Mideast peacemaking efforts at "very critical stage": Jordanian king
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Jordanian King Abdullah II Monday urged coordinated and intensified international action to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as peacemaking efforts are going through a "very critical stage", the state-run Petra news agency reported. The king made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation from J Street, which is an American-Jewish entity that supports the two-state solution and is against Israeli settlement activities. At the meeting, the king said resolving the conflicts should be in line with the two-state solution and within comprehensive peace in the region.

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Abbas: No U.S. clarification over peace talks' resumption until now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday said the United States has not yet presented the demanded clarification related to the resumption of the indirect peace talks with Israel. The Palestinian state-run news agency Wafa quoted Abbas as saying at the weekly meeting of the Palestinian cabinet in Ramallah on Monday that the Palestinian side has not yet received any clarifications from the United States over the resumption of the peace negotiations with Israel.

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Clinton: US can't force Israel, PA into peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday made an unusual acknowledgement of frustrations with the long-frozen Palestinian-Israeli negotiation process. Speaking at the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, on the first day of a trip to the Middle East, Clinton said, know people are disappointed that we have not yet achieved a breakthrough.”

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Israeli FM: Palestinian government smearing us
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel's foreign minister on Monday accused the Western-backed Palestinian government of spearheading an international smear campaign against Israel and predicted that even if negotiations between the two sides resume, they would fail. Avigdor Lieberman's tough comments could mean new trouble for U.S.-led efforts to restart peace talks, which broke down more than a year ago. U.S. envoy George Mitchell has spent months trying to bring the sides back to the negotiating table, but so far has been unable to break the deadlock.

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Erekat to hold talks with Hillary Clinton in Qatar late Sunday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat revealed that he will hold talks on Sunday night with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Qatar. "I will meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Doha, Qatar to receive U.S. answers to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas questions related to holding indirect peace talks with Israel," Erekat told Xinhua on telephone from Qatar.

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Blair to 'intensify' work on Mideast peace-Clinton
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Sue Pleming, Andrew Quinn - February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

Middle East envoy Tony Blair will "intensify" his work with U.S. negotiator George Mitchell to broker peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday. The former British prime minister represents the "quartet" of Middle East negotiators made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia. "Tony Blair, as the Quartet representative, will intensify his partnership with Senator Mitchell in support of the political negotiations," Clinton said in a statement after speaking with Blair.

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It's time to get tough with Israel's leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

Inch by inch, the Palestinian president appears to be once again succumbing to American pressure. He is about to allow his junior officials to start so-called "proximity talks" with their Israeli counterparts to pave the way for the resumption of peace negotiations, which broke down after Israel's invasion of Gaza in December 2008.

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Talks and more talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian side seems to have caved in to the US demand to restart negotiations with Israel. The only condition this time, is to have talks conducted indirectly! So far so good, except for the fact that since direct talks with Israel went nowhere for so long, one wonders what the wisdom of continuing to talk is.

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Hamas's Apology
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Osman Mirghani - (Opinion) February 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Hardly a day goes by without us being disturbed by the exchange of [verbal] heavy artillery in the war of words that is taking place between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas movement. This is a war that is overshadowing all other issues on the Palestinian scene, to the extent that it eclipses the concern towards the suffering of the helpless Palestinian citizens who are under oppressive occupation and facing harsh internal division and escalating suffering, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

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Hard Mideast Truths
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) February 11, 2010 - 1:00am

For over a century now, Zionism and Arab nationalism have failed to find an accommodation in the Holy Land. Both movements attempted to fill the space left by collapsed empire, and it has been left to the quasi-empire, the United States, to try to coax them to peaceful coexistence. The attempt has failed.

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