This time in Washington, honest brokerage is not going to be enough
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Avi Shlaim - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am The pope, according to a no doubt apocryphal story, maintains that there are two possible solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict – the realistic and the miraculous. The realistic solution involves divine intervention; the miraculous solution involves a voluntary agreement between the parties themselves. The American-sponsored peace talks that got under way in Washington last week may be viewed in this light. It will take nothing less than a miracle to produce a peaceful settlement of the century-old conflict between Jews and Arabs over the Holy Land. |
Sadat's Shadow
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Adel Al Toraifi - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am For more than two decades, the United States has tried to conclude a peace agreement between the PLO and Israel. In the beginning there were the 1993 Oslo accords, which was a difficult breakthrough. However, this was the agreement that allowed the opportunity to form much-needed state institutions on the Palestinian territories. Yet this did not happen both as a result of the influence of religious parties on both sides, and as a result of dozens of suicide attacks carried out by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, which disrupted all guarantees of security and reconciliation. |
Abbas: No peace without Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority would "not leave Gaza or the West Bank to Hamas or others,” President Mahmoud Abbas told the Kuwait-based daily newspaper Ar-Ray on Tuesday. The interview followed one in the Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam newspaper on Monday, where Abbas said that if he was forced to concede on key issues such as refugees or borders during the next round of direct negotiations with Israel, he would "pack my bags and leave." |
Israel PM sees deal possible in year, spokesman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - September 6, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told visiting U.S. congressmen he thinks it could be possible to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in a year despite huge differences, his spokesman said. Netanyahu told the visiting delegation that he "believes it possible, through such direct and contiguous negotiations, held without breaks or delays, to achieve a peace agreement within a year", spokesman Nir Hefez said on Monday. |
Israeli FM pushes for new settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Matti Friedman - September 6, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's hard-line foreign minister said Monday that his party will try to block any extension of Israel's settlement slowdown, a move that could derail the recently launched Mideast peace negotiations. Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli government must keep its promise to voters that the 10-month slowdown, declared last November under U.S. pressure in order to draw the Palestinians to the negotiating table, will end as scheduled at the end of the month. |
A Special Place in Hell / Real men don't talk Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Blog) September 6, 2010 - 12:00am There was something wrong with the air here the day President Obama hosted Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. There was a bottom-heavy grip to the heat, the air almost too thick to breathe, as though it had to be forced down, like medicine. In other places, this freight in the weather is the kind which announces a monsoon, or an earthquake. Not here. Here it was murder that was in the air. It just hadn't happened yet. |
Legitimize Hamas and kiss the PLO goodbye
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 6, 2010 - 12:00am With the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, numerous voices in the United States have been urging the inclusion of Hamas in international diplomacy, a focus on Palestinian unity, or some formal American outreach to the Palestinian Islamist group. |
Mideast Leaders Hopeful After Opening of Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) September 5, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Palestinian and Israeli leaders expressed satisfaction and hope on Sunday in their first public utterances after the opening round of Middle East peace talks in Washington last week. |
Q+A-Settlements loom as Middle East talks resume
Media Mention of ATFP In Reuters - September 3, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli and Palestinian leaders held their first direct peace talks in 20 months on Thursday and agreed to meet every two weeks to try to settle the six-decade conflict within a year. Among the many obstacles are the deep divisions among the Palestinians and the Israelis themselves and the possibility of violence by hardliners who may wish to disrupt the effort. Here are some questions and answers about the talks. WHAT HAPPENED? The only tangible result was an agreement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud |
Peace this time? Even a lapsed optimist must hope
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Shlomo Avineri - (Opinion) September 3, 2010 - 12:00am The resumption in Washington of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is good news. But whether these talks will lead to an agreement, let alone within one year as US President Barack Obama hopes, is another matter. When Obama, two days into his presidency, appointed former Senator George Mitchell as his special envoy to the Middle East, many hoped that within two years his efforts would lead to an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians – and to a comprehensive peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbors. |