Encountering Peace: The indefatigable peacemaker’s advice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) August 31, 2010 - 12:00am

There won’t be many more opportunities to make it work. That is the growing consensus. Even if the public does not sense it, there is a real urgency; we must move toward reaching an agreement. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolvable. There are solutions to all problems. In addition to the multiple rounds of Track I negotiations that have taken place since Madrid in 1991, there have also been thousands of hours of informal Track II negotiations in which a couple of hundred Israeli and Palestinian experts have participated and have reached understandings and “shelf agreements.”

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ATFP Deplores Attacks on Israelis near Hebron
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - August 31, 2010 - 12:00am

Washington DC, Aug. 31 - ATFP strongly deplores the attack near Hebron in which four Israelis were killed. Such terrorist attacks are morally repugnant and should be vigorously combated and condemned. ATFP urges the parties to cooperate in identifying and punishing the perpetrators and planners of this crime. ATFP also calls upon the parties to thwart the objectives of the terrorists through renewing their commitment to a negotiated two-state solution that will put a permanent end to the conflict.


Early Obstacle, and Test, at Start of Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper - August 29, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama will begin his one-year effort to achieve Middle East peace on Wednesday, joining a long list of his predecessors who have tried to achieve a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians. But unlike the presidents before him, Mr. Obama will know within three weeks whether the two sides are serious this time about reaching a deal.

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Early Obstacle, and Test, at Start of Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper - August 29, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama will begin his one-year effort to achieve Middle East peace on Wednesday, joining a long list of his predecessors who have tried to achieve a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians. But unlike the presidents before him, Mr. Obama will know within three weeks whether the two sides are serious this time about reaching a deal.

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Abbas' position isn't as weak as it may first appear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) August 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinians will begin heading home a year from now to reclaim property in their homeland, which they have not seen for 62 years since the state of Israel was established there. They will be welcomed at the border by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and thousands of cheering Israelis.

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Before we talk to Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ron Prosor - August 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Groucho Marx famously quipped: "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them … well, I have others." The International Quartet (the US, the UN, Russia and the EU) has long applied three principles Hamas must adopt to take part in negotiations. It must renounce violence, recognise Israel and abide by previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. At no point has Hamas satisfied these conditions – or indicated any intention to do so.

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IDF bans Israelis from Palestinian villages along West Bank highway
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - August 12, 2010 - 12:00am

A new IDF decree bans Israelis from entering Palestinian villages along Route 443, despite these villages being located in Area C, which is under complete Israeli control. The ban was announced yesterday by GOC Central Command Avi Mizrahi. It joins other measures taken by the Central Command as the West Bank road is prepared to be opened to Palestinian traffic, in accordance with a Supreme Court verdict rendered earlier this year.

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Abbas agrees on peacekeeping forces in future Palestinian state regardless of religion: aide
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agrees on deploying international peacekeeping forces in a future Palestinian state regardless of their religion, an aide to Abbas said on Saturday. Abbas' advisor Nemer Hammad denied U.S. media reports that the Palestinian leader would not agree to have any Jews among the peacekeeping forces that would be present alongside the Israeli- Palestinian borders after reaching a two-state solution. "These reports are totally baseless and untrue," Hammad was quoted by the official Palestinian Wafa news agency as saying.

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From intifada hub to model Palestinian city: How Jenin turned around
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - August 6, 2010 - 12:00am

In a dramatic turnaround, the Palestinian city that served as the heart of the second intifada now boasts a new shopping mall. A return of Israeli Jewish shoppers after nearly a decade appears imminent and – as of today – the city boasts its first cinema.

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ANALYSIS-Israel watches two hot borders, and maybe a third
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - August 6, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel has Iranian-supported enemies in Lebanon to the north and Gaza to the south. Its back to the sea is safe. But security on its eastern border may be threatened if hostile Iran expands into an unstable Iraq. Israeli analysts differ on the risk of encirclement by enemy forces allied to Tehran, on the degree to which Hamas and Hezbollah will do Iran's bidding, and on the chances of Iran gaining greater leverage in Baghdad via its Shi'ite connections.

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