Negotiations under false pretenses
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - August 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are likely to begin in the near future. The international community under the conductor’s wand of the Obama Administration has applied considerable pressure to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to withdraw from all of his demands for setting the conditions for his participation in the negotiations.

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Darkness ahead for the Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - August 17, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership is still seeking a political formula to reenter direct negotiations with Israel. There is no doubt that the Palestinians will agree to this, largely because the United States is insisting on it. However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his colleagues feel very exposed politically because they have almost nothing to show for diplomatic efforts in the proximity talks and are facing considerable domestic opposition to such a move.

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Settlers and Palestinians remember 2005 Gaza pullout
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Paul Wood - August 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Neve Dekalim was once the largest Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip. Now it is mostly sand and rubble. Palestinian trucks are taking away the last of what remains of the Jewish homes, to use as building material. The evictions from Neve Dekalim took place five years ago today under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan. In all, some 9,000 Israelis were evacuated from 21 Jewish settlements. Celia Goldstein, a British-born settler, was one of the last to leave Neve Dekalim.

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Israel and Palestine: Between Alternatives
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Political and Economic Institute
by Hussein Ibish - August 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Although, a very strong international consensus has emerged, over the past two decades, that the only practicable means of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a negotiated agreement allowing for two states to live side-by-side, in peace and security, little progress has been made towards that goal. Even the new designation by the United States of resolving the conflict as a national security priority and strategic imperative has yet to provide any grounds for greater optimism.

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Op-Ed: Palestinian leaders must foster hope, not hate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi - August 16, 2010 - 12:00am

With a flurry of diplomatic activity regarding direct Israeli-Palestinian talks, a contingent from The Israel Project (TIP) including pollster Stanley Greenberg met in the West Bank with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

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Misleading
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - August 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Oftentimes, Israelis and their supporters bury their heads in the sand, ignoring all that goes on around them. For example, take the case of a university professor who joyously lauded an “opinion poll” claiming that 71 per cent of Arab respondents have “no interest” in the Palestinian-Israeli “peace process”. Efraim Karsh, who teaches at King’s College, London and is author of “Palestine Betrayed”, cited the poll in a commentary, titled “The Palestinians, Alone” in a leading American newspaper, The New York Times, which in turn was remiss in not checking it.

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Two states are better than one
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Globe and Mail
by Shira Herzog - August 13, 2010 - 12:00am

New winds seem to be blowing in Israel’s right wing. Prominent voices opposed to relinquishing the West Bank and Jewish settlements are calling instead for its annexation, with citizenship for Palestinians living there. On the face of it, this sounds virtuously democratic. But the right has no intention of abandoning its vision of a Jewish state in expanded territory. What’s being proposed is neither practical nor intellectually honest.

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Direct negotiations to begin next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
August 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may agree to direct talks next week if Israel agrees to pre-1967 borders, according to a letter found by Reuters on Thursday. The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton reportedly said in the letter that Abbas would release a statement as early as next week, if both parties agreed to direct talks. Negotiations would begin before the end of the month.

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Report: Netanyahu to offer withdrawal from 90% of West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roee Nahmias - August 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has prepared a "tempting" plan to be presented to the Palestinians in the direct negotiations, as part of which Israel will offer to withdraw from up to 90% of the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, the London-based Arabic-language al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Friday. The Prime Minister's Office denied the report, calling it "unfounded.

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Netanyahu rejects '67 borders as basis for talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his request that direct peace talks with Palestinians go ahead without preconditions, during a meeting with US envoy to the peace process George Mitchell on Wednesday. President Mahmoud Abbas, following his Tuesday meeting with Mitchell, told the press that he emphasized the need to base talks on a March statement by the Middle East Quartet, which outlined its position that a future Palestinian state should be based on the 1967 borders.

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