeat report Wednesday, even as Israeli fighters bombed a smuggling tunnel and Palestinian militants launched mortar rounds into southern Israel.

»

U.S. sees progress in Mideast peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Arshad Mohammed - September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

The United States said on Wednesday it believed Israel and the Palestinians were making progress towards resolving a dispute over settlement building that threatens to sink their newly-launched peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to his official residence, shaking his hand as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looked on approvingly, a day after the three met in Egypt.

»

Netanyahu, Abbas to meet again in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared Wednesday to convene a second set of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, with no resolution of a conflict over Jewish settlements in sight.

»

Standoff over settlement construction bogs down Mideast talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Despite prodding by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Israelis and Palestinians made little progress Tuesday toward resolving their standoff over Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank. The dispute will continue to loom over U.S.-brokered peace talks as they resume Wednesday in Jerusalem. For the third time in a week, American officials called upon Israel to extend its partial moratorium on construction, which is to expire toward the end of the month. Palestinians have threatened to quit the talks unless the moratorium continues.

»

Clinton warmly endorses Netanyahu, Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Arshad Mohammed - September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warmly endorsed Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday ahead of negotiations to try to break a deadlock over Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank. "This is the time, and these are the leaders," Clinton said before she was to see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who resumed direct peace talks two weeks ago after a 20-month hiatus.

»

The freeze as a test
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Direct negotiations on a final-status agreement opened yesterday at Sharm al-Sheikh, in the shadow of the ongoing dispute over a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

»

Where has the hypocrisy gone?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

In the late 1970s or early 1980s, Professor Asa Kasher spoke at a conference of some kind about the differences between Labor Party governments and Likud governments. The Labor governments were hypocritical, and there is something positive about hypocrisy, Kasher said. At least the hypocrite knows there is a binding system of values, and that he is not acting according to them. As a result, he disguises his actions.

»

Finding an optimist in the Middle East peace process
Media Mention of ATFP In PBS - September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S.-mediated talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials moved to Jerusalem on Wednesday, a symbolic gesture designed to lend credibility to the budding peace process. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t seem to have worked. Islamic militants are still lobbing mortars, and Israeli jets are still bombing tunnels. An expiration date on a settlement moratorium looms, and there seems to be little hope for a breakthrough.

»

PA knows must keep talking even if freeze ends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - (Analysis) September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Despite the Palestinian Authority’s tough talk on the issue of settlement construction in the past few days, Palestinian sources in Ramallah believe PA leaders will soon have to climb down from their high tree. Even as the direct talks were under way in Sharm e-Sheikh on Tuesday, several PA officials continued to issue threats that failure to extend the moratorium on settlement construction later this month would lead to the “collapse” of the US-sponsored negotiations.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017