The Peace Process Stuck in a Rut of Malaise
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The National - April 13, 2012 - 12:00am

The Quartet of Middle East mediators - the US, the UN, the EU and Russia - met Wednesday on the sidelines of the G8 foreign ministers' meeting in Washington. But the Quartet's first high-level meeting since December passed almost without notice in the US. Neither The Washington Post nor The New York Times had a story about it in yesterday's editions. In part, say observers, the lack of interest is due to other, more pressing issues. The violence in Syria dominates the attention of the foreign-policy circuit in Washington, where Iran's nuclear programme is also a perennial concern.

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New man on Israeli scene
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) April 13, 2012 - 12:00am

The emergence this month of Shaul Mofaz on the Israeli political scene as the new head of the centre-left Kadima party is a welcome development. It carries with it the promise — still only a faint one, however — that a reinvigorated and politically-successful Kadima could bring about a softening, even a reversal, of the expansionist, war-mongering policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist, ultra-orthodox and right-wing Labour coalition partners.

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Waste of time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Oman Tribune
(Editorial) April 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Time and money has again been wasted on the Middle East conflict and its dead peace process. And it’s high time, instead of indulging in these futile exercises, some thing concrete were done. Instead of making some firm moves, the Middle East Quartet’s top diplomats, after a meeting in Washington on Wednesday, came up with a number of appeals that included one to foreign donors to deliver promised aid to the Palestinians. They also urged Israelis and Palestinians to build trust to revive peace talks.

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Middle East mediators seek to revive peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Arshad Mohammed - April 12, 2012 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - Middle East peace mediators on Wednesday criticized Israeli settlement building and called on donors to meet aid pledges to the Palestinians as they sought to revive moribund peace talks. The so-called Quartet - the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States - said they stood behind their Sept. 23, 2011, call for the parties to reach a peace deal by the end of 2012, an objective that seems increasingly remote.

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Palestinians spurn Netanyahu’s invitation to resume talks, demand settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
April 12, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Palestinians have spurned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest invitation to resume peace talks, insisting the Israelis freeze settlement construction first. Netanyahu on Wednesday proposed to start direct talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, without any preconditions. The call followed an appeal from international mediators. Negotiations broke down in late 2010.

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Abbas Ready to Meet Israeli PM When Peace References Recognized
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 12, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ready to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the latter recognizes the basis of the peace process, a spokesperson for Abbas said Thursday. "The Palestinian side has no problem to hold bilateral and direct meetings with the Israeli side if they were based on a clear reference so we know on what basis and mechanisms we are negotiating," Abbas' spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdineh told Voice of Palestine Radio.

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Israel plans letter to Abbas on potential peace deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - April 11, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, April 11 (Reuters) - Israel will submit a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas outlining a position for a future peace deal, and proposing talks be held at a higher level than planned, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday. The statement said Netanyahu would "propose raising the level of talks to hold them directly with Abbas", a suggestion Abbas has rejected in the past unless Israel stopped building settlements on West Bank land Palestinians seek for a state.

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Abbas receives positive U.S. signs over his political letter to Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 10, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently received positive hints from the U.S. on a political letter he intends to address to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu soon, a well-informed source unveiled on Monday. Abbas' letter to Netanyahu might be handed on Tuesday and would include a clear Palestinian position concerning the current developments in the stalled peace process and the margins for resuming it.

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The real radical left
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) April 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Even a dead body can sometimes twitch reflexively. Here we go again: The settlers have occupied another building. Their lawyer isn't ashamed to boast about the deceptive way the property was acquired. The ministers make their pilgrimages. The defense minister pulls a surprise eviction. The right is furious, the remnants of the left utter praise, and even Europe and America seem satisfied - look, another settler real estate grab has been thwarted.

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‘Battle of Letters’ Shaping up Between PM, Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - April 4, 2012 - 12:00am

With Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas expected to deliver a sharply-worded letter to Israel in the coming days, blaming it for the impasse in the diplomatic process, Jerusalem is preparing a letter of its own to present to the PA, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Though the final draft of the letter has not yet been completed, it is expected to contain the following points: • Israel is prepared for peace talks with the Palestinians where all the core issues will be on the agenda. • Israel places no preconditions whatsoever on entering the talks.

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