What do we do with our accumulated experience?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ron Pundak - (Opinion) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am

When I think back and analyze the Oslo negotiations with regard to the task of the mediator, I recall three episodes that best describe the mission the Norwegians took upon themselves. The first took place on the first day of our meetings. Following an official event that provided cover for the Israelis and Palestinians to come to Oslo, the Norwegians left us in the room and our host Terje Roed-Larsen said, "We'll return only if you summon us or if we hear you quarreling . . ."

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Time for a different conversation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Douglas Noll - (Opinion) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am

The recent Middle East events in Washington, starting with the resignation of George Mitchell as President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East and ending with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's address to the US Congress, have created a moment in which a different conversation about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict might be useful.

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The Conditions of Truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) July 7, 2011 - 12:00am

There are two Arab regimes that failed to convince their people to maintain the same method of governance throughout decades with the pretexts they presented, despite the voluntary or obligatory change that affected their role in the face of Israel, after this role marked the way they presented themselves domestically and abroad.

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A decision-making fiasco
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) July 6, 2011 - 12:00am

A normal Israeli citizen, characterized by the media as “the man on the street,” reads newspapers, listens to the radio, watches television and asks himself and those around him: What’s going on up there? If this is how they manage a minor, rather insignificant matter like handing over terrorist bodies, how are truly important issues – matters of life and death – being handled? And here’s the answer: This time, Israel’s leadership is not the only culprit – but…

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Netanyahu gallops on while peacemaking stumbles
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jeffrey Heller - July 5, 2011 - 12:00am

The last time an Israeli prime minister led a government that served out a full four-year term, Ronald Reagan was just settling into the White House. Political in-fighting and, in one case, an assassination, have cut short the governance of Israeli leaders who formed fragile coalitions after elections in which no party in Israel has ever won an outright parliamentary majority.

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An Israeli View: Why we are going to the UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Blog) July 4, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestine Liberation Organization has now officially decided to ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Leaving aside speculation as to whether this really will happen in September and what the consequences might be on the ground back home in Palestine and Israel, this is a good occasion to ask how we arrived at this juncture. The conventional wisdom that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's intransigent behavior has driven the Palestinians to adopt the international track is important, but hardly offers a complete explanation.

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Israel, Palestinians hope to avoid fall violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 3, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli and Palestinian security forces are already taking precautions to avoid an outbreak of violence after an expected U.N. vote for Palestinian independence in September, officials on both sides said Sunday, reflecting shared concerns about the possibility of renewed fighting this fall. For now, Israeli and Palestinian officials said they do not want — or expect — armed hostilities to resume. But both sides fear that one small incident could quickly spin out of control.

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Abbas adviser: Palestinians ready to replace UN bid with talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 1, 2011 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Presidential adviser Nimir Hammad said Thursday that Palestinian leaders would delay the September bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state, if Israel agrees to negotiations based on a French peace initiative. In an exclusive interview with Ma’an, the political adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas said the leadership are preparing the text for the declaration that will presented to the UN in September, should talks not go ahead.

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Palestinian crisis solved in 814 words
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Chicago Sun Times
by Neil Steinberg - (Opinion) July 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Did you hear that the flotilla planning to run the Israeli blockade of Gaza didn’t get off as scheduled? Insurance problems, alas, sparked by an Israeli ploy, plus one of the 10 ships had its propeller mysteriously cut. I sure hope Alice Walker doesn’t run into a scheduling conflict — maybe a Marin County book-signing — that would call her away from yet another chance to remind the world that the Israelis are the Star Wars Evil Empire, the Nazis and the Klingons all rolled into one.

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The Role of the Border in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New America Foundation
by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) June 30, 2011 - 12:00am

In March of this year, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution hosted a crisis simulation exercise on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The participants, myself included, assumed the roles of key players from the US, Israeli, and Palestinian sides and were presented with a scenario in which the protagonists were two weeks into the implementation of a US-brokered agreement on borders and security.

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