Talk about 1967 borders, not settlement blocs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) December 21, 2009 - 1:00am

These days, it's tough to find a used car with a bumper sticker that reads "Peace is better than a Greater Israel." Nowadays, everyone seems to favor the latest formula: two states for two peoples. A few people on the right-hand margins are sticking to the belief that there's no difference between Yitzhar and Herzliya, but turbulent debates about the "heritage of the fathers" have given way to a consensus over "dividing the land." Instead of talking about the country's "narrow hips," we are erecting a fence that approximates the route of the Green Line.

»

Criminal neglect
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Editorial) December 21, 2009 - 1:00am

There can be little doubt that Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu won the first round of Israeli-Palestinian engagement with the Obama administration--and that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas lost. Netanyahu executed a partial and problematic settlement construction freeze "balanced" by settlement provocations in Jerusalem and elsewhere. He was rewarded with US support for his readiness to open negotiations while his right-wing coalition stood behind him. Abbas misread American promises and assurances regarding the freeze and the Goldstone report.

»

The conflict awaits Obama's program
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ophir Paz-Pines - (Opinion) December 20, 2009 - 1:00am

The peace train between Israel and the Palestinians has been derailed for some time. World leaders are at a loss and have perhaps given up altogether; both sides in the conflict are busy explaining why the other is the real peace "refuser," while real negotiations over a peace agreement are replaced by endless internal discussions.

»

The Palestinian Situation and the Egyptian Fig Leaf
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Mohammad Salah - (Opinion) December 20, 2009 - 1:00am

An Arab official challenged me and affirmed his conviction that no reconciliation will take place between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. He said that the current situation achieves the interests of the two sides, irrespective of the interest of the Palestinian people. When I asked about the Egyptian mediation efforts and their benefit, and Cairo’s expectation of a response by Hamas to the Egyptian negotiating card, the official said he was certain that Hamas would not agree to it as is.

»

ISRAEL: Gilad Shalit talks said to be at key juncture -- again, or still
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - (Blog) December 19, 2009 - 1:00am

Talks to secure a deal to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have advanced, sputtered and stalled many times during his three years of captivity in the Gaza Strip. Israel is now on its second prime minister since Shalit was dragged from an army post in a cross-border attack in 2006 -- and its second special coordinator to the indirect negotiations with Hamas that had been brokered by Egypt. The last time things seemed within reach, Israeli elections interfered. Things began moving when the German mediator stepped in a while ago and talks are again reported at that make it-or-break it stage.

»

Despair in Ramallah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Uri Misgav - (Opinion) December 19, 2009 - 1:00am

I recently committed a criminal act. I cannot even plead ignorance. A large red sign at the roadblock near the Qalandiya refugee camp made it clear. Israelis are forbidden from entering Area A in the West Bank. It may be a security constraint, but it also has a symbolic significance. The moderate and quiet capital of the Palestinian Authority is located a few minutes away from Jerusalem, yet visiting it is a crime.

»

Gaza must be rebuilt now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jimmy Carter - (Opinion) December 19, 2009 - 1:00am

It is generally recognised that the Middle East peace process is in the doldrums, almost moribund. Israeli settlement expansion within Palestine continues, and PLO leaders refuse to join in renewed peace talks without a settlement freeze, knowing that no Arab or Islamic nation will accept any comprehensive agreement while Israel retains control of East Jerusalem.

»

Lieberman: We will be building again in 10 months
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 18, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday that the 10-month settlement freeze was simply a tactical move and not a real effort to stop settlement growth, Israeli media sources reported Friday. "It is clear to everyone that in 10 months, we will be building again [in] full force; anyone who understands anything knows this," he told gathered settlers at a meeting in the West Bank settlement town of Ariel as quoted in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

»

A basis for talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 18, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel has a supreme interest in achieving a peace agreement that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, delineate a border between the states and put an end to the mutual demands. Former prime minister Ehud Olmert's proposal for a final-status arrangement with the Palestinians, the details of which were revealed by Aluf Benn in Haaretz yesterday, can and should serve as a basis for resuming negotiations. There is no point in returning to "point zero" in the talks and ignoring previous offers and understandings.

»

Netanyahu's New Agreement with Mitchell
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Steven J. Rosen - (Opinion) December 18, 2009 - 1:00am

For a year or two at an early stage in his career, I commuted to and from our adjacent offices each morning and evening with Martin Indyk, later a top peace-process official of the Clinton administration at the Camp David negotiations and now vice president for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution. I had just left the Rand Corporation to work at AIPAC, the main pro-Israel lobbying organization in Washington.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017