Breathing Life into the Arab Peace Initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by Sadie Goldman - October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

In a meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today, Israeli President Shimon Peres praised the Arab Peace Initiative, first introduced by Saudi Arabia and adopted by the 22 states of the Arab League, and said that, “peace has never been more possible than it is now. It would be a mistake to miss out on this opportunity.”

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Peres: Arab peace initiative is an opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 22, 2008 - 8:00pm

A long-stalled Arab peace initiative could bring peace to the Middle East _ still riven by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict _ the Israeli President Shimon Peres said Thursday, making his first endorsement of the proposal in an Arab country. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, however, openly disagreed with Peres during a joint press conference, saying Palestinians and Israelis must reach a bilateral agreement before Arab states could consider normalizing relations with the Jewish state.

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Palestinians welcome Israeli interest in Saudi plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 21, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinians hope Israeli calls for the revival of a Saudi peace initiative could lead to progress on a diplomatic track that has been dormant for years, their chief negotiator with Israel said Wednesday. Israeli President Shimon Peres last month called on Saudi King Abdullah to "further" a land-for-peace proposal endorsed six years ago by the Arab League, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak said last week Israelis were reconsidering the plan.

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Israeli, Egyptian leaders to meet on Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Aron Heller - October 21, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli President Shimon Peres will discuss an Arab proposal for comprehensive Mideast peace when he meets with Egypt's leader this week, Peres' office said Wednesday. Peres has been promoting the Saudi initiative recently because Israel's separate peace talks with Syria and the Palestinians appear to be making little progress. Peres spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch confirmed the Arab peace plan would "come up" when he meets President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt on Thursday.

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Faisal welcomes new interest in Saudi plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said on Tuesday he hoped that Israel's next government would follow the lead of President Shimon Peres, who last month called for a revival of Arab-Israeli peace initiatives. Peres, speaking at the United Nations, called on Saudi King Abdullah to "further" a dormant land-for-peace plan endorsed by the Arab League six years ago, and said Israel would attend any venue to end the conflict with its Arab neighbors. The Saudi minister told a news conference in Riyadh that the interest in the plan voiced by the president was "better late than never".

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Abbas: to meet Olmert October 27, counterpart made positive remarks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
October 19, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday evening remarked he is to meet Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert October 27 and added the latter made positive remarks on several issues recently. Abbas told a host of Palestinian columnists Olmert spoke of returning "almost all of the West Bank" and "almost all Jerusalem neighborhoods," adding, however, he was not sure what his counterpart meant exactly by "almost.

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A Mideast plan for the next president
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
by Ephraim Sneh - October 17, 2008 - 8:00pm

THE NEXT president of the United States, in addition to dealing with the overwhelming global economic crisis, will have to contend with problems that have arisen recently in the Middle East. They include: # The decline of America's status; # The too-slow progress toward political stability in Iraq and the growing Iranian subversion there; # The rising influence of the "resistance camp" - Iran and its proxies: Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad; # The reluctance of US allies to stand defiantly against the anti-American forces; # The stagnation in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations;

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Time to resurrect the Arab peace plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - October 17, 2008 - 8:00pm

In late July, when Barack Obama toured the Middle East, he met the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, for a private briefing on the state of the world's most intractable conflict - a major priority for the next occupant of the Oval Office. Abbas revealed later that when he told the Democratic candidate about the Arab peace initiative - offering Israel normal relations with all 22 Arab countries in exchange for a Palestinian state - Obama's (clearly private) response was unambiguous: "The Israelis must be crazy not to accept that."

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The price of peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Petra Marquardt-Bigman - October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

With the potential repercussions of the global financial crisis still hard to imagine, Middle East commentators have begun to wonder how the economic turmoil will affect the region and particularly the chances to achieve success in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, or Israel and Syria.

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Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad Reaffirms Commitment to Self-Empowerment, Peace at ATFP Gala
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - October 12, 2008 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, Oct 13 – While strongly criticizing Israel’s occupation policies, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told the audience at the Third Annual American Task Force on Palestine Gala on Oct.



American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017