A friend of Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) May 21, 2009 - 12:00am

It's already clear: the U.S. president is a great friend of Israel. If Barack Obama continues what he started this week, he might prove to be the friendliest president to Israel ever. Richard Nixon saved Israel from the Arab states in 1973, and Obama is about to save Israel from itself. Nixon sent us arms and ammunition at a critical time, and Obama is sending us, at a time no less critical, the substance of a complete peace plan, a plan that would save Israel.

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Vote Fatah (or Hamas)
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Khalil Shikaki - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

THE performance of the Palestinian Authority during the past 17 months has been impressive. It has managed against the odds to restore order in the West Bank to a degree not seen in many years. And it has confronted and disarmed nationalist and Islamist groups. Corruption is also not as rampant as it was a few years ago.

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Clock ticking on peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Francis Matthew - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The leaders of the Arab world have become very clear in the past few months that there is a deadline for the Arab peace initiative, and they are not willing to let Israel continue stalling them for decades without any consequence as it refuses to withdraw from the West Bank, continues to expropriate land, and expands its colonies.

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Determined Obama is key to resolution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The Arab world was generally anxious that President Barack Obama would retreat from his view, reiterated recently by several of his key officials, that a Palestinian-Israel settlement merits top and immediate attention, especially from Israel. But the fact that he did not in his talks last Monday with the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and had actually stressed the need for several more positive steps, was generally well-received in the Arab world.

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Mr Abbas and a dangerous gambit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The reappointment of Salam Fayyad, a respected independent, as the Palestinian prime minister should have been a welcome development. The PLO desperately needs a leader aloof from the cronyism and factional strife that define Palestinian politics. Unfortunately that is not the case. If anything, Mr Fayyad risks becoming a victim of naked partisanship.

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Israel's prime minister tells Obama he wants to restart peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - May 19, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Obama at a White House meeting Monday that he wanted to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians, but he stopped short of embracing the U.S. view of a fully sovereign Palestinian state. The Israeli leader said he wanted Palestinians to govern themselves, but without "a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel." Netanyahu has long insisted that any Palestinian state forgo the common trappings of statehood, including its own military, control over its borders and authority over electronic communications.

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Israel, PA hold secret meetings over renewing peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - May 18, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel and the Palestinian Authority have launched discreet contacts recently regarding a renewal of negotiations, Haaretz has learned. The meetings come despite the PA's public position to the effect that negotiations will not be resumed until Israel freezes construction in West Bank settlements. President Shimon Peres on Sunday said that Israel is interested in renewing peace talks with the Palestinians immediately. Peres met with Jordan's King Abdullah on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.

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Hour of decision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
May 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Seven years have passed since the Arab League came out with its proposal to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for an end to the occupation and a just, mutually agreed solution to the refugee problem. According to the road map peace plan, which the Quartet submitted to the parties in early 2003, the Israeli-Arab conflict should have come to an end more than three years ago.

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PM 'intent' to hold peace negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - May 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah II sent out starkly different messages following an unannounced meeting between the two in Aqaba on Thursday. Netanyahu called it an "excellent" meeting, while Abdullah released a statement spelling out the demands he had made, including that Israel immediately declare its commitment to a two-state solution.

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It's not up to Israelis to determine the status of Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) May 14, 2009 - 12:00am

As the summit between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches, most of the discussion has focused on whether or not the newly elected Israeli leader will finally say that he backs a two-state solution. This is the wrong approach. Israelis should not determine the status of the Palestinian entity, nor should Palestinians have a say in what Israelis call their own state.

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