Mahmoud Abbas' crucial message to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) November 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Mahmoud Abbas has gradually made the transition from a relatively pale figure to a leader of stature. He has not only done this through his very serious negotiations with Ehud Olmert in 2007 and 2008, that came very close to reaching an agreement. He has also done this with two crucial statements that signal a sea change in the Palestinian narrative.

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Condoleezza Rice says prospects for Mideast peace have worsened under Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
November 1, 2011 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON — Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace are far worse today than when she left office, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday, and she partly blames the Obama administration’s tough line against Israeli settlement-building for spoiling chances for new talks. “When you look at where we are now, we’re a long, long way back from where we were,” Rice said in an interview with The Associated Press.

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Netanyahu's ongoing acquisition of lands by force
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) November 1, 2011 - 12:00am

And now for the million-shekel question on the game show, "1 vs. 100:" Which of the three leaders said, "Most of the UN member-states originate from conflicts, but I don't believe in acquiring lands by force"? Was it Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin or Benjamin Netanyahu?

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Encountering Peace: Unintended consequences
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) November 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the entire PLO leadership decided to take the Palestinian issue back to the United Nations. This was not an easy or a hasty decision. It was taken with a great deal of deliberation and after carefully weighing all of the possible consequences.

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Pointless and depressing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Last week, representatives of the Quartet met with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators and declared they had extracted a commitment from both sides to submit their final status negotiating positions on borders and security within three months. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat proceeded to deny any such Palestinian commitment, while Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas intimated he might soon consider dissolving the Palestinian Authority.

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A serious challenge
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am

One of the motives behind the Palestinian appeal to the United Nations is to gradually escape the United States' monopoly over mediation in the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis, seeking instead an even-handed mediation that is sensitive to the position of the international community, international law and the agreed-upon peace process terms of reference, like the roadmap.

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Abbas must choose to seek peace deal with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am

In a manner reminiscent of the popular movie "Free Willy," a new script is being written, tentatively entitled "Free Mahmoud Abbas." As a result of the Hamas "victory," the IDF wants to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas via a series of gestures. Haaretz's editorial page has recommended that Netanyahu listen to the army's recommendation, as though Abbas deserves compensation for the wholesale prisoner release won by Hamas.

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Kadima source: Livni undermined peace talks with Palestinians during Olmert's term
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Verter - (Analysis) October 28, 2011 - 12:00am

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's autobiography indicates that former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni undermined a potential peace agreement with the Palestinians during Ehud Olmert's term as prime minister, according to a senior Kadima source. Two and a half years after ending their troubled relationship as prime minister and foreign minister, tensions have again flared between Olmert and Livni.

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Fadwa Barghouti: 'For peace to come, Israel must release my husband'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - (Opinion) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am

As a long-term Fatah activist, staunch nationalist and qualified lawyer married to the most famous and popular Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail, Fadwa Barghouti's reaction to the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas last week was perhaps surprising. "I was very happy that the mother of Shalit saw her son after five years," she says, before adding that she is speaking as a mother, not as a politician. "You cannot define motherhood in one place and redefine it in another – it's indivisible.

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Simple refusal to hate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Jonathan Jansen - (Opinion) October 27, 2011 - 12:00am

For a Palestinian man whose daughters were maimed and killed, one decapitated, by a shell from an Israeli tank, Izzeldin Abuelaish is astonishingly without any bitterness. In response to this unspeakable family tragedy, the Gaza doctor established a foundation called Daughters for Life, which provides scholarships for studies to girls from the Middle East, including Jewish girls from inside Israel. I could see quiet tears in the mesmerised campus audience in the face of such uncommon grace.

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