A popular but problematic position
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's "Jewish state" or "nation state of the Jewish people" demand is popular with the Israeli public. The right wing likes it because it is patriotic and seemingly "anti-Arab". The left and center cannot easily oppose it because it dovetails with their emphasis on ending the occupation in order to maintain Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in view of the demographic threat. Netanyahu can even take credit for getting US President Barack Obama to endorse the Jewish state demand.

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Plan B for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - (Opinion) September 16, 2010 - 12:00am

On October 5, 1995, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin presented the Oslo 2 accord to the Knesset. In the speech he made on that momentous occasion, Rabin pledged that in the final-status agreement, Jerusalem would remain united, the settlement blocs would remain part of Israel and the security border would be the Jordan Valley. He also said Israel would not return to the June 4, 1967 lines and that the Palestinians would run their own lives in the framework of an entity that would be less than a state.

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Why I doubt Binyamin Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Gilead Sher - (Opinion) September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Eleven years ago, on September 4 1999, the government of Israel, under Ehud Barak, and the PLO, under Yasser Arafat, signed an agreement called the Sharm-el-Sheikh Memorandum. It provided that accelerated permanent status negotiations would commence shortly, and that their goal was to reach a framework agreement on permanent status in five months and a comprehensive agreement in one year.

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Camp David Redux: A Look Back At Lessons Learned
Media Mention of ATFP In National Public Radio (NPR) - September 3, 2010 - 12:00am

MELISSA BLOCK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. Im Melissa Block. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And Im Robert Siegel. The resumption of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in Washington this week, reminded us of the last time the parties aimed at settling their differences with an American president as mediator. Ten summers ago, there were two weeks of talks at Camp David. President Bill Clinton hoped to settle the conflict once and for all.

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Wishing President Abbas Success
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - September 2, 2010 - 12:00am

During the preparations for the historic [Israeli-Palestinian] negotiations due to commence today, Israeli Rabbi Ovadia Yosef called for the damnation of Mahmoud Abbas, so as to relieve the Israelis of him. And in Gaza, a group of Hamas imams have prayed that the call of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef be answered, and that Mahmoud Abbas and his negotiating team be killed.

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Camp David Redux: A Look Back At Lessons Learned
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
(Interview) September 2, 2010 - 12:00am

MELISSA BLOCK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. Im Melissa Block. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And Im Robert Siegel. The resumption of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in Washington this week, reminded us of the last time the parties aimed at settling their differences with an American president as mediator. Ten summers ago, there were two weeks of talks at Camp David. President Bill Clinton hoped to settle the conflict once and for all.

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Middle East talks: no real desire for change spells little hope of success
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - September 1, 2010 - 12:00am

No previous round of Middle East peace negotiations has begun with such rock-bottom expectations as the one being launched in Washington tonight. Neither side expects to be able to reach an agreement unless the US tries to impose one. And few believe that if Barack Obama does attempt that, Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas will be able to live with it – the Israeli premier because of his fractious rightwing coalition and the Palestinian president because of Hamas opposition and wider despair over years of peace "process" without change.

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For Once, Hope in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Martin Indyk - (Opinion) August 26, 2010 - 12:00am

NOW that President Obama has finally succeeded in bringing the Israelis and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, the commentariat is already dismissing his chances of reaching a peace agreement. But there are four factors that distinguish the direct talks that will get under way on Sept. 2 in Washington from previous attempts — factors that offer some reason for optimism.

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Iraq pullout makes Israeli-Palestinian peace crucial for U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - August 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Despite the fact that they occurred almost simultaneously, any connection between the withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraq and Washington's invitation of the leaders of Jordan and Egypt to a summit inaugurating direct Israel-Palestinian talks might appear to be entirely coincidental.

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The False Religion of Mideast Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) April 19, 2010 - 12:00am

On October 18, 1991, against long odds and in front of an incredulous press corps, U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Soviet Foreign Minister Boris Pankin announced that Arabs and Israelis were being invited to attend a peace conference in Madrid.

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