Loving The Two-State Solution to Death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by M.J. Rosenberg - December 19, 2008 - 1:00am

It didn’t take long for the “two state solution” to move from the category of radical to banal, but that is what has happened. Today the “two-state solution” is everyone’s favorite remedy. And yet it is farther from realization than ever. Its fate may, in fact, be that rare instance of a concept being killed by kindness.

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Will Bibi or Livni be any better?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - December 18, 2008 - 1:00am

Unlike the just-concluded American election, where everyone is eagerly awaiting the change that has been promised, the ongoing election campaign in Israel which ends one month after President-elect Barack Obama settles in the White House, is noted for the absence of any similar commitments. If anything, the positions of the competing Israeli frontrunners have not been encouraging and even very alarming.

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Is the peace process irreversible?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttub - (Opinion) December 18, 2008 - 1:00am

Lame-duck Palestinian, Israeli and US leaders are making serious effort these days to ensure that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process enters an irreversible track before they leave office.

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A Comprehensive Approach to the Middle East Peace Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by David Miliband - (Opinion) December 18, 2008 - 1:00am

Next year needs to be an important year for the Arab-Israeli conflict. Unless we make real progress, the prospect of a two-state solution will slowly - or perhaps fast - slip away. The situation on the ground leaves too many people insecure, in poverty and despair, and is rapidly undermining the political process. While both sides are tiring of the conflict, they are also tiring, faster, of efforts to resolve it.

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UN adopts Middle East resolution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
December 17, 2008 - 1:00am

The draft describes US-brokered talks between Israelis and Palestinians as "irreversible" and urges greater diplomatic efforts to secure a deal. The resolution is the first on the Middle East issue adopted by the 15-member council in almost five years. It passed by 14 votes to zero. One council member, Libya, abstained. The draft calls on both parties to "refrain from any steps that could undermine confidence or prejudice the outcome of negotiations". It also urges an "intensification of diplomatic efforts" to build lasting peace in the Middle East.

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Rice cites Mideast peace moves
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 16, 2008 - 1:00am

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a farewell UN appearance Monday that Israel and the Palestinians had moved much further along the path to peace since US President George W. Bush brought their leaders together a year ago, though they won't clinch an agreement by the end of the year.

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Q&A with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali al-Saleh - December 16, 2008 - 1:00am

In this in-depth interview, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas talks to Asharq Al-Awsat on a range of issues including the recent inter-Palestinian talks held in Cairo, Hamas, the Israeli blockade, the Bush administration and the future of the Arab-Israeli peace process. Q) Let us begin with the inter-Palestinian talks in Cairo; did Hamas boycott the talks because some of its members were imprisoned in the West Bank?

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Palestinian PM Fayyad says West Bank settlement must end for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am

Settlement activity in the occupied West Bank must stop at once if there is to be any prospect of reaching a two-state peace agreement with Israel, the Palestinian prime minister has warned in a Guardian interview. Salam Fayyad said he found it "devastating" that Israelis were not even debating the settlement issue in their election campaign. He warned that Palestinian support for his policy of reform and negotiation would collapse if prospects for a workable deal faded away. Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad talks to Ian Black Link to this audio

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Negotiator: Israel wants 6.8 percent of West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Aron Heller - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am

Israel proposed to annex 6.8 percent of the West Bank and to take in a few thousand refugees under a peace deal, but it has not revealed its position on the most contentious issue _ the future of Jerusalem, the chief Palestinian negotiators said Friday night. Ahmed Qureia said the Palestinian side did not consider the ideas presented on annexation and the return of some Palestinians to be acceptable.

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UN to drive Middle East peace settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Harvey Morris - December 15, 2008 - 1:00am

The United Nations Security Council is on Tuesday set to adopt its first resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in five years, to keep alive a search for a two-state solution in a remarkable period of political transition. With a new US president entering the White House in just over a month and elections due in Israel and probably in the Palestinian territories by next spring, the council plans to reaffirm international backing for a settlement. The text is less notable for its content than for the fact that it is sponsored jointly by the US and Russia.

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