Fayyad meets with Clinton in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Jerusalem on Monday, and discussed prospects for a return to negotiations with Israel, officials said. The meeting was set to follow-up Clinton's meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris ten days ago, when Abbas asked the US official to communicate to Israel his demands before going ahead with talks, presidential advisor Nimir Hamad told Ma'an.

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Peace Talks Must Resume, Clinton Says in Israel Visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Visiting Israel for the first time in nearly two years, with the Palestinian peace process seemingly on perpetual hold, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that “the status quo is unsustainable” and urged leaders from both sides back to negotiations.

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Ashrawi condemns violence against Ramallah protesters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 3, 2012 - 12:00am

PLO official Hanan Ashrawi on Monday condemned the violent suppression of weekend protests in Ramallah. Palestinian Authority police attacked demonstrators at a rally Saturday against a proposed meeting between President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel's vice premier. A day later, police used brutal force at a demonstration against police brutality.

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Israelis and Palestinians Share Intrigue over Cancelled Meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Linda Gradstein - (Opinion) July 1, 2012 - 12:00am

It has been almost two years since Israeli and Palestinian officials at the most senior level have sat down together. That was supposed to happen on Sunday, when Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas had invited Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz to come to Ramallah. But that meeting was called off after a series of domestic events in Israel and the Palestinian Authority made it impossible.

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Palestinians: Meeting delayed with Israeli vice PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 30, 2012 - 12:00am

A scheduled high-profile meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz has been postponed indefinitely, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday. The rare high-level talks would have been a step toward resuming formal peace negotiations, although expectations were low that they would produce any breakthrough.

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Erekat: Meeting between Abbas, Mofaz is not a renewal of peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
June 29, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH - A meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz scheduled for Sunday does not signal a renewal of stalled negotiations, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has said. The two are to meet at Abbas' Ramallah headquarters. On Thursday, Erekat told Voice of Palestine Radio the meeting did not mean a renewal of the stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. "I do not know what Mofaz will bring with him," he said. "But it is not going to be negotiations."

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Hamas urges Abbas not to meet with Israeli deputy PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to receive Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz. The meeting between two leaders, which is scheduled on Sunday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, will be the first time in years that Abbas meet a senior Israeli official, especially since the peace talks between the two sides stalled in 2010. "This meeting benefits only Israel," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, Abbas' bitter rival which governs the Gaza Strip.

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Israeli, Palestinian leaders may meet next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli and Palestinian officials say they expect Israel's new deputy prime minister to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas early next week in a bid to restart peace talks. Negotiations have been frozen for nearly four years. The Palestinians want Israel to halt settlement construction on occupied lands before talks can resume. Israel wants negotiations to start without any preconditions.

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Putin visits West Bank, tours key Christian shrine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his Palestinian counterpart Tuesday for what he said was a "responsible" position in negotiations with Israel, frozen for nearly four years, and said Russia has no problem recognizing a Palestinian state. Putin also offered veiled criticism of Israel, saying unilateral actions — an apparent reference to continued Israeli settlement expansion on war-won land — is not constructive.

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Abbas: negotiations only way for peace with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 26, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said that peace with Israel can happen only through negotiations. "We still insist on holding the International peace conference in Russia," Abbas said during a joint press conference with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in the holy city of Bethlehem.

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